Automotive Updates - 17th May 2014

• Wheels India, steel wheel maker for passenger cars and utility vehicles, has reported a 64.11 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 8.78 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014.The city-based TVS Group company had reported a net profit of Rs 5.35 crore in the year-ago period.

• JK Tyres on Saturday said the company would double its capacity at its greenfield plant at Chennai by the end of this year.The work for the capacity expansion at Chennai plant was going on and likely to start production from November- December, said P Pawan Darshan, General Manager (Sales), North and East India of the company said.

• Hyundai Motor Co is recalling more than 140,000 Tucson crossover utility vehicles because the air bag assembly may come loose from its mounting on the steering wheel, according to documents filed with U.S. auto safety regulators.

• Tata Motors Engineering Research Centre (ERC) has developed a new 3.0-litre, four-cylinder common-rail diesel engine.  This engine was designed with emphasis on weight reduction, compliance with emission norms and better fuel efficiency according to the source.

• Skoda India will fit the Skoda Rapid diesel with a 7-speed DSG gearbox and launch it in October 2014. For this, it will opt for a 1.5-liter diesel engine to power the sedan. A report on the Economic Times states that the Rapid will move closer to its cousin in VW – the Vento – and offer a 1.2-liter petrol engine as well.
• The US car safety regulator imposed a record 35 million USD fine on General Motors today for its slow efforts to report faulty ignitions in its cars that contributed to at least 13 deaths.

• Maruti Suzuki will launch the CNG variant of the Maruti Celerio next month, adding to the Alto 800, Wagon R, Eeco and the Ertiga.

• Mr. Sumit Mazumder, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of TIL Ltd., has been elected President-designate of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2014-15.Mr. Mazumder is also the Executive Chairman of Tractors India Pvt. Ltd. (TIPL) which is a distributor for Caterpillar of the US in India, Nepal and Bhutan for earthmoving, construction, mining equipment and power systems.

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Automotive Updates - 16th May 2014

• Steel Strips Wheels Ltd (SSWL), the Punjab-based automotive steel wheel manufacturer, has bagged an export order for the supply of 150,000 wheel rims to Peugeot France. The size of the deal is around Rs 12.21 crore. According to company sources, this is the biggest export order after it won a Rs 29.73 crore worth deal to supply car wheel rims to SsangYong Motors Company (SYMC) in Korea in November 2013. With this, SSWL became the first Indian company to supply components to SsangYong.

• Terra Motors Corporation, Japan’s top electric two and three-wheeler manufacturer, has raised $10 million (Rs 59.50 crore) to finance its expansion plans in Asian markets, including India. Terra Motors plans to enter India later this year with its executive scooter A4000i.

• Autocar Professional learns that while Tata Motors’ Pune-based Engineering Research Centre (ERC) is working on a number of engine families (for passenger cars and commercial vehicles), the facility has developed an all-new four-cylinder (inline), 3-litre diesel engine with common-rail fuel injection technology. However, reliable sources say that the company is yet to take a call on its end applications.

• Karsan, a Turkish automaker, said on Thursday it had reached a preliminary agreement with Chinese firm Wuhan Zhong to set up a production facility in China.The joint venture, in which Karsan will hold a 35 percent stake, will produce an annual 30,000 units of its J10 model and other products, Karsan said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

• It is official that the Toyota Corolla Altis will be offered in seven variants. While four of these will be diesel, the other three will be petrol. For now, Toyota will not be launching the base variant of the petrol and it might be introduced later as a base version. The four diesel variants are the- J, JS, G and GL while the three petrols are- V, VL MT and VL AT. 

• About three months after the start of production of the new Mercedes-Benz C-class at the Bremen plant in Germany, the second of the total of four locations has started production of the highest-volume Mercedes-Benz model line. For the East London plant in South Africa, this is already the fourth generation of the C-class sedan. The new C-class is the first Mercedes-Benz model to be produced on four continents: Bremen and East London will be followed by the plants in Tuscaloosa/Alabama (USA) and Beijing (China) within the next few months.

• Datsun the subsidiary of Japanese auto gaint Nissan Motors had unveiled the on-DO sedan recently in Russia and is expected to launch the same sometimes in the month of June. Apart from it the Japanese car maker is also going to launch its hatchback mi-DO also in Russian car market during the month of August this year. Now it is rumored that car maker is working on introducing a crossover based on redi-GO concept in Russian market which would be its third product in Russia at the earliest. This was also confirmed by company’s authentic source Mr. Jerome Him, Head, Datsun Russia.

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Automotive Updates - 15th May 2014

• German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz today launched sports utility vehicle ML 63, priced at Rs 1.49 crore (ex-showroom Delhi), expanding its AMG range of cars in India. 

• Chevrolet India has received the DMAi gold award for the newly designed Chevrolet India website, which is based on Chevrolet’s global standards, and a bronze award for the successful ‘Enjoy Voyage’ pre-launch campaign executed in May last year. The DMAi Awards, which are conducted annually, honour excellence in marketing and advertising campaigns that have raised the bar of originality, response strategy, interactivity and impact.

• Tata Motors today reported 7.65 per cent decline in its global sales, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), to 75,026 units in April.The company had sold 81,241 units in April last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

• Bajaj Auto has recorded its highest ever turnover of Rs 20,865 crore for 2013-14. However, this is actually flat growth given that its year-earlier turnover was Rs 20,793 crore. Net profits for FY2014 were Rs 3,243 crore, up from Rs 3,044 crore in the year-earlier period, up six percent.

• Apollo Tyres' consolidated net profit doubled to Rs 281.62 crore in the quarter ended March 31, mainly on account of increased sales.Profit was Rs 141.05 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, Apollo Tyres said in a filing to the BSE.Consolidated total income rose to Rs 3,229.27 crore from Rs 3,041.99 crore a year earlier, it added.

• In a bid to drive sales of its AMG brand in India, luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India has opened its first AMG Performance Centre in Delhi at T&T Motors. It also rolled out its high-performance ML 63 AMG SUV at a price tag of Rs 1.49 crore (ex-showroom Delhi). Similar outlets are to be opened in Bangalore and Mumbai soon.

• With the launch of D-max in India, Isuzu also opened its first dealership in Mumbai which adds to its current tally of 8 other dealerships in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Madurai, Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati and Cochin covering all the 4 south Indian states.

• Omax Autos, which manufactures frame assemblies for the commercial vehicle segment and also caters to the two-wheeler, three-wheeler, off-highway, passenger car and railway segments, has expanded its work to encompass complete vehicle assembly. The company has won an initial order of 20 vehicle assemblies from a well-known truck OEM; its Bangalore plant rolled out its first truck assembly in March 2014.

• Following the consolidation of international operations in November 2013, American car maker General Motors’s Indian subsidiary is being considered as a future global sourcing base for compact vehicles.The report on Economic Times says GM India has frozen a plan to integrate exports into its business for the first time in its 18-year stint.GM India’s top official confirmed to IAB on the sidelines of the Beat facelift’s launch that exports would begin later in the year, but stopped short of sharing specifics. ET has learned that exports kick off this year with the Chevrolet Beat hatchback. The first market is Chile, followed by Mexico, Peru and the Caribbean in 2015.

• Hyundai Motor Co's South Korean labour union has demanded higher pay and bonuses and more cuts to working hours, as the automaker heads into annual wage talks in June under the threat of industrial action.Any strike action in South Korea - which makes nearly 40 percent of Hyundai vehicles sold globally - could disrupt supply around the world as the company fights to reverse a fall in profits linked to the stronger won and competition from the likes of Volkswagen AG.

• The Norma Group, an international market and technology leader for engineered joining technology, has started production in its second manufacturing plant in China in Changzhou, 200km outside Shanghai. The new facility was set up to meet the greater demand for metal-based joining solutions in the Asia-Pacific region. Spread across 8,000 square metres, the new plant will produce about 45 million pieces of clamps per year for both Western and Asian automotive manufacturers.

• Image from www.thehindubusinessline.com

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Automotive Updates - 14th May 2014

• Bajaj AutoBSE 3.10 % employees' union has postponed its proposed strike from tomorrow after considering suggestions of Shramik Ekta Mahasangh, the umbrella organisation of trade unions in the region. It, however, added that if Mahasangh's intervention also fails it will will have no option but go ahead with plans of agitation. 

• Escorts Ltd has launched its Farmtrac Heritage tractor range at South Africa’s NAMPO 2014 agriculture show. The Heritage series, which comprises tractors in the 50-75hp range, received a good response at last year’s Agritechnica Show in Hanover

• India has commenced exports of the Hyundai Xcent and the Middle East is the first port of call. Hyundai would also introduce the car in Nepal, its distributor confirmed last month, but the company remained tight lipped on the other destinations it plans to ship the car to.

• Tata Motors launched three new next-gen heavy trucks from its PRIMA range of commercial vehicles in Qatar, along with its partners, Al-Hamad Automobiles.

• Specialty chemicals major Lanxess India has appointed, effective May 1, 2014, Dr Jacques Perez as its managing director and vice-chairman. He will also be the country representative for the company. This will be in addition to his earlier responsibility as a director and CFO at Lanxess India.

• Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India will launch an all-new 160 cc bike between July and September this year. The announcement was made at a business meeting in Tokyo yesterday and the confirmation came from the company via a press release.

•  Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is looking at US not only as a market for the GenZe but will also export out of it. “Exporting to various markets outside USA is certainly on the cards,” says Dr Pawan Goenka, executive director and president – Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, M&M, in an email response to Autocar Professional.  The GenZe plant has the capacity to assemble up to 9,000 vehicles per annum, with the ability to ramp up to 20,000 vehicles if needed. The exports could be of the GenZe and other products, as Mahindra may build a portfolio of electric two-wheelers. “What we are doing with electric two-wheelers with GenZe is a beginning. All options are open,” says Dr Goenka.

• Power management company Eaton has signed a framework agreement with Great Wall Motors Co. Ltd. (GWM) to create a long-term strategic partnership that drives growth for both companies through greater technical exchange and resource sharing. The agreement was signed during an Eaton Tech Day held at GWM’s Baoding facility in China’s Hebei province earlier this month. 

• Global automotive supplier Brose has opened a new door systems plant in Bremen. On the 4,500 square metres shopfloor, the mechatronics specialist manufactures door systems for the new Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan. These are then delivered to the assembly line of the local Mercedes-Benz car plant and fitted into as many as 600 vehicles a day.

• Castrol India Limited announced today that their net profit after tax is down by 19% in first quarter of this year (January-March-2014). The company's net profit after taxation is 100.2 crores while the oil manufacturer recorded 124.3 crores net profit same last year. The company also introduced two new engine oils Castrol Active Scooter and Castrol Magnatec Stop Start. They also won a contract for supply of products during this period with Ford India for their new plant in Sanand, Gujarat

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Automotive Updates - 13th May 2014

• Isuzu Motors today launched the Isuzu D-Max and D-Max Space Cab in an event held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Japanese manufacturer also opened its first ever dealership in Maharashtra, located in Mumbai, today, announcing plans to open dealer outlets in Delhi and Vishakapatnam by the end of this month. 

• The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today said its compact car Alto has become the second model from the company's portfolio to cross the 25 lakh unit sales mark in the domestic market. 

• Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIL) today launched its 110 cc LET's scooter in Kerala, targetting sales of 1,000 units per month in the state.

•  Japanese two wheeler major, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has announced the launch of two new motorcycles in quarter two of FY-15, as it aims to post yet another year of double digit growth of 21% to 4.5 million units.

• Honda Motor Co's Indian two-wheeler unit aims to increase sales by 21 per cent in the current fiscal year that started in April, helped by booming sales of its scooters and planned launches. 

• Nissan Motor Co has announced its financial results for the 12-months and fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. The company has reported a net income of 389 billion yen (Rs 22,562 crore) for FY2013, a 14 percent year-on-year growth. Net revenues were 10.48 trillion yen (Rs 607,840 crore), up 20 percent YoY, while operating profit was 498.4 billion yen (Rs 28,907 crore).

• The Board of Directors of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has elected Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault, as its new president. Ghosn, who was previously president of ACEA in 2009, takes over from Philippe Varin, former chairman of the Board of Management of PSA Peugeot Citroën. This change is effective immediately.

• V R V Sriprasad, one of the key persons behind establishing the Bharat Benz brand in India is shifting to Volvo's India subsidiary as the managing director of the company. ET learns, the announcement to be made in the coming days. ET could not reach Sriprasad for his comments, and Volvo Buses India did not respond to an email query. Sriprasad will take over the position from current MD Manish Sahi, who will take another position in the group.

• DSK Hyosung is gearing up to expand its portfolio by launching the GD250R in July this year. Essentially a fully-faired version of the GD250N that was displayed earlier this year at the Auto Expo, the GD250R sports a single cylinder, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine. 

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Automotive updates - 12th MAy 2014

• Diesel prices may be hiked by up to one rupee a litre after Election Commission rejected the Oil Ministry's proposal made on the eve of elections to shelve the monthly increases in rates.

• Fiat is taking another run at getting things right in India as part of the wider strategy that the company, now Fiat Chrysler, has for the Asia-Pacific region in its 2018 plan.

• Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today reported 30 per cent increase in global sales for April at 37,171 units. The company's sales were up 72 per cent in the China region, 19 per cent in North America, 25 per cent in Asia Pacific and 27 per cent in Europe, JLR said in a statement.

• The net sales of SRF Limited, a multi-business entity engaged in the manufacture of chemical-based industrial intermediates, increased by 8% to Rs 884 crore for the last quarter of 2013-14 over the corresponding period last year.

• Harley-Davidson entered the Indian two-wheeler market in 2009 and currently the company holds the top position in the premium motorcycle segment. While the manufacturer brought down its bikes via the CBU route earlier, it was only in 2011 when Harley-Davidson India started importing their products as CKD units. The main reason for this was that CKD kits attract lesser tax than CBUs. These CKD kits are assembled at the company’s plant in Bawal, Haryana. Along with bikes, the company also offers spare parts and service, accessories as well as riding gear in India.

• Internal competition at Ford Motor is likely to rob its Indian unit an opportunity to export the EcoSport to North America, where the US automaker plans to launch the compact sport-utility vehicle in the first half of 2016, people familiar with the matter said.

• Suzuki India has silently updated the Swish 125 automatic scooter with a host of changes in order to counter the attack from the newly launched Honda Activa 125. With the Activa 125 launched earlier this month, the 125cc segment is surely facing the heat with India’s best selling scooter getting a bigger engine. Moreover, the Activa 125 has turned out be a more complete package with the bigger motor and updated exteriors which makes the Swish look dated. The Activa 125 is also more feature rich making the Swish seem basic in comparison.

• As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), initiative, Arvind Saxena, president and MD, General Motors India, recently handed over a cheque for Rs 150,000 to the school authorities at Sankalp School, Gurgaon for the education, meals and hygiene of One Class in the presence of other GM India senior leadership. Apart from financial assistance, GM India has committed full support to the school in the future as well.

• The Karnataka government has stopped operation of interstate luxury coach buses that have failed to comply with the latest rules and regulation in connection with emergency exit door norms. The state government has prevented such buses from entering into Karnataka since the past week.

• The Mercedes-Benz GLA has arrived on Indian shores for homologation purposes and is mere months away from its launch. Mercedes-Benz showcased the production-version of the Mercedes GLA at the Auto Expo 2014. A report from Import & Export data website Zauba.com says that two models of the compact SUV have been shipped over from Mercedes’ production facility in Germany.

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Automotive Updates - 11th May 2014

• Passenger Vehicle (PV) is expected to have the highest CAGR between 2014 -2019 in India, leaving behind even the two-wheeler segment, Frost & Sullivan forecasts.

• According to the report, PV is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.5 percent with annual sales reaching to 3.95 million units by 2019 while the two-wheeler will go up by 5.3 percent to reach 21.30 million units yearly sales. Utility Vehicle is expected to drive the growth in PV segment with an anticipated growth of over 20 percent over the next five years.

•  Eicher Motors plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in its various business verticals, including commercial vehicles and motorcycles, by the end of 2015.

• Volkswagen has joined the bandwagon of a growing number of car makers by announcing that they are developing a new 10-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG). This was revealed by Hans-Jakob Neusser, the development chief of Volkswagen Group at the 2014 Vienna motor symposium in Austria. 

• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit said on Friday it was recalling an estimated 780,477 minivans after reports of overheating, including some fires, in third-row power window vent switches.

•  Iconic cult bike maker Harley-Davidson has hit the sweet spot with its model 'Street 750', that is built in India, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of its April sales in the country within the first month of starting deliveries.The company, which is present in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary Harley-Davidson India, had launched the Street 750 priced at Rs 4.1 lakh in February and opened for bookings in March.

• Subaru cars maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd said on Friday it would stop manufacturing Toyota Motor Corp's Camry at its Indiana plant in the autumn of 2016.In a separate statement, Toyota said it would shift the production of the Camry that is now being manufactured at Fuji Heavy's Indiana plant to its own Kentucky plant in the autumn of 2016.

• Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF), a joint venture between the BMW Group and SGL Group is tripling the capacity of carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, USA, with an investment of $200 million, in addition to the previously invested $100 million.

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Automotive Updates - 10th May 2014

• Hindustan Motors has informed the exchange that the company's board of directors, at its meeting held on May 10, 2014, has appointed Mr Uttam Bose as additional director, Mr. Moloy Chowdhury as manager, Mr Tarun Kumar Kabra as company secretary and Mr Aniruddha Sarkar as chief financial officer with effect from May 10, 2014. 

• This apart, the company has also decided to hire a consultant to get a perspective on the challenges and possible solutions for its Uttarpara plant in West Bengal. The move is part of the company's overall endeavour to restructure Hindustan Motors. 

• Indian automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra expanding its footprint in the United States opened Mahindra GenZe electric two-wheeler facility and the North American Technical Center in Southeast Michigan.

• According to a Business Standard report, Mahindra Two Wheelers will bring to the market several new products and variants over the next 12 months.The company, now under the watch of industry veteran Dr. Pawan Goenka who assumed the role of the president this year, is targeting annual sales of one million units with a 10 percent contribution from exports.

• Audi has beaten fellow German competitor BMW (and its i8 supercar) to the market with the launch of the first production car with laser headlamps. Only 99 units of the limtied edition Audi L8 LMX Coupe will be manufactured. The R8 was the first production vehicle to debut full-LED headlamps in 2008.

•  SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF), a joint venture between the BMW Group and SGL Group is tripling the capacity of carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, USA, with an investment of $200 million, in addition to the previously invested $100 million.The expansion is expected to be complete by early 2015 to make the plant world's largest carbon fiber plant. With the anticipated creation of 120 new jobs, the headcount at the joint venture in Moses Lake is going to rise from currently 80 to about 200 people.

• Automobile production in Brazil rose 1.6 percent and sales climbed 21.8 percent in April from March, the national automakers' association said on Friday.Automakers in Brazil produced 277,100 new cars and trucks last month, while sales totaled 293,200 vehicles, according to data released by industry group Anfavea. Compared to April 2013, auto output fell 21.4 percent and sales dropped 12.1 percent.

• Venezuelans, who enjoy free highways and dirt-cheap gas, are struggling to buy cars as production falters thanks to a lack of foreign currency to pay for imported parts.Vehicle assembly plants are facing their worst year in the oil-rich OPEC nation, producing five times fewer vehicles than last year due to the lack of imported supplies amid an economic crisis that began last year.

• IBM and Robert Bosch GmbH have announced a collaborative partnership to create a new, data-driven model to more efficiently and accurately develop intelligent, interconnected automotive products. 

Automotive Updates- 09/05/2014

• In a bid to consolidate its presence in the Rs 14,000 crore car servicing industry, Mahindra First Choice Services, the multi-brand car service division of the Mahindra Group, said it plans to set up 450 outlets in the country in next three years. 

• Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL), the 50:50 joint venture between Rane Investments and TRW, has expanded operations to manufacture TRW airbags and the latest generation of seatbelt systems.

• Audi yesterday unveiled a new 3.0 TDI V6 engine at the Vienna Motor Symposium. The Clean Diesel engine is Euro 6 compliant with a displacement of 2,967 cc and a cylinder bank angle of 90 degrees.Audi have not listed out the models the engine would go into, but the current 3.0-liter motor is used right from the A4 till the Q7, covering a wide spectrum of Audi sedans and SUVs. Skoda and Volkswagen share this engine for their bigger vehicles.

• Eicher Motors Ltd today posted a 42 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 139.12 crore in the first quarter ended March 31.The company had posted a profit of Rs 97.94 crore in the same period of 2012-13.

• German automotive and industrial supplier Stabilus is planning to sell shares worth up to 292 million euros ($401 million) in its market debut on May 23.

• Atuo major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Ltd today said a section of its employees who were not reporting to duties at the company's tractor manufacturing plants at Mohali, Punjab, have resumed their work with effect from May 8. 

• Domestic giant Tata Steel has said despite a tough year for automobile sector, FY 14 saw sales of its special grade steel used in vehicles jump 15 per cent. The player which is counted among top 10 steel producers in the world, in a latest publication has said that despite a negative growth of 16 per cent and five per cent in commercial vehicles and and passenger cars it could achieve growth in automative sales mainly on the back of replacing imports.

•  Ford is recalling more than 692,000 Escape small SUVs and C-Max gas-electric hybrids in North America to fix two safety problems.The recalls cover vehicles from the 2013 and 2014 model years. Most of the Escapes have both problems.

• India's popular motorcycle marque, Royal Enfield, has started the New Year on a thumping note. For Eicher Motors Ltd, which is the parent company of Royal Enfield, has reported its highest ever total income from operations at Rs 1924.2 crores, highest ever EBIT at Rs 174.2 crores and highest ever PAT at Rs 156.2 crores for the quarter ending March 31, 2014.

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http://www.enidhi.net/2011/06/royal-enfield-bullet-factory-visit.html

Automotive Updates - 8th May 2014

• Tata Motorshas raised $300 million (about Rs 1,800 crore) through an issue of debt securities carrying a fixed interest rate.TML Holdings Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, issued and allotted $ 300 million in principal amount of 5.75 per cent senior fixed rate notes due 2021, Tata Motors said today in a filing to the BSE. 

• Harman International Industries, the global audio and infotainment group, has received the 2014 Global Product Leadership of the Year Award for high-end car audio by industry analyst Frost & Sullivan.

• Japanese auto major Nissan will start selling its Datsun brand from exclusive showrooms within this fiscal as it plans to have in three years' time totally independent outlets of its two brands in India. 

• Tata has silently launched the updated Aria in three variants with prices starting from INR 9.95 lakhs (ex-Showroom, New Delhi).On the outside, the refreshed Aria gets side body decals, dual barrel headlights with projector lights, clear lens for the taillight clusters and a black bezel for the headlamp cluster (available only on the top-end model)

• Bosch is betting big on the two-wheeler segment as one of the growth markets of the future. It expects worldwide sales of motorcycles to reach around 150 million units in 2020, more than the equivalent figure for cars. Just as it is for cars, Asia will be the driver of growth in the two-wheeler segment.

• The man behind the booming alliance - Renault-Nissan JV; chief operating officer of Renault and Nissan and chairman of the Russian auto group AvtoVAZ (better known as Lada automobiles) – Carlos Ghosn re-elected as chairman CEO of Reanult till 2017. Renault group has anounced that the Carlos Ghosn will be the CEO for the forthcoming 4-years. The decision was taken by the General Assembly and approved by 81.17% of the members. Ghosn extented his contract till decenber 2017. Renault, Nissan and their subsidiaries Dacia and Datsun all the four companies are doing wonders under one man - Carlos Ghosn.
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• German luxury carmaker Audi said on Thursday that global deliveries rose 11.6 per cent in April to 149,050 autos, helped by demand for the A3 compact and the A6 station wagon.

• Bharat Forge’s German subsidiary Bharat Forge Aluminumtechnik GmbH & Co KG (BFAT) has won a multi-year contract worth euro 250 million (Rs 2,086 crore) from a German OEM. The order is for the supply of suspension components based on unique technology industrialised by BFAT over the past few years and puts the company at the forefront of the aluminium component industry which is witnessing huge demand globally, thanks to growing global OEM demand for vehicle lightweighting.

• Defiance Technologies, the engineering company that is helping Nissan develop Datsun products, might be partly be sold off to Nissan.A report on the Economic Times states that Nissan is considering picking up a 20 to 40 percent stake in the engineering firm. The Chennai-based firm is at present owned by a clutch of companies that are part of the Hinduja Group. Ashok Leyland owns 29 percent of Defiance Technologies and around 35 percent is held by Ashley Holdings.

• Car market leader Maruti Suzuki has told its dealers to target around 15% growth this fiscal as it looks for a 300 basis point jump in its market share in the country’s 25 lakh unit passenger vehicle market to 45%. The encouraging outlook for FY15, which incidentally is a sharp contrast from the lower 5-6% growth expectations for FY15, announced during the Q4FY14 results last month, was presented to the dealers at an annual meet in Italy earlier this month.

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