Auto Monitor - 12 November 2012

I N D I A ’ S N O . 1 M A G A Z I N E F O R A U T O M O T I V E N E W S , V I E W S & A N A LY S I S

Auto Monitor

Vol. 12 No. 38

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12 November 2012

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Ashok Leyland launches cargo trucks with twin speed axles Our Bureau Mumbai

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shok Leyland introduced a range of haulage trucks fitted with twin speed rear axles and other modifications to enhance fuel efficiency by up to 10 percent. Deployed on 25 and 31 tonne trucks in both 6x2 and 8x2 configurations, the new set of technologies are custom designed for the Ashok Leyland driveline.

The twin speed rear axle technology allows the driver to shift to fuel-economy mode, while cruising, just by pressing the ‘Twin-Speed’ button. The technology also offers benefits of faster turnaround, improved driveability and reduced noise levels. It will be on offer on some of the company’s flagship models, in the multi-axle range, like the 2516IL, 2516XL, 3116IL and 3118IL, which are best

Twin-Speed offers faster turnaround, better driveability and reduced noise suited for applications like market load, cement, tankers and general cargo. These vehicles equipped with twinspeed axles will be launched across the country in a phased manner. The package of such technolog y improvements will be extended to 4x2 haulage and buses as well.

The company is looking to undertake to pay a penalty of `000 a day to the customer in case of delay in servicing a vehicle.

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AUTONOMICS

MACHINING

NEWS IN BRIEF

32 Pages

“We want meaningful double digit market share in India” Lowell Paddock, President and MD, GM India

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BMW India beefs up product portfolio for 2013 Anand Mohan Mumbai

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013 could shape up to be a big year for BMW India.

The Bavarian carmaker will launch four new products in India – the facelifted X6 that’s coming later this month, the facelifted X1 by early 2013, the updated 7-series by mid 2013 and the biggest launch for BMW – the 2013 1-series by end 2013.

The 1-series will be a crucial model for BMW since it will be locally assembled at the company’s Chennai plant. Mercedes is planning to launch the A-class in India which is internationally the 1-series’ competitor. This must have prompted BMW to go ahead with plans on the premium hatchback. Expect the most affordable BMW to have a price tag of under `20 lakh. The 1-series is globally powered by 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre petrol and diesel engines and a 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol but most likely, India should get the same 2.0 petrol and diesel mills powering the X1 to keep costs in check.

BMW recently revealed a new downsized engine family for future front-wheel drive models. The three-cylinder engine

is a 1.5-litre unit based on the same 500cc cylinder design.

This engine will power future front-wheel drive models from the BMW and Mini stable. The next Mini Cooper, the 1-series the 3-series will most likely be the first receivers of this engine.

Recently appointed President of BMW Group, India, Philipp Von Sahr did not comment on the products that will receive this engine but said that it has exciting possibilities.

BMW 6-series Gran Coupe launched BMW has launched the 6-series Gran Coupe in India at

Local production of BMW 1 Series by end 2013

`86.4 lakh ex-showroom, India.

A four door version of the 6-series coupe, the Gran Coupe is a direct competitor to Audi’s A7 and the Mercedes CLS. Philipp Von Sahr said at the launch, “A BMW has never been seen in this form ever before.”

The Gran Coupe will be available with only one engine option. It will be powered by the same 3-litre six cylinder engine powering the coupe and the convertible. The petrol 650i hasn’t

Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India with the all-new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe

been launched yet. The car will get two trims – the M sports package costs an extra `4 lakh and the luxury package costs `7.7 lakh in addition to the basic price of the car.

The all-new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is available at all BMW dealerships across India as a CBU (Completely Built-Up) unit and the deliveries will start from this month onwards.

The new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is available in alpine white as non-metallic paintwork and black sapphire, deep sea blue, havanna, mineral white, orion silver, space grey, titanium silver and vermillion red in metallic paintwork. The standard dakota leather upholstery is available in black, ivory white and cinnamon brown colour combinations.

Interior trims offered are finewood trim american oak, fine-wood trim poplar grain grey and fine brushed aluminium.

The optional M sport package is available in special carbon black and imola red colors with alcantara leather combination.

Nano diesel, CNG coming next year Our Bureau Mumbai

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ata Motors is looking to introduce two new Nano variants – a CNG and diesel powered car with the CNG variant to be introduced first, in the second half of this fiscal. The company is planning to introduce 31 new products from its stable in the first half of the next financial year. This will include six passenger cars and 25 commercial vehicles. It will be a mix of variants, completely new products, engine options and mid-cycle refreshes.

On the sluggish sales and future potential of the Nano, Tata Motors Passenger Car Business Unit President, Ranjit Yadav said, “The Nano will soon hit the sweet spot in the market. It has grown by about 31 percent in the last few quarters. Of course, we are way behind what our original plans and expectations were but now the Nano is finding a home for itself in many new segments.

We are soon going to reach what we believe is an inflection point, from where we will see quite some growth happening.”

Tata Motors’ consolidated net

profit grew by 10.55 percent to `2,075 crore from `1,877 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Consolidated revenues rose by 19.9 percent, to `43,403 crore due to growth at JLR. JLR’s revenues for the quarter stood at GBP 3,288 million (`28,573 crore), a growth of 12.8 percent to the corresponding quarter last year. This is due to a rise in sales of 13.9 per-

cent to 77,442 units and a GBP 67 million (`582 crore) foreign exchange gain.

EDITORIAL Hitting an Ace

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ata Ace, a vehicle that single handedly created the small commercial vehicle segment (and attracted a slew of copy cats), recently crossed the million sale milestone in around seven years and three months since launch. It may be very difficult to identify another vehicle over the last decade that had had such a profound impact on a segment and a company as the Ace. The vehicle, launched in 2004-05, was initially manufactured at Tata Motors’ Pune factory with ‘makeshift’ capacity of around 30,000 units per annum and proved to be laughably insufficient. The waiting list for the vehicle in the months following the launch proved that the company had seriously underestimated the demand for the vehicle. Customers were lapping up the vehicle far in excess of the rate at which the company could churn it out. It is currently manufactured in Pant Nagar with a capacity of 500,000 units per year. It is exported to countries like Angola, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Congo, Djibouti, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The platform has spawned variants like the Magic, the Ace HT, the Ace EX (with stop-start technology), the Ace CNG, the Super Ace (1 tonne) and the Ace Zip. The vehicle provided an upward ‘mobility’ in social status to a hitherto three wheeler driver/operator and spawned an entrepreneurial class of small truck operator. There are few instances of a vehicle making such a major impact on the fortunes of a company as the Ace, especially considering that the later launch of the Nano proved to be a major disappointment.

Industry observers had been quick to point out that Ace may be a ‘chance’ or an aberration and that the segment would soon be stifled by competition and upgrades to higher powered (or capacity) variants. That may well happen but Ace has proved to be an outlier phenomenon.

Comments can be sent to am.editorial@network18publishing.com

QUOTES Alan Mulally, Ford CEO on restructuring of European operations

The most important thing is to match our production to the level of demand

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Philipp Von Sahr, MD, BMW India

We want to be number one and continue to be number one with sustainable growth and not through discounting

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CONTENT MACHINING Cost-effective titanium forming

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André Albert of Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering has developed a new technology for hydro forming titanium car exhaust systems at elevated temperatures

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GLOBAL WATCH

CORPORATE Managing production cycle, inventories critical during lean phase

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There is a constant rush in the manufacturing sector to stick to tight deadlines, innovation in systems and processes are a luxury most production units don’t have the time to afford

VW enters pre-owned car business with Das WeltAuto

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VW India has kicked off its pre-owned cars business – Das WeltAuto, in India at existing VW new car dealerships in the same premises to avoid high cost on new premises

12 Ford, GM agree on $6.5 million rescue deal for Autodom

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Ford and GM recently agreed to underwrite Australian supplier Autodom Ltd’s $6.5 million debt to avoid a crippling vehicle production shutdown

Regus, BMW (UK) offer fleet car drivers a better way to work

VRegus and BMW (UK) will see Businessworld Gold Cards offered to BMW and MINI fleet drivers in the UK and allow drivers to enjoy access to Regus business lounge network

Force Motors to focus on LCVs, passenger vehicles

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THE OTHER SIDE

Force Motors is planning to enter the fast growing 0.5-0.8 tonne small commercial vehicle segment used for last-mile connectivity

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Yogesh Chander Munjal, Managing Director, Munjal Showa Ltd Ace platform sales cross one million mark Tata Ace and Tata Magic together crossed the one-million sales mark in August 2012 in 2,680 days making it one of the the fastest growing brand in the auto sector

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Munjal has been associated with many of the Hero Group companies in the capacity of CEO ever since he finished his formal education

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

INTERVIEW

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“We want meaningful double digit market share in India” Even after a presence of over a decade and half and an investment of one billion dollar so far in the country, GM has yet to catch the fancy of the Indian customers. The car manufacturer has been able to reap less than five percent of market share in the passenger car segment. In a recent interview President and MD, GM India, Lowell Paddock expressing great hope on the upcoming launches which includes MPV Enjoy told Nabeel A Khan that the company will achieve a meaningful double digit growth in a year.

Are you satisfied with GM’s performance in the one of the fastest growing automotive market?

If you think about 2010 and 2011, we have grown significantly.

But this was the period when the market was very bullish and the GM’s performance did not seem to match that?

I think there are couple of things that impact. If you see the tradition -mini segment (seats up to 5, length normally less than 3600mm) is de-growing in comparison to overall passenger car segment. We have not been present with good small car. As the market moved strong towards the diesel preference, we had nothing to offer to the customers.

And now we do have-Sail U-VA. You also have Beat diesel but the response was not so good, do you think the issue goes beyond product offering, going forward what is your strategy?

I don’t think it is a product issue. This is about tweaking and modifying and marketing the products. We should be able to communicate the very good attributes of our products and take the Chevrolet brand to the consumers. I think we should look at a combination of communicating well about the product already established in the market

as well as introducing products that have not been there in market. If we look at us, 2013 onwards we have a number of important product launches, we think that is going to help us communicate the Chevrolet message better than what we have done in the past.

What kind of market share do you expect to attain in the coming years?

We want to be a meaningful player; we want to move out of single digit share to a double digit share and having a meaningful presence in India. Obviously introducing new products into key segments is an important stepping stone to achieve this.

Towards the end of this year we are going to launch and MPVEnjoy. So If I talk about 2013, this year is going to be a growth year to capitalize on Sail U-VA and Enjoy as well as other products.

There is a perception that GM’s spare parts and after sales are costly, which may also be impacting sales?

We are trying to address this in a number of ways, like we announced five year powertrain warranty on Sail U-VA. If you also look at the Chevrolet promise which is the commitment to the customer satisfaction which no one but we are offering today.

So I think, the whole concep-

tion about Chevrolet vehicles’ parts being expensive is legacy of the past which we have to turn around. We are committed to localise our spare parts to make it as competitive in terms of price as any other manufacturer here.

practical place to develop as export base. Overall operating cost is lower compared to the other markets, the supplier base is improving. But in near future, our focus will remain on establishing ourselves in India.

What is the level of utilisation of your facilities in India currently?

It is a little tough to make a comment on this right now because there a lot of product which are just being introduced and phased out. For example U-Va and Aveo are running out. Next year on we will go on utilization basis 80 to 90 in terms of two-shifts. Specifically, the powertrain unit will be 90 percent utilized with the 1.3 litre ad one litre diesel engine and 1.2 litre petrol engine.

You said you want to have better communication with the customer, so what kind marketing expenditure you are looking at?

I think, we have been focusing our resources on the big launches at the end of this year. So to start an impact tomorrow, we are going to see a much bigger presence in the market place from the marketing perspective whether it’s the launch of the new spark or Sail U-VA or a new advertising campaign of Beat.

Chevrolet is going to be in the market place in much bigger way.

How about utilising the Indian production capacity for the neighbouring markets?

Currently we are focusing on strengthening the domestic market. Certainly India is a becoming

Small cities and towns have recorded substantial growth in the past few months, are you planning to further deepen you dealership network penetration?

We are trying to improve our presence with our existing network rather than adding new sales and service outlets. Right now we have around 280 dealerships across the country. I would say this is good place to start from and don’t want to over expand either. We want to strengthen existing metro market but we see the potential in the rural market as well.

When do you see Indian market recovering?

India is not completely deattached from the rest of the world and I think, getting rest of the market stabilised like Europe, will be key factor. I think the most critical factor for the growth here in India is low interest rates.

Any new investment in India from GM expected?

Right now, we want to leverage what we have but certainly we believe that India is a long-term growth opportunity for GM.

12 NOVEMBER 2012

SPECIAL REPORT

Auto Monitor

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Managing production cycle, inventories critical during lean phase Anand Mohan Mumbai

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n an ideal world, the automotive industr y would prosper by just building vehicles and selling them.

We are however aware that it’s not an ideal world and surprises, good, or bad, are around the corner. OEMs, tier one and tier two manufacturers are reacting to market demands on a daily-to-weekly basis. These reactions mean working on optimum production levels consistently almost never happens.

The industry is either working harder than usual or going through a lean patch. The former is welcome since you are raking in more profits, but what happens when the demand tails off and you have to keep available machinery and manpower unutilised?

It costs money. An OEM has built a large enough stock pre-

Shreekanth Moorthy, Tata Technologies

dicting demand but if it isn’t accurate, it suddenly asks its tier one suppliers to stop production of parts. The tier one supplier already has stock to react swiftly to OEM demand which is no more needed. It tells tier two suppliers to hold back delivery and so the first and worst hit is the tier two supplier. An auto component supplier pointed out that, “this is the case most often seen after the launch of a new product. Many component suppliers that are dependant heavily on a single OEM have had to shut shop in the recession we saw in 2008.” So what measures do you take to ensure that inconsistent market conditions do not affect the business?

One solution is to diversify. Increasing clients in your portfolio will give more stability to a supplier. The other is to develop products more frugally and improve processes over time. Since the manufacturing industry never stops and there is a constant rush to stick to tight deadlines, innovation in systems and processes are a luxury most production units don’t have the time to afford.

We found the need to address a couple of issues – how to save on development costs, how to improve productivity and make manufacturing as recession proof as possible.

With automotive experience from its parent- Tata Motors, Tata Technologies (TT) offers Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software to automotive

Since the manufacturing industry never stops and there is a constant rush to stick to tight deadlines, innovation in systems and processes are a luxury most component manufacturing units don’t have the time to afford manufacturers. It is an enabling tool to manage products throughout its life cycle including design and development.

The software is designed by companies like Dassault and Siemens. It is then customised

by TT to suit the needs of its clients. When asked, how does TT help reduce development costs, Vice President, Global PLM, Shreekanth Moorthy said, “We considerably reduce the time taken for development due to the expertise we have gained in the automotive space from our parent company, thus resulting in cost savings.”

In January, TT unveiled the eMO to showcase its capabilities in design and engineering but the company has no plans to build the car in the future.

Moorthy said, “We aim to apply the concepts we learned through this project to our clients’ requirements.”

TT says that every part of a car is not necessarily designed using the same CAD software.

The files need to be integrated into a common system so that if any modification is made to one part, it shows which other part is affected and the changes can be traced easily. This is collaborative engineering. Through PLM, a working drawing of each part is created and a step by step assembly of parts can be shown thus making it easier to build or take apart. It’s not only a boon as a production tool but also as an aftermarket solution to train mechanics.

The product is one half of the system, the other half is production systems and supply chain management. Once production commences, the supplier is at the mercy of demand from OEMs. Manufacturing rarely works on optimum levels, there is either a rush to produce more

or there’s a lean patch as mentioned above. In some cases, fluctuations in production can drive a supplier to bankruptcy.

Vector Consulting Group (VCG) adopts the Theory Of Constraints (TOC) management philosophy to find the weak areas in a manufacturer (or a manufacturing unit) and comes up with solutions to eradicate these flaws. Vector says that following its solutions will ensure 98 percent delivery performance on a daily basis. To begin with, VCG’s Kiran Kothekar said, “We need to accept the fact that OEMs cannot give accurate requirements.” He added that suppliers need to develop a system that will help them deliver whatever the OEM demands, irrespective of numerous alterations to requirements. Kiran said, “The only way to do it is

Contd. on Page 10

Auto Monitor

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12 NOVEMBER 2012

SPECIAL REPORT

Contd. from Page 09

Kiran Kothekar, Vector Consulting Group

actually build buffers instead of building inventories. And react as per consumption of the buffers, not inventory.” This can be done according to VCG only by reducing lead time. Elaborating on the subject, Kiran said, “lead times need to be small enough to react immediately. To keep lead times small, there needs to be extra capacity at the plant. This extra capacity is not done by increasing investment. It is done by improvements in the existing plant to deliver higher capacity.”

But the big question here is how to reduce lead time? To

that, Kiran said, “It can be done by having all the components in place and by producing only what is required. If stocks are depleting, next day they need to be replenished. By the next day, a component can be produced.

This means three days of lead time. A manufacturer can have just ten days of buffer and manage production instead of what used to take 30 days earlier.” For this, he said, “the same system of buffers needs to be applied at the suppliers end.” VCG says that in this system, production depends on consumption, not

forecasts.

Reducing lead time increases the number of production cycles in the same period resulting in higher Return On Investment (ROI). VCG’s Satyashri Mohanty explained a simple calculation on making higher profit by reducing lead time. “If a distributor is making `1.2 crore sales in a year, he is selling Rs 10 lakh worth of goods per month. He generally keeps 60 days of stock which is two months of sale amounting to `20 lakh. If he nets a profit of four percent, at the end of the year, he will be mak-

ing `4.8 lakh on `20 lakh which is 20-25 percent. If could do this sale with 15 days of stock, he will be making the same `4.8 lakh on `5 lakh which is almost 100 percent ROI,” he elaborated.

We asked VCG what differentiates them from other consulting firms. To that, Kiran replied, “Our system is not just a theory; we implement it for the suppliers so they can see for themselves the benefits of our system.”

But what happens when sales fall? Suppliers can’t continue to make as much profits when there

is lesser demand for a product.

To this, VCG said, “the disaster is not making lesser profits, its landing up in a state of bankruptcy. Suppliers gear up quicker to a downturn with our system because of shorter reaction times.”

Time is, quite literally, money in the automotive industry.

Time taken for development of a product, time taken in manufacturing and time gained or lost in reacting to the market conditions. Keeping companies profitable depends on how well one manages time without compromising on quality.

Romax launches new software for gearbox and driveline design called ‘Concept’ Our Bureau Mumbai

U

K based Romax Technology has launched a new gearbox and driveline designing software called Concept. Concept has been developed for the initial stages of gearbox and driveline development that covers product planning and concept design.

Product Planning To Prototype Romax also has a software called ‘Designer’ that is used for detailed design, prototype manufacture and prototype testing. What Romax has done with the Concept is providing a tool to designing gearboxes and drivelines and passing it on seamlessly to Designer from product planning to prototype testing.

What Romax has done with the Concept is providing a tool to designing gearboxes and drivelines and passing it on seamlessly to Designer from product planning to prototype testing

Concept has a drag-and-drop function with multiple concept layout designs which helps you visualize the concepts during product planning stage. Gear and bearing size selection and NVH assessments can be done on Concept.

Romax says that using Concept and Designer reduces development time considerably resulting in lower development costs.

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

C O R P O R AT E

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Earnings growth to remain subdued in the wake of weak demand, inflation in overheads and currency volatility: ICRA Jitin Makkar Subrata Ray

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CRA’s study of a sample of 35 publically-listed auto component manufacturers shows that the revenue growth of these select entities has been consistently declining over the last six quarters with growth being the slowest in the first quarter, 2012-13.

The revenue growth of the auto components industry is typically a close reflection of the blended growth of individual automotive segments - passenger vehicle (PV), commercial vehicle (CV) and two-wheeler (2W). While the auto components industry had ridden the up tide beneath each of these three automotive segments in 2009-10 and 2010-11, the trend turned rocky during 201112 with end customer demand continuing to remain subdued even in YTD 2012-13, according to the company release.

Revenue growth could have been lower still, but for the increased traction in domestic replacement market supplies and healthy growth in component exports to North America, supported further by a weaker Indian currency. In ICRA’s view, revenue growth prospects of the auto components industry over the near term remain sombre as all three automotive segments are likely to grow at a low-to-mid single digit rate in 2012-13. The performance of individual auto component manufacturers may continue to vary depending on the entities’ revenue mix (OEMs/ replacement market/ non-automotive segment), segment leaning (PV/ CV/ 2W) and geographical diversification (domestic/exports).

Even as auto component manufacturers grappled with slower revenue growth and increase in cost overheads including employee costs and power costs, overall pressure on EBITDA margins was relatively lower in Q1, 2012-13 in view of the relatively benign raw material cost environment. In our sample, EBITDA margins of several entities improved in Q1, 2012-13 (on a YoY basis) by virtue of softening of key raw material prices including

rubber, aluminium and copper; besides successful implementation of internal cost compression measures. In contrast, entities having significant dependence on Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCVs), a segment whose sales volumes declined sharply by 13 percent YoY in Q1, 2012-13, witnessed significant EBITDA margin contraction.

Also, the EBITDA margin of several component manufacturers based in southern states was adversely impacted by increase in power costs in Q1, 2012-13 due to non-availability of the required quantum and quality of power (necessitating usage of high cost diesel-based captive power), besides having to bear increase in power tariffs and other additional levies.

According to the rating agency, the auto component industry’s EBITDA margins reflect greater pressure in Q2, 2012-13 following the negative impact of the recent one-month production disruption at one of the manufacturing facilities of Marti Suzuki (the largest PV OEM in India), continual slide in M&HCV segment sales volumes, and sharp production volume cut undertaken by Hero MotoCorp (the largest 2W OEM in India) in August and September 2012 as an inventory correction measure – factors that are likely to cause decline in revenues of related suppliers without a commensurate reduction in costs.

However, individual entities having a diversified business mix, proprietary product capabilities and growing replacement market presence may continue to sustain a steady EBITDA margin profile, while also drawing support from a weak commodity price outlook.

One of the primary reasons for the subdued earnings growth

of auto component manufacturers since Q2, 2011-12 has been adverse currency movements.

The net profits of auto component manufacturers with foreign currency loans had been adversely impacted in Q2, 2011-12 and Q3, 2011-12 following the sharp appreciation of the USD against the INR since the second fortnight of September 2011, resulting in (a) MTM losses on restatement of foreign currency loans; and (b) higher interest outgo. The currency cycle supported the industry in Q4, 2011-12 as the Indian currency strengthened as on March 31, 2012 vis-à-vis December 31, 2011; only to come back to haunt the industry’s net profits yet again in Q1, 2012-13.

The balance sheets of several auto component manufacturers feature ECBs, FCCBs, Buyers’ Credit and other foreign currency borrowings that remain unhedged. This apart, while a large number of entities that import raw materials do generally get compensated by OEMs at the prevailing exchange rate (although compensation is with a lag), given the long payables cycle with overseas suppliers (30-90 days payment cycle), the importing entity does remain exposed to forex risk on unhedged payables (as also on exports receivables).

A variety of reasons could be ascribed to the auto component manufacturers’ proclivity to leave their trade and non-trade related foreign currency exposures unhedged – these include: the high cost of hedging in a volatile currency environment and past experience of many industry players experiencing large losses on derivative transactions (most players treated these exposures as hedging transactions, till losses piled up) leading to discomfort about forex hedging transactions

in general.

In the current uncertain global environment, exchange rate volatility may be here to stay, making effective management of forex risk an imperative.

In ICRA’s view, auto component manufacturers would need to use hedging as a tool more actively, aligned with their business plans, in order to manage forex risk.

Capital Expenditure Plans The capacity expansion programme of auto component manufacturers generally tends to follow that of their key customer OEMs. With OEMs such as Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and Ford, planning to establish greenfield facilities in Gujarat; and Honda Motorcycles and Scooters being in the process of establishing a new plant near Bangalore, their respective suppliers of key components would also be required to make investments in close proximity to these new facilities or in the OEMs’ vendor parks. As per ICRA’s estimates, the above greenfield investments may entail

total investments of Rs 70 billion to be incurred by auto component manufacturers over the next three years. These investments apart, the quantum of capex otherwise planned to be incurred by auto component manufacturers over the near term remains conservative with several entities even deciding to scale-down the capex from the levels earlier budgeted. The last major capacity expansion undertaken by auto component manufacturers was during the boom phase of 2009-10 and 2010-11 when demand generally outstripped supply.

However, with automotive volume growth unlikely to turn to the fast lane soon, there exists a sufficient capacity buffer to meet the level of demand envisaged over the short term.

VW enters pre-owned car business with Das WeltAuto Our Bureau Mumbai

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olkswagen India has commenced operations of its pre-owned cars business – Das WeltAuto, in India. Pre-owned car showrooms will be opened by existing VW new car dealerships in the same premises so that the company doesn’t have to make any incremental investments on newer properties.

To begin with, 15 outlets have already been opened. VW is planning to open a total of 21 dealerships by this year end and 50 by end of next year. Every preowned car sold at Das WeltAuto will go through a 160 point checklist and will be certified by the company. A one year/45,000 km warranty also comes includ-

ed in the cost. VW expects 25 percent of a dealer’s business to come from Das WeltAuto. The company is banking largely on trade-ins but is also open to just buying of pre-owned cars.

The pre-owned car segment is steadily shifting from being unorganised to a mix of organised and unorganised players.

Although the unorganised market is huge, the organised sector is hoping to gain market share with OEM backed outlets entering the business. By bringing in transparency and an extensive check-list to ensure quality, which was always an issue with the unorganised sector, the organized segment is shaping up.

Managing Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt. Ltd, Arvind Saxena said, “We esti-

VW is planning to open a total of 21 dealerships by this year end and 50 by end of next year mate the pre-owned car business to be 1.3 times the new car business in India which opens a great opportunity for us to sell as many cars as possible.” In the first half of this financial year, domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 1.27 million units, according to the data available from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Thus according to VW calculations, the used car market stood at 1.66 million units in the same period.

Saxena also spoke on customer retention being an important factor. He said, “This business (Das WeltAuto) also helps retains our customers and get customers from other brands. On opening a multi-

brand outlet as opposed to just V W pre-owned cars, Saxena said, “V W’s car population is very small so in order to get numbers, I need to buy and sell cars of other brands. This will also help the new car sales.”

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

MACHINING

14

Cost effective titanium forming

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itanium is a material that offers excellent properties; however, it is costly and time-consuming to form. Fraunhofer researchers are now giving this multi-purpose metal another chance.

To all intents and purposes, nothing stands in the way of titanium in terms of becoming a first-choice industrial material. It is a practically unlimited resource; it is stable and lightweight, but also extremely malleable as well as corrosion and temperature resistant.

Nevertheless, this white silver lustrous metal remains in the shadows of steel, chrome, nickel and aluminium when it comes to manufacturing. The reason for this is that efficient metal forming processes such as deep drawing or hydro forming can only be used in a very limited way.

“Titanium tends to adhere to the forming tools. This leads to major damage which can cause components to fail in the worst case. This effect is amplified by the extremely high temperatures of up to 800 °C, at which tita-

The approximately 1.40 x 1.20 metre forming tool is manufactured from high-performance materials such as nickel-base alloys which remain stable at temperatures over 8000 celcius without oxidising nium has to be formed,“ explains Group Leader- media based forming technologies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz, Germany, André Albert.

In collaboration with his colleagues at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig, Germany, he has developed a new technol-

ogy for hydro forming titanium car exhaust systems at elevated temperatures. This new method enables forming to be undertaken in a single process stage.

Up until now, a minimum of three stages were necessary utilizing intermediate heat treat-

ments which partially required processing at different locations. The scientists have now developed a process and custom tool which can withstand temperatures of over 800 °C. “Forming titanium at room temperatures leads to severe cold

work hardening of the processed pipe. In order to prevent cracking, the metal requires frequent treatment by means of recrystallisation processes. This leads to extremely complex multi-stage forming processes which are not economically viable in large-vol-

ume production of exhaust systems. This micro structural change can be avoided at extremely high temperatures,“ elaborates Albert.

The approximately 1.40 x 1.20 metre forming tool is manufactured from high-performance materials such as nickel-base alloys which remain stable at temperatures over 800 °C without oxidising. A special coating, just a few micrometers thick prevents titanium from adhering to the tool, which can lead to component cracking and severe damage to the surface.

Due to the lack of cost-effective forming technologies for titanium, manifolds, exhausts, converters and mufflers are primarily manufactured from high-alloy stainless steel “At temperatures from approximately 500 °C, titanium exhibits a strong tendency to combine with oxygen and nitrogen from the surrounding atmosphere. For this reason, it is necessary to work with shielding gases at extremely high temperatures, such as argon, in order to prevent oxidization of the titanium. After extensive testing with various materials, we were able to develop the ideal coating for the special conditions encountered within the various temperature ranges,“ Expert for new tribological coatings at IST, Martin Weber said.

Tita nium is ex tremely versatile.

Approximately 40 percent of the worldwide production is used in the aerospace industry.

In this sector it is used, for example, in window frames, hydraulic lines and jet engine components. Additional applications include pipes and containers for the chemicals industry, seawater-resistant components for offshore wind farms, implants, pacemakers or surgical instruments as well as consumables such as bicycle frames and items of piercing jewellery.

In the automotive industry, this versatile metal has only been used for high-end vehicles and motor sport applications up until now.

However, it offers a great deal of potential, especially for mass production of exhaust systems.

Due to the lack of cost-effective forming technologies for titanium, currently manifolds, exhaust pipes, catalytic converters and mufflers are primarily manufactured from high-alloy stainless steel. In doing so, titanium would not only be lighter – a total weight advantage of 40 percent can be achieved per component. It is also more available – titanium belongs to the ten most frequently occurring substances in the earth‘s crust.

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

C O R P O R AT E

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Force Motors to focus on LCVs, passenger vehicles Nabeel A Khan & Jagdev Kalsi New Delhi

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n its way to expand its customer base, Force Motors is planning to enter the fast growing 0.5-0.8 tonne small commercial vehicle segment used for last-mile connectivity.

With increasing urbanisation, the segment has seen robust growth in the past couple of months with the soft-top category registering 37 percent growth in Apr-Sep 2012-13 over the same period last year.

“The 0.5-0.8 tonne segment is vacant for us and we are seriously thinking on it. Force Motors thought of small half a tonne products well in advance, but due to focus on bigger vehicles (due to Force-Man JV) it couldn’t introduce them on time” said Chief Operating Officer, Sales & Marketing, Force Motors, NK Rattan.

The vehicle manufacturer already has the technology and knowhow. “This area is more volume driven area and in the

future, we can declare something,” Rattan added. Tata Motors is the current leader in the soft-top segment with almost 73 percent share followed by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd with a 27 percent share (data for April-Sep 2012-13).

Force Motors will be coming up with an MPV in 2013-14 based on the Viano van platform from Daimler targeted at the highend customer and it will be manufactured at the Pithampur plant

Premium Segment Force Motors plans to invest Rs 1000 crore in the next three years. The company has invested about `50 crore for the development of Force Traveller 26 that it launched recently. In the Passenger Vehicles segment, Force Motors will be coming up with an MPV in 2013-14 based on the Viano van platform from Daimler targeted at the highend customer. The Viano-based van will be manufactured at the company’s Pithampur plant.

“Our MPV will be a high end product based on the Viano.

We have bought their plant, machinery and technology and it’ll be launched in 2013-14”, confirmed NK Rattan.

Force Motors is further planning to spend `200 crore this year and expand the Force One portfolio by adding at

least two more variants of the SUV. While one of the variants will be placed below the current variant, the other will be

a fully loaded 4X4 variant with features like ABS and cruise control. The base variant will be priced in the sub ten-lakh range

to woo the customers. The fully loaded 4X4 variant with ABS will cost `1.5-2 lakh more than the existing variant. With the overall UV segment growing at more than 55 percent from last year, Force Motors will be trying to make the best of it. NK Rattan also confirmed that the two variants will be launched in January 2013.

Force Motors will also be expanding its dealership network from current 173 dealerships.

It aims to reach 223 dealerships and 65 service centres by December 2012 in order to support its expansion plans.

Ace platform sales cross one million mark Our Bureau Mumbai

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ata Ace and Tata Magic together crossed the one-million sales mark in August 2012 in 2,680 days. Total sales, at the end of October 2012, are at 1,059,135 – 997,133 in India and 62,002 abroad. At present, about 1,346 showrooms sell the two vehicles and around half the sales of the Tata Ace / Tata Magic come from semi-urban and rural India, where Tata Motors is establishing a dedicated sales & marketing network.

The Tata Ace was launched in 2004-05 with a capacity of 30,000 units per year in Pune and this modest beginning has evolved to a dedicated facility in Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) with a capacity of 500,000 units per year.Since 2006, the Tata Ace and the Tata Magic is exported to around 24 countries including Angola, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Congo, Djibouti, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

1,346 showrooms sell the two vehicles and around half the sales of the Tata Ace / Tata Magic come from semi-urban and rural Indiaarketing network The Tata Ace platform has spawned about ten variants. Under the Tata Ace, the company sells the Ace HT, the Ace EX (with stop-start technology), the Ace CNG, the Super Ace (1 tonne) and the Ace Zip. The Ace Zip was introduced in 2012, a micro truck with a payload of 600 kg for deep penetration door-to-door goods movement. Under the Tata Magic are the Magic HT, the Magic CNG and the Magic Iris. The Magic Iris was launched in 2012 as a three to four seater four-wheel passenger carrier for better comfort of commuters who depend on small auto-rickshaws. The platform also led to the launch of the Tata Venture in January 2011. The company estimates that around 60 percent of Tata Ace / Tata Magic owners are semi-educated youth – first-time users – who have launched goods or passenger transport operations with their vehicles.

The applications, apart from goods carriage, include tankers, dumper placers, cargo vans, mobile retail vans, café-on-wheels, high-lift cherry pickers, mobile hoardings, high security cash vans and taxi and school applications.

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

TECHNOLOGY

18

Renault’s eco drive application for heavy duty trucks

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ruck Fuel Eco Driving, the new application developed by Renault Trucks, enables anyone to practice eco-driving an HGV on their smartphone or tablet.

This is a game for learning how to anticipate the characteristics of the road and reduce consumption without compromising efficiency.

The Truck Fuel Eco Driving game, developed by Renault Trucks, was unveiled on video simulators at the IA A Motor Show in Hanover. Based on the typical conditions truck drivers actually have to face on the road, this application puts the player behind the wheel of a Renault Premium Long Distance pulling a 40 tonne load, with the objective of driving it as fast and as economically as possible.

Ten missions, with ten different levels of difficulty, take the player through various routes. At the beginning of each mission,

Beginners and experienced drivers alike will find Truck Fuel Eco Driving, a useful way of testing their driving style to help them improve in real-life situations and also provide tips on fuel efficiency players are given a set of specific objectives. For example, they are asked to manage their consumption when going uphill and downhill or when negotiating city traffic.

Informed of obstacles on the route such as traffic lights, junctions or traffic jams, drivers have to think ahead as far as possible so that they can get maximum

acceleration at the right moment.

The aim is to maintain a high journey speed while at the same time reducing fuel consumption. At any moment, drivers can decide to accelerate or brake according to the information displayed on their screens. They must be cautious, since one error too many and they have to start all over again. In other words, access to

the next level is only granted once players have achieved the objectives set at the beginning of each mission. They must have earned at least one star at the end of their journey before they can move on to the next level. The best drivers can earn up to three stars - which is a way of assessing the quality of their economic driving.

This application is an enter-

taining way of applying the principles of eco-driv ing.

Beginners and experienced drivers alike will find it a useful way of testing their driving style to help them improve in real-life situations. The Truck Fuel Eco Driving application can be downloaded free of charge for smartphones and tablets operated through iOS or Android.

Market to expand for advanced driver safety systems

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ontinental is looking at growth opportunities in the development of advanced driver safety systems as automakers prepare for the introduction of new Euro NCAP tests covering anti-collision measures for vehicles and pedestrians from 2014.

Growth in the systems that use camera, radar and lasers to detect hazardous driving situations, is expected to rise by 40 percent year-on-year for the company.

Anti Collision Measure Advanced driver safety features from Continental include Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), which either warns the driver of a collision or automatically brakes the vehicle, Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Emergency Steer Assist (ESA) that automatically steers the car around pedestrians when it calculates there is insufficient distance to bring the car to a standstill without hitting them.

Continental says it expects cheaper laserand radar-based systems to be a standard feature on most mass-market vehicles within twenty years. In 2008, Volvo Cars was the first automaker to introduce an impact detection system based on Continental’s short range Lidar laser system.

Andy Furlong appointed Europcar Director

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ndy Furlong has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing and has been put in charge of creating digital marketing campaigns to grow online sales. He reports to Nick Harwood, Sales and Marketing Director for Europcar UK Group.

He has joined from TravelHorizon Group (Aix en Provence), Europe’s largest online ski business, where he was Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to that, he held high level marketing positions at Mark Warner Ltd, Island Cruises and Thomson Holidays. His expertise in developing strong ‘through the line’ marketing initiatives, harnessing the power of Ecommerce, will be invaluable as he drives forward brand marketing in the UK.

Auto Monitor

12 NOVEMBER 2012

AUTOPOINT

20

“Two Wheeler sales await Diwali bonus” Revati Kasture Head, Industry Research Vishal Srivastav Manager Samay Ganhar Analyst

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ince the second half of FY12, automotive sector is under strain owing to the constantly shrinking demand that has been impacted due to combination of factors like high interest rates, high fuel prices, below normal monsoon this year. While automotive sector was clamouring about economic woes, TW industry was cheering through tough times with a growth of 14.2 percent in FY12. Among all the brouhaha TW was the only industry in automotive sector which was untouched by the negative sentiment until second quarter of FY13.

In August 2012 TW observed a decline of 5 percent on Y-o-Y basis followed by a decline of 13 percent YoY in the month of September.

TW giant Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) witnessed biggest drop among all TW manufacturers in September 2012. HMCL observed a

decline of 11 percent in August 2012 on Y-o-Y basis followed by drop of 26 percent in September 2012.

While Hero’s volume drop was viewed as one of the reasons that pulled down industry’s growth, CARE Research believes that the drop in sales of Hero MotoCorp is only an effect and not the cause.

The cause, however, remains declining rural purchasing power which is a major market for HMCL that has been majorly affected due to below normal monsoon coupled with spiralling inflation and fuel prices. Some portion of the decline can also be attributed to the delay in purchases due to festive season approaching. Traditionally sales weaken during the second quarter of financial year as some people avoid purchasing during the inauspicious perceived period of ‘SHRAD’ and some delay purchase until the festive season around the month of November.

Both high efficiency as well as high power bikes displayed a lacklustre performance High efficiency bikes which are popular in rural markets displayed poor show as rural economy is under strain due to below nor-

mal monsoon coupled with high inflation. Demand for high power bikes primarily comes from urban areas and are more dependent on financing options. While inflation is leaving a hole in buyer’s pocket at the same time sky high cost of borrowing is leaving buyers devoid of liquidity. Furthermore, challenging economic environment has also led to delay in replacement purchases.

While less than 110cc and 125-150cc sub-segments in motorcycles dropped by 3 percent and 42 percent respectively in FY13 (Apr-Sep), the 110-125cc sub-segment has been able to maintain growth of around 31 percent in the same period. This indicates that rather than high

efficiency or power, the buyers are opting for value segment which offers a combination of both power and efficiency.

Scooters growth continues unabated irrespective of gloomy economic scenario At a time when motorcycle sales are trembling, scooter sales show a ray of hope for TW industry as it witnessed a rise of around 20 percent during Apr-Sep FY13 period.

The push in the sales for scooters is mainly due to rising demand from female buyers combined with its growing preference among the urban male buyers owing to improved styling to suit their requirements, greater riding comfort and easy manoeuvrability.

HMCL to observe divide in its brand loyalty post discontinuation of its tie-up with Honda Divide of brand “Hero Honda” resulted in divide of brand loyalists into two. CARE Research observed that there is a section of buyers especially from rural areas who favours “Hero” due to its extensive and reliable network support, while another section especially urban buyers favours “Honda” due to its technological supremacy.

This divide is resulting in cannibalisation of Hero’s market by Honda.

CARE Research further observed that, this divide has pulled down HMCL’s market share to 42.7 percent in FY13 (Apr-Sep) from 45.2 percent in FY12, while at the same time Honda’s market share has swelled from 14.9 percent to 19.0 percent. CARE Research believes, cannibalisation by Honda coupled with increasing competition from other OEMs in less than 110cc segment will deter Hero Splendour to maintain same kind of dominance as observed in the past.

Inventory piling up at dealerships, festive season a hope of revival...

CARE Research estimates that Industry witnessed a production cut of around 10 percent and 6 percent in August and September 2012 respectively in order to curtail rising inventory levels. The festive season in the month of October and November would also help in clearing the inventories at the dealer level. Furthermore, along with the festive demand pull, sales will be pushed by both OEMs as well as dealers.

12 NOVEMBER 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Auto Monitor

21

Renault, Caterham Group in partnership to design and build sports cars

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enault and Caterham Group are joining hands to design develop and build future sports cars. This agreement reflects a similar passion and expertise in sports and competition cars.

The future vehicles will be distinctive, differentiated, and carry the respective DNA of Alpine and Caterham Cars, the automotive division of Caterham Group.

They will be built at the Alpine plant in Dieppe, Normandy, in France.

The Caterham Group will own a 50 percent stake in the Automobiles Alpine Renault company, currently wholly owned by Renault SAS. The Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham, that will result from this partnership, will be created in January 2013. It will be managed by Bernard Ollivier.

This project, which ensures the Dieppe plant a sustainable future, was made possible thanks to the incentive and to the substantial support and commitment provided by the French State and the Région Haute Normandie.

Following a feasibility study on the joint development of a sports car conducted by Renault Sport Technologies and Caterham Technology & Innovation (CTI the engineering and technology business of Caterham Group), Renault and Caterham will combine their skills to build models in

large and small volumes, in order to widen their positioning on the sports car market. The objective for each company is to launch its own car in this market within the next three to four years.

Renault and Caterham Group will each bring their respective technical skills to the development of the future products through a newly-created joint Engineering Department. They will split the required engineering and industrial investments on a 50-50 basis in the spirit of a true partnership.

Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham will be able to draw upon the expertise of Renault, Renault Sport Technologies and CTI in the development of its future products.

“This innovative partnership with Caterham embodies a longstanding ambition: the creation of a sports car with the Alpine DNA. It carries both opportunities for the Dieppe plant and the development of its historic expertise,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault, Carlos Ghosn.

“Formula 1 was always our entry point into the car business.

Our original plans to develop a partnership with Lotus were put aside in spectacular and well documented style, but now we have a far better chance to develop Caterham Cars in partnership with Renault, working with Caterham Technology who is also integrally involved in this new venture. Our F1 team has

already been working successfully with Renaultsport F1 since the start of the 2011 F1 season and I am thrilled that now we are adding to our track partnership by joining forces with Renault on the road. Together with Renault, we have now created an opportunity for Caterham Cars to grow into the next stage of its development from a very well respected niche brand into a serious player on the global motoring map, “ said Meranun, Caterham Group Deput y Chairman, Dato Kamarudin.

Jean Rédélé, pilot, businessman and automotive pioneer, founded Alpine in 1955. Alpine’s manufacturing and racing adventure started with the A106 coach based on the platform and engine of the Renault 4 CV. The Alpine DNA is based on nimble, lightweight, high-performance vehicles with flowing lines: a formula that works well for both road and race cars. The ever-young A110 - celebrating its 50th birthday - is probably the most iconic of Alpine’s road cars. During its existence, Alpine sold 30,000 road sports cars. For several decades, it also carried high Renault’s sporting colours. Among other victories, Alpine was World rally champion in 1973, winner of the Monte Carlo Rally in 1973 and 1974 and of the Le Mans 24-hour event in 1978. Its sporting record includes many prestigious victories. Alpine ranks among the sporting legends.

Every weekend, over a thousand competitors race Caterham vehicles on tracks around the world, from Silverstone and Brands Hatch to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Caterham Cars is able to combine its engineering excellence with the manufacturing and production capabilities of Renault to create a Caterham vehicle of even greater potential.

This new vehicle will still possess the fundamental DNA of the Seven, which remains in production in Dartford, UK. The Dieppe plant will play a central role in the partnership between Renault and Caterham Group, at the heart of the sporting passion shared by the two partners. This is where the future sports cars of Renault and Caterham will be built. The project is a development opportunity for the Dieppe site, from the standpoint not only of production, but also the acquisition of a prized and unique expertise.

The Alpine plant in Dieppe is currently dedicated to building the vehicles developed by Renault Sport Technologies, both production (Clio Renaultsport) and race models.

The Dieppe plant, built in 1969, is the historical home of the Alpine brand which gave birth to such legendary models as the Berlinette.

Its core business is the assembly

of sports cars, the assembly and sale of competition cars, and the sale of spare parts for competition cars, including at motor racing events. Its flexibility and ability to adapt are just two of the specific characteristics that enable it to produce vehicles in small runs.

With a workforce of over 300 and a surface area of 76,000 m² of which 36,900 m² is built up, the plant has produced more than 400 000 vehicles since 1969.

Caterham Group is the parent company grouping businesses specialising in cars, motorsport, technology and innovation, including Caterham Cars, Caterham Technology and Innovation, Caterham F1 Team and Caterham Composites.

Caterham’s range of Sevens reflects perfectly that ideal. The company has its production based in Dartford, Kent, UK and has a global retail network.

Caterham Technology and Innovation (CTI) is a specialist engineering business with a focus on advanced vehicle concepts, enhanced powertrains, advanced materials and manufacturing technologies. CTI engineers undertake advanced projects for external companies in the automotive and aerospace sectors. The company has its headquarters in Hingham, Norfolk, UK.

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12 NOVEMBER 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

CARS 2020 action plan focuses on reinforcing competitiveness of European auto industry

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he EU needs to mainta in a world-class car industr y, manu fac t u r i ng energ y efficient and safe vehicles globally and providing high-skilled jobs to millions. The European Commission recently tabled the CARS 2020 Action Plan aimed at reinforcing this industry’s competitiveness and sustainability heading towards 2020.

T he Com m ission proposes streamlining research and innovation under the Eu ropea n Green Veh icle Initiative. Co-operation with the European Investment Bank will be reinforced to finance an innovation boost and facilitate SME access to credit. An EU standard recharging interface will provide the regulatory certainty needed to facilitate a breakthrough for large scale electric car production.

Innovation in the automotive industry will also be stimulated through a comprehensive pack-

age of measures to reduce CO2, pollutant and noise emissions, to drive improvements in road safety and develop technologica l ly-adva nced i ntel l igent transport systems (ITS).

In parallel, the Commission also proposes to address the immediate problems in the car sector. In response to a fall in demand on European car markets and plant closure announcements, the commission will in November bring together car producers and trade union representatives and Ministers of Industry ahead the next Competitiveness Council to review measures for dealing with the present crisis in a coordinated way. The car industry is important throughout Europe and a European response is needed. This response should focus on addressing overcapacity, social and technological investment, as well as state aid and demand-side measures, followed by a discussion at the political level.

The Commission proposes streamlining research and innovation under the European Green Vehicle Initiative. Co-operation with the European Investment Bank will be reinforced to finance an innovation boost and facilitate SME access to credit.

An EU standard recharging interface will provide the regulatory certainty needed to facilitate a breakthrough for large scale electric car production. It further calls for promoting investment in skills and training to accompany the anticipated structural changes There is likely to be a major increase in the number of cars sold in emerging countries in the coming decade, offering opportunities for the EU car industry, but with high pressure to improve sustainability and to address increasing global competition.

The Action Plan comprises concrete proposals for policy initiatives in order to promote investment in advanced technologies and innovation for clean vehicles, improve market conditions by strengthening the single market for vehicles through an improved type-

approva l system, including market surveillance, to avoid unfair competition. It also calls for streamlining of financial incentives for clean vehicles and consistent application of the smart regulation principles, including the application of competitiveness proofing for major policy initiatives to estimate the specific impact of major policy initiatives on the automotive industry, support industry in accessing the global market, intensifying the work on international harmonisation of vehicle regulations with the ultimate aim of achieving an international car type approval and global safety requirements for electric vehicles and their batteries. It further calls for promoting investment in skills and training to accompany structural change and anticipate employment and skills needs by encouraging the use of the European Social Fund (ESF) for this purpose.

Ford, GM agree on $6.5 million rescue deal for Autodom

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ord and GM recently agreed to underwrite Australian supplier Autodom Ltd’s $6.5 million debt to avoid a crippling vehicle production shutdown.

Autodom, a supplier of parts to local units of Ford, Toyota, and the GM Holden unit of GM, closed its plants in two Australian cities.

The closings raised fears the shutdown would halt Ford and GM Holden production. The deal, under which Ford Australia and GM Holden will roughly share the strategically-vital company’s debt liability, was finalised with the appointment of receiver McGrathNicol, allowing Autodom to resume production soon.

“Holden’s involvement in the process recognises the importance of the domestic supply chain to the automotive sector and the multiplier effect on employment that an Australian auto industry has on the broader economy,” GM Holden said in a statement.

Australia’s automotive industry, based mainly in southern Victoria and South Australia states, is a major contributor to Australia’s manufacturing base with three manufacturers exporting $3.3 billion worth of vehicles a year with the aid of around 160 component makers.

The deal allowed receivers to be appointed for Autodom, which employs around 400 people, and allows restructuring Despite hefty government subsidies and tariff support worth around A$2.5 billion ($2.60 billion) a year, the industry has struggled to maintain manufacturing jobs, with the Australian arm of Japan’s Mitsubishi closing its car plants in 2008. Coinciding with Autodom’s woes, GM Holden said it was cutting 170 jobs at its Adelaide assembly plant because of falling demand for locally-built vehicles.

The deal allowed receivers to be appointed for Autodom, which employs around 400 people, and paves the way for the company to be restructured.

Under the deal neither Ford nor GM Holden are to become owners of Autodom, Australia’s largest press metal manufacturer and supplier of complex metal and plastic components to carmakers. Ford, which buys hundreds of components from Autodom for its locally-built Falcon sedan and Territory SUV, had been expected to be most affected by the shutdown.

12 NOVEMBER 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Auto Monitor

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Regus, BMW (UK) offer fleet car drivers a better way to work

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new pa r t ner sh ip bet w e en Re g u s, the world’s largest provider of flexible workspaces, and BMW (UK) Ltd will see Businessworld Gold Cards offered to BMW and MINI fleet drivers in the UK. As a result, thousands of drivers will enjoy on-demand access to over 1,300 Regus business lounges across the world.

The deal enables UK business drivers to leverage the benefits of flexible and mobile working.

Those who already work on the move will have access more professional workspace across the world - meaning no more struggling to work at noisy coffee shops or at the wheel of their car. They’ll be able to meet, use wifi, and drink free tea or coffee at hundreds of business lounges, including suburban and city-centre locations, and even motorway service stations.

The dua l-bra nded Businessworld Gold Cards will

also help office-based fleet drivers switch to more flexible ways of working. They’ll be able to use Regus business lounges a short drive from home, instead of enduring the traditional daily commute to a distant office. The deal also has benefits for existing Regus customers: for example, there will be options to test-drive BMW and MINI fleet cars from Regus centres.

Flexible Workplaces “By investing in this partnership with Regus, BMW can deliver its business customers a working experience as good as their driving experience. Whether they want to meet a customer or catch up with admin while on the road, or just work nearer home, their Regus Businessworld card will give them access to first-rate workspace and facilities close to where they want to be,” said UK Managing Director, Regus, Steve Purdy.

Regus is a leading provider of

Toyota consolidates production in UK

T

oyota is riding out the economic downturn in Europe by reforming production. This has included the decision to concentrate production of all its Auris C segment models in the UK, rather than splitting assembly with its factory in Turkey.

“This allows us to maximise efficiencies as the UK is where the majority of Auris suppliers are. Our Burnaston plant is also very productive and efficient and we get a lot of backing from the British government,” said Head, Toyota Motor Europe, Didier Leroy.

Toyota has 70 tier one suppliers in the UK which now supply 25 percent of all components to the company’s European plants.

While Burnaston will be the sole producer of Auris and Avensis models for Europe, Toyota’s Valenciennes factory in France will continue to produce only Yaris while a year from now the Turkish plant will start assembling the Corolla saloon mainly for markets in Eastern Europe.

The introduction of the Auris has seen 800 new temporary jobs at Burnaston - some 150 of which have already been made permanent while production line speed has been increased to produce one car every 66 seconds, down from 89 seconds.

Toyota has 70 tier one suppliers in the UK which now supply 25 percent of all components to the company’s European plants Leroy does not see any upturn in European car sales until at least 2014, however. He added: “I think next year will be down by around 5 percent with increased sales in Eastern Europe but markets in Western Europe will be down.

Despite this we are expecting our sales to increase.”

flexible workplaces, with products and services ranging from fully equipped offices to professional meeting rooms, business lounges and the world’s largest network of video communication studios. The company enables people to work their way, whether it’s from home, on the road or from an office. Customers such as Google, GlaxoSmithKline, and Nokia join hundreds of

thousands of growing small and medium businesses that benefit from outsourcing their office and workplace needs to Regus, allowing them to focus on their core activities.

Over 1,000,000 customers a day benefit from Regus facilities spread across a global footprint of 1,300 locations in 550 cities and 97 countries, which allow individuals and companies to

work wherever, however and whenever they want to.

In 2011, the BMW Group sold about 1.67 million cars and more than 113,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2011 was euro 7.38 billion on revenues amounting to euro 68.82 billion. At 31 December 2011, the BMW Group had a workforce of approximately 100,000 employees.

12 NOVEMBER 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Lexus’s new CT 200h Advance to offer user friendly electronics, features

L

exus is demonstrating its goodwill spirit with the introduction of the new CT 200h Advance, a model that comes with a prestige equipment specification at a high value price.

The new Advance slots into the CT 200h line-up just above the regular SE grade model with an enhanced equipment list that includes a new integrated satellite navigation system, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, a folding function for the electrically adjustable door mirrors, reversing camera, auto-dimming rear-view mirror with integrated parking monitor and metallic paint. The on-the-road price is pegged at additional £500 compared to the SE, at £24,495.

The Advance also introduces Tahara, a supple and durable new upholstery that is an attractive alternative to leather. It weighs half as much leather and is less harmful to the environment to make, generating 65 per

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cent less CO2 and no potentially damaging volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Customers can choose from four metallic paint shades, including Celestial Black which is exclusive to the Advance.

According to the colour chosen, the Tahara trim can be specified in black or tan.

The new model also introduces the MoveOn navigation system, which can be operated using a touch pad integrated in the centre console below the gear selector. Move On also enables access to Live information services, using a 3G connection to a SIM card that is built into the system, avoiding the need for a mobile phone link.

Customers enjoy free access for the first year to the Live services, which include TomTom Local Search, weather forecast, mobile speed cameras and HD traffic data. Thereafter an annual subscription is payable.

In other respects the Advance mirrors the CT 200h SE specifica-

tion, with premium features such as dual-zone climate control, push button start, bluetooth, fog lights, rear privacy glass, 17-inch alloy wheels and a six-speaker audio system with USB port.

Its refined and highly efficient Lexus Hybrid Drive full hybrid system delivers official figures of 94g/km (qualifying for zero annual road tax) and 68.9mpg combined cycle fuel consumption. As well as its normal driving mode, the driver can select from three on-demand modes EV, Eco and Sport, to tailor performance for greater efficiency or a more engaging drive. In EV mode the car can be driven with zero tailpipe emissions and minimal noise for up to 1.2 miles depending on road conditions and the level of charge in the hybrid battery.

The CT 200h Advance can be specified with smaller, 16-inch alloy wheels at no extra cost.

Other options include front and rear parking sensors and a DAB digital tuner.

25

Former GM engineer, husband accused of stealing trade secrets

A

former GM engineer and her husband stole trade secrets related to hybrid car technology from the automaker to use in developing such vehicles in China, a US prosecutor said at the beginning of trial.

Shanshan Du, the former GM employee, copied the company’s private information on the motor control of hybrids and allegedly provided documents to her husband, Yu Qin. Qin used the trade secrets to seek business ventures or employment with GM’s competitors, including the Chinese automaker Chery Automobile.

GM contends that the trade secrets at issue are worth more than $40 million, prosecutors said.

But Qin’s attorney Frank Eaman argued there’s no evidence his client used, or planned on using, the documents his wife gave him. He argued that the hybrid technology described in the documents would’ve been useless to anyone outside of GM. Eaman said you can’t take technology from GM and simply plug it into someone else’s car because it’s unique to the company.

The defence said the documents Du copied, including some describing hybrid electric drive systems, weren’t encrypted as per GM’s policy on trade secrets. Eaman said a company must take “reasonable means” to protect information in order to deem it secret.

The case is one of more than a dozen brought in the past three years by the US Justice Department alleging defend-

ants of Chinese ancestry or citizenship sought to take trade secrets from US-based companies for use by the Chinese government or businesses.

In the Detroit case, Du and Qin were indicted in July 2010 on three counts each of trade theft and wire fraud. Qin was also charged with obstruction of justice. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The US alleges that Du, an electrical engineer who worked at GM from 2000 to March 2005, sought assignment to the company’s hybrid work project to gain access to information on the motor control of such vehicles. Du worked on various software engineering projects related to hybrid vehicle technology and was responsible for some code used in motor controller cards.

The US claims that Du began providing GM documents to her husband for use in a company they had started, called Millennium Technology International. Du copied material and Qin developed a plan to sell hybrid vehicle technology through a joint venture in China, the US said. The process accelerated after GM sought Du’s resignation in late January 2005, according to the indictment. GM was informed

by Qin’s employer, Controlled Power Co, in 2005 that CPC workers discovered a bag with an internal hard drive containing electronic documents that appeared to be the property of GM, according to a federal appeals court decision in July on evidence in the case.

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12 NOVEMBER 2012

N O R T H A M E R I C A N A S S E M B LY

26

AUTOFACTS Global Automotive Outlook PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

North America Assembly Tracking 9-2012 (Tracking by Brand & Nameplate) August 2012 Ownership Org/ Brand & Nameplate AutoAlliance International (USA) Ford Mustang Mazda Mazda6 BMW (Germany) BMW X3 BMW X5 BMW X6 Chrysler Group LLC (USA) Chrysler 200 Chrysler 300 Chrysler Town & Country Dodge Avenger Dodge Caliber Dodge Caravan Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger Dodge Dakota Dodge Dart Dodge Durango Dodge Journey Dodge Nitro Fiat 500 Fiat Freemont Jeep Compass Jeep Grand Cherokee Jeep Liberty Jeep Patriot Jeep Wrangler Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Lancia Flavia Lancia Grand Voyager Lancia Thema Chrysler Group LLC (USA) Ram Cargo Van Ram Pickup Volkswagen Routan Daimler AG (Germany) Freightliner Sprinter Mercedes-Benz GL-Class Mercedes-Benz GL-Class AMG Mercedes-Benz M-Class Mercedes-Benz M-Class AMG Mercedes-Benz R-Class Ford Motor Company (USA) Ford C-MAX Ford Crown Victoria Ford Edge Ford Escape Ford E-Series Ford Expedition Ford Explorer Ford Fiesta Ford Flex Ford Focus Ford F-Series Ford Fusion Ford Mustang Ford Ranger Ford Taurus Lincoln Mark LT Lincoln MKS Lincoln MKT Lincoln MKX Lincoln MKZ Lincoln Navigator Ford Motor Company (USA) Lincoln Town Car Mazda Tribute Mercury Grand Marquis Fuji Heavy Industries (Japan) Subaru Legacy Subaru Outback Subaru Tribeca Toyota Camry General Motors Company (USA) Buick Enclave Buick LaCrosse Buick Lucerne Buick Regal Buick Verano Cadillac ATS Cadillac CTS Cadillac DTS Cadillac Escalade Cadillac Escalade ESV Cadillac Escalade EXT Cadillac SRX Cadillac STS Cadillac XTS Chevrolet Avalanche Chevrolet Aveo Chevrolet C2

Volume 25,148 12,044 9,100 4,004 184,866 11,874 5,409 10,769 10,469 16,349 4,703 9,034 10,867 5,225 10,289 8,592 3,315 7,068 16,214 7,416 5,430 10,500 295 678 1,664 184,866 499 28,207 15,124 734 5,255 27 8,746 44 318 245,903 3,193 15,518 30,218 8,322 6,101 19,441 12,602 2,736 26,549 76,343 22,997 7,160 9,323 59 1,176 794 2,429 28 914 245,903 22,342 4,090 10,672 350 7,230 254,436 4,480 4,543 1,822 5,145 3,796 3,775 1,224 973 333 7,642 3,956 3,386 7,782 -

Last 3 Months

YOY % Chg

Assembly Share %

-100.0% -100.0% -100.0% 2.3% 12.3% -11.2% 10.9% 23.0% 68.6% 97.3% 9.4% 181.4% -100.0% 8.3% 50.5% 83.5% 29.3% 3.0% -100.0% 60.3% 26.5% 66.8% 2.2% -100.0% 207.3% -2.0% 20.0% -72.8% 34.0% 23.0% 37.1% -11.1% -100.0% -2.5% 0.7% 43.7% -10.3% 4.8% -76.3% 1.5% -100.0% 6.6% 2.9% -9.2% -0.9% 15.9% 6.1% 4.2% -0.1% 11.0% -15.1% -100.0% 23.5% 37.2% 32.0% 33.2% -23.3% -99.2% -18.3% 1.5%

2.0% 1.0% 0.7% 0.3% 15.1% 1.0% 0.4% 0.9% 0.9% 1.3% 0.4% 0.7% 0.9% 0.4% 0.8% 0.7% 0.3% 0.6% 1.3% 0.6% 0.4% 0.9% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 15.1% 0.0% 2.3% 1.2% 0.1% 0.4% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 20.0% 0.3% 1.3% 2.5% 0.7% 0.5% 1.6% 1.0% 0.2% 2.2% 6.2% 1.9% 0.6% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.0% 0.1% -

18.8% -4.8% 1.6% -37.4% 110.1% -3.0% -25.9% 1.5% -32.8% -18.2% -31.9% 18.2% 88.1% 2.2% 60.6% 11.9% -100.0%

YOY Share Chg (-0.9) (-0.6) (-0.4) (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.1) 0 2.2 0.4 0.2 0 0.5 (-0.1) 0 0.1 0.3 0.9 0.1 (-0.0) (-0.2) 0.2 0 0.2 (-0.0) (-0.5) 0.4 (-0.0) 0.1 0 (-0.2) 0 2.2 0 (-0.4) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.1 0 (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.7) 0.3 (-0.3) 0 (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.1 0 (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.3 (-0.4) 0.6 (-0.7) 0.1 0 0 0 (-0.1) (-0.3) (-0.0) 20.0% 1.8% 0.3% 0.9% 0.0% 0.6% 20.7% 0.4% 0.4% 0.1% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.6% -

Volume 18,920 10,688 8,232 66,970 36,381 21,033 9,556 557,350 41,885 15,330 29,518 28,771 45,989 11,612 23,140 28,356 14,894 29,528 23,337 12,522 18,627 55,132 12,080 15,087 16,754 30,228 876 2,272 4,641 557,350 1,828 93,837 1,106 50,487 2,049 13,199 51 30,617 133 4,438 658,405 6,927 41,536 82,433 25,936 16,604 55,161 33,196 6,504 72,370 215,298 55,035 7,160 23,633 138 2,708 1,867 7,407 2,142 2,350 (-0.7) 0.2 (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0.3 (-1.7) (-0.2) (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.4 0.3 (-0.1) (-0.1) 0 0 (-0.0) 0.3 0.1 0 (-0.3)

YOY % Chg -34.8% -47.1% -6.8% -5.0% 18.1% -28.0% -9.3% 19.9% 42.2% 35.1% 11.2% 111.6% -100.0% 8.5% 5.4% 28.0% -100.0% -2.3% -5.2% -100.0% 50.5% 39.1% 3.1% 27.3% -37.3% 11.6% 13.2% 24.6% -9.0% 273.7% 19.9% 151.4% 13.2% -45.8% 44.9% 9.2% 64.1% 44.8% -6.3% 22.5% 4.2% -100.0% 3.6% 9.3% -9.9% 18.8% 26.1% 7.5% -13.3% 11.7% 24.8% -21.6% -100.0% 30.4% 6.2% -8.0% 57.0% -4.8% -73.7% 1.4% 658,405 62,242 11,482 29,630 1,018 20,112 760,216 13,733 12,712 5,123 14,338 6,195 13,391 4,010 2,014 844 23,303 10,772 9,183 22,864 -

Year to Date Assembly Share % 0.5% 0.3% 0.2% 1.8% 1.0% 0.6% 0.3% 15.2% 1.1% 0.4% 0.8% 0.8% 1.3% 0.3% 0.6% 0.8% 0.4% 0.8% 0.6% 0.3% 0.5% 1.5% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 15.2% 0.0% 2.6% 0.0% 1.4% 0.1% 0.4% 0.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 18.0% 0.2% 1.1% 2.2% 0.7% 0.5% 1.5% 0.9% 0.2% 2.0% 5.9% 1.5% 0.2% 0.6% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 4.2% -100.0% 20.7% 13.5% 23.6% -19.0% 24.2% 2.7% -25.8% -4.4% -14.1% -12.3% -11.8% -14.5% 58.3% 0.2% 24.9% 21.0% -100.0%

YOY Share Chg (-0.4) (-0.3) (-0.1) (-0.4) 0 (-0.3) (-0.1) 0.6 0.2 0.1 (-0.0) 0.4 (-0.2) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.2) 0.8 (-0.1) (-0.2) (-0.2) 0.2 0.1 (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.3) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0.1 0 (-0.0) 0.1 0.6 0 (-0.0) (-0.0) 0.3 (-0.0) 0.1 0 0.2 (-0.0) 0 (-1.9) 0.2 (-0.6) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.2) 0 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0.5 (-0.7) 0.2 (-0.7) 0.1 (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.0) (-0.2) (-0.0) 18.0% 1.7% 0.3% 0.8% 0.0% 0.5% 20.7% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 0.4% 0.2% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.6% -

Volume 103,581 66,015 37,566 225,580 114,486 78,169 32,925 1,784,570 114,904 62,046 89,330 81,837 148,072 36,604 72,466 33,757 38,058 96,474 65,264 41,223 82,515 179,959 78,695 72,335 56,561 92,159 2,060 6,194 7,482 1,784,570 8,167 309,938 8,470 146,450 6,908 33,519 51 91,246 464 14,262 2,009,097 7,208 133,158 235,817 106,770 51,558 156,067 103,401 24,913 215,338 621,711 207,123 7,160 73,055 283 11,332 6,075 22,026 19,068 7,034 (-1.9) (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.0) 0 (-2.5) (-0.2) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.4 0.2 (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.1) 0.3 0 0 (-0.3)

YOY % Chg 20.5% 8.7% 48.8% 9.5% 28.4% -6.2% -1.8% 21.7% 27.5% 61.0% 8.2% 56.5% -100.0% 15.5% 11.4% 7.1% -100.0% -35.7% 18.3% -100.0% 57.8% 109.0% 10.0% 45.8% 47.7% 24.2% 25.6% 24.0% 148.1% 502.4% 21.7% 1023.4% 24.2% -30.1% 28.6% 11.6% 31.1% 32.5% 226.8% 8.6% 3.0% -100.0% 6.0% -2.1% 1.3% 21.8% 25.9% 12.1% 10.9% 36.9% 15.7% -4.9% -100.0% 26.5% -12.7% 28.0% 54.2% -14.6% -24.3% -10.2% 2,009,097 211,439 37,633 99,621 3,140 71,045 2,458,730 48,252 43,833 15,709 43,390 6,195 41,311 12,339 6,784 2,006 69,505 16,610 20,595 63,693 -

Assembly Share %

YOY Share Chg

0.9% 0.6% 0.3% 1.9% 1.0% 0.7% 0.3% 15.4% 1.0% 0.5% 0.8% 0.7% 1.3% 0.3% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.7% 1.6% 0.7% 0.6% 0.5% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 15.4% 0.1% 2.7% 0.1% 1.3% 0.1% 0.3% 0.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.1% 17.3% 0.1% 1.1% 2.0% 0.9% 0.4% 1.3% 0.9% 0.2% 1.9% 5.4% 1.8% 0.1% 0.6% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% 3.0% -100.0% -100.0% -100.0% 26.2% 16.2% 31.5% -32.5% 29.8% 4.6% -17.8% -8.1% -100.0% 15.1% -10.9% -100.0% -11.3% 11.2% 8.1% 7.2% -100.0% 3.3% 25.1% -100.0%

0 (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.2) 0.1 (-0.2) (-0.1) 0.2 0.1 0.1 (-0.1) 0.2 (-0.4) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.2) 0.3 (-0.3) (-0.0) (-0.2) 0.1 0.2 (-0.1) 0.3 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.0) 0 0 0.1 0 (-0.0) (-2.8) 0.1 (-0.7) (-0.2) (-0.5) (-0.2) 0 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.2 (-0.2) (-0.5) 0.1 (-0.8) 0 (-0.0) 0 0 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.0) (-2.8) (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.0) 0 (-3.1) (-0.2) (-0.1) (-0.2) (-0.0) 0.4 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.0) 0 (-0.3)

12 NOVEMBER 2012

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N O R T H A M E R I C A N A S S E M B LY August 2012

Ownership Org/ Brand & Nameplate

Volume

YOY % Chg

Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet Captiva Chevrolet Colorado Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet Cruze Chevrolet Equinox General Motors Company (USA) Chevrolet Express Chevrolet HHR Chevrolet Impala Chevrolet Malibu Chevrolet Silverado Chevrolet Sonic Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Tahoe Chevrolet Traverse Chevrolet Trax Chevrolet Volt GMC Acadia GMC Canyon GMC Savana GMC Sierra Pickups GMC Terrain GMC Yukon GMC Yukon XL Opel-Vauxhall Ampera Saab 9-4X Honda Motor Company (Japan) Acura CSX Acura ILX Acura MDX Acura RDX Acura TL Acura ZDX Honda Accord Honda Civic Honda Crosstour Honda CR-V Honda Element Honda Motor Company (Japan) Honda Odyssey Honda Pilot Honda Ridgeline Hyundai Motor Company (South Korea) Hyundai Elantra/i30 Hyundai Santa Fe Hyundai Santa Fe/ix45 Hyundai Sonata/i40 Kia Optima Kia Sorento Mitsubishi Motors Corp (Japan) Mitsubishi Eclipse Mitsubishi Endeavor Mitsubishi Galant Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Nissan Motor (Japan) Infiniti JX Series Nissan Altima Nissan Armada Nissan Frontier Nissan March Nissan Maxima Nissan NV-Series Nissan Pathfinder Nissan Pickup Nissan Sentra Nissan Tiida Nissan Titan Nissan Tsuru Nissan Versa Nissan Xterra Suzuki Equator Tesla Motors (USA) Tesla Model S Tesla Roadster Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan) Lexus RX Series Toyota Avalon Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla Toyota Highlander Toyota Matrix Toyota RAV4 Toyota Sequoia Toyota Sienna Toyota Tacoma Toyota Tundra Toyota Venza Volkswagen (Germany) Volkswagen Beetle Volkswagen Bora Volkswagen Golf/Jetta Variant Volkswagen Jetta Volkswagen Passat Total Light Vehicle

9,295 4,768 1,460 22,588 22,729 254,436 19 15,799 20,222 32,212 13,818 4,605 8,887 7,897 223 1,214 7,240 3 14,607 11,790 3,013 2,943 247 124,627 4,917 4,966 3,785 1,949 4 25,578 26,952 726 30,348 124,627 10,633 12,484 2,285 62,483 11,972 9,969 18,979 10,831 10,732 4,528 4,528 90,118 3,916 27,281 749 142 6,853 4,909 437 2,548 8,137 8,112 9,026 852 3,148 13,848 160 40 40 129,920 6,868 2,800 24,318 29,498 10,461 1,303 14,141 2,511 10,924 15,409 6,980 4,707 67,270 9,688 13,734 32,048 11,800 1,226,805

-4.0% 95.2% -100.0% 15.9% -17.2% 26.6% -3.0% -99.7% 6.6% 43.0% -25.7% 112.0% -3.6% 15.2% -31.8% -48.7% -4.9% -100.0% -99.8% -25.5% 25.3% -37.0% -1.5% -37.6% -100.0% 4.4% -17.4% 86.9% -42.9% -99.4% -5.9% 9.8% -68.1% 27.7% 4.4% -29.3% -0.7% 15.3% 14.5% 25.4% -100.0% -5.6% 65.0% -16.9% 138.2% -100.0% -100.0% -15.5% 130433.3% -12.3% -51.0% -97.6% 17.8% 11.8% -32.7% -17.8% 84.7% -42.1% -39.2% -61.9% -22.8% 11.1% -100.0% -20.0% -74.7% -100.0% 15.1% 2.7% -47.1% 69.4% 46.2% 2.3% -35.9% -2.9% 40.7% -14.7% 18.7% 25.4% -26.6% 38.8% 113.7% -100.0% 22.0% 22.0% 85.8% 5.0%

27

Last 3 Months Assembly Share %

20.7% 0.0% 1.3% 1.6% 2.6% 1.1% 0.4% 0.7% 0.6% 0.0% 0.1% 0.6% 0.0% 1.2% 1.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 10.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0% 2.1% 2.2% 0.1% 2.5% 10.2% 0.9% 1.0% 0.2% 5.1% 1.0% 0.8% 1.5% 0.9% 0.9% 0.4% 0.4% 7.3% 0.3% 2.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.6% 0.4% 0.0% 0.2% 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 0.1% 0.3% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.6% 0.6% 0.2% 2.0% 2.4% 0.9% 0.1% 1.2% 0.2% 0.9% 1.3% 0.6% 0.4% 5.5% 0.8% 1.1% 2.6% 1.0% 100.0%

YOY Share Chg 0.8% 0.4% 0.1% 1.8% 1.9% (-1.7) (-0.6) 0 0.4 (-1.1) 0.6 (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.3) 0 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.5) 0.2 (-0.2) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.4 (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.2) 0.1 (-0.1) 0.4 (-0.1) (-0.4) (-0.1) 0 0.4 0.2 (-0.5) 0.8 (-0.2) 0.3 (-0.2) 0.2 (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.4 (-1.8) 0.3 (-0.4) (-0.1) (-0.5) 0.1 0 (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.3 (-0.5) (-0.5) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.2) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.0) 0.9 (-0.0) (-0.2) 0.8 0.7 (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0.1 (-0.2) 0.1 0.1 (-0.2) 1.3 0.4 (-0.0) 0.2 0.4 0.4 -

Volume (-0.1) 0.2 (-0.2) 0 (-0.5) 0.3 760,216 18,012 40,536 56,517 118,400 32,349 12,652 21,748 21,021 223 8,296 21,072 1,121 3,626 53,254 27,763 7,990 7,135 2,063 380,716 11,352 14,870 10,748 6,121 4 87,474 84,287 3,918 88,669 380,716 34,947 34,386 3,940 186,637 35,267 22,875 56,219 34,674 37,602 8,860 1,002 7,858 309,650 10,369 79,057 4,998 17,018 15,672 14,809 1,556 10,839 22,056 33,213 37,142 6,930 9,629 40,895 4,977 490 242 242 390,889 19,987 7,900 82,616 89,285 31,451 3,213 40,726 6,866 31,536 42,142 23,059 12,108 214,657 32,266 44,126 102,965 35,300 3,666,241

YOY % Chg 22,962 13,341 7,850 3,477 63,845 56,481 2.7% -16.2% -2.5% 25.2% -1.1% 170.3% -20.3% -14.6% -39.3% 53.7% -3.7% -73.8% -32.7% 0.9% 15.3% -38.7% -23.0% 96.1% -100.0% 36.9% 23.9% 106.1% -28.6% -99.6% 35.1% 57.1% -10.5% 48.2% 36.9% -1.8% 14.3% 26.4% 20.2% 33.9% -100.0% -3.6% 428.3% -3.3% -10.6% -100.0% -100.0% -76.6% 6.5% 345533.3% -8.4% 11.0% 8.0% 3.9% -5.2% -47.4% 28.3% 70.4% -8.3% 2.7% 14.8% 1.6% 18.5% -19.7% -19.7% -49.8% -100.0% 41.4% 44.1% -29.8% 64.1% 65.6% 14.6% -44.8% 98.3% 36.6% -6.2% 51.1% 71.6% -8.3% 40.2% 205.9% -100.0% 12.1% 12.1% 216.5% 15.0%

Year to Date Assembly Share % -9.4% 46.7% -18.0% 3.2% -9.2% 14.0% 20.7% 0.5% 1.1% 1.5% 3.2% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.6% 0.0% 0.2% 0.6% 0.0% 0.1% 1.5% 0.8% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% 10.4% 0.3% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.0% 2.4% 2.3% 0.1% 2.4% 10.4% 1.0% 0.9% 0.1% 5.1% 1.0% 0.6% 1.5% 0.9% 1.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.2% 8.4% 0.3% 2.2% 0.1% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.0% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 1.0% 0.2% 0.3% 1.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.7% 0.5% 0.2% 2.3% 2.4% 0.9% 0.1% 1.1% 0.2% 0.9% 1.1% 0.6% 0.3% 5.9% 0.9% 1.2% 2.8% 1.0% 100.0%

YOY Share Chg 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.1% 1.7% 1.5% (-2.5) (-0.2) (-0.2) 0.1 (-0.5) 0.5 (-0.2) (-0.2) (-0.5) 0 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.2) 0 (-0.2) (-0.1) 0 (-0.0) 1.7 0.3 0 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.4 0.6 (-0.0) 0.5 1.7 (-0.2) (-0.0) 0 0.2 0.1 (-0.8) 0.6 (-0.3) 0.7 (-0.2) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0.2 (-0.7) 0.3 (-0.6) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0 0.2 (-0.2) (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.0) 2.0 0.1 (-0.1) 0.7 0.7 (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.5 0 (-0.2) 0.3 0.2 (-0.1) 1.1 0.5 (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.1) 0.6 -

Volume (-0.2) 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.5) (-0.0) 2,458,730 67,154 137,177 184,781 384,556 85,376 46,057 81,087 70,278 223 18,593 67,244 7,064 22,899 171,021 91,481 34,471 25,587 6,597 1,274,912 21,721 54,703 25,111 29,704 756 295,949 306,109 20,380 267,809 1,274,912 124,088 115,631 12,951 537,010 99,303 48,324 22,875 169,145 96,757 100,606 22,082 14,224 7,858 977,174 23,908 242,663 15,353 65,411 53,030 53,462 5,456 31,565 61,851 114,316 116,125 22,875 30,599 119,275 19,815 1,470 280 280 1,281,429 65,323 27,999 289,480 272,457 100,223 15,151 136,009 19,393 104,086 121,859 85,702 43,747 564,505 77,600 113,908 265,791 107,206 11,596,839

YOY % Chg 72,723 45,054 32,266 11,260 216,133 189,426 4.6% 9.3% -100.0% -7.0% 16.5% 0.0% 613.3% 3.6% 4.9% -26.8% 114.5% -0.8% -29.9% 18.0% 7.6% 12.8% -12.3% -3.9% 347.3% -100.0% 61.6% -100.0% 39.8% 98.4% 24.1% -49.0% 71.9% 82.3% 56.4% 68.0% -100.0% 61.6% 32.8% 29.9% 64.2% 18.0% 7.5% -36.5% 1.1% 1374.3% -10.7% -31.2% -100.0% -100.0% -1.3% 16.1% 796833.3% 2.8% 1.6% 48.4% 111.2% 5.4% -51.7% 18.9% 72.1% -6.5% 33.9% 14.2% -34.4% 18.0% 9.3% -10.9% -80.3% -100.0% 58.3% 46.8% -5.0% 103.4% 86.0% 35.9% 8.1% 66.4% 47.4% 14.5% 55.2% 49.3% 17.1% 40.0% 635.6% -100.0% 1.0% 1.0% 558.1% 19.9%

Assembly Share %

YOY Share Chg

-14.1% 75.9% 7.4% 9.4% -3.0% 10.1% 21.2% 0.6% 1.2% 1.6% 3.3% 0.7% 0.4% 0.7% 0.6% 0.0% 0.2% 0.6% 0.1% 0.2% 1.5% 0.8% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 11.0% 0.2% 0.5% 0.2% 0.3% 0.0% 2.6% 2.6% 0.2% 2.3% 11.0% 1.1% 1.0% 0.1% 4.6% 0.9% 0.4% 0.2% 1.5% 0.8% 0.9% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 8.4% 0.2% 2.1% 0.1% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.0% 0.3% 0.5% 1.0% 1.0% 0.2% 0.3% 1.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 11.0% 0.6% 0.2% 2.5% 2.3% 0.9% 0.1% 1.2% 0.2% 0.9% 1.1% 0.7% 0.4% 4.9% 0.7% 1.0% 2.3% 0.9% 100.0%

(-0.2) 0.1 (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.4) (-0.1) (-3.1) (-0.1) (-0.3) (-0.3) (-0.0) (-0.7) 0.6 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.4) 0 0.1 (-0.1) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.2) (-0.0) (-0.1) (-0.1) 0 (-0.0) 2.8 (-0.0) 0.2 0.1 0.1 0 (-0.0) 0.8 0.9 0 0.7 (-0.1) 2.8 0.1 0.1 0 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.4) 0.2 (-0.3) 0.8 (-0.3) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.1 (-0.3) 0.2 (-0.3) (-0.0) 0.1 0.2 (-0.1) (-0.1) (-0.0) 0.2 (-0.3) 0.1 (-0.0) (-0.2) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) (-0.0) 0 (-0.0) 2.7 0.1 (-0.1) 1.0 0.8 0.1 (-0.0) 0.3 0 (-0.0) 0.2 0.1 (-0.0) 0.7 0.6 (-0.0) (-0.2) (-0.4) 0.8 -

Auto Monitor

28

CLASSIFIEDS

12 NOVEMBER 2012

Tej Control Systems Pvt Ltd Plot No.329/331, Road No.25, Wagle Industrial Estate, Thane(W) - 400 604.

Tel. +91 22 2583 8191 to 98, Fax: +91 22 25838199 Email: tivs@tejcontrol.com, vision@tejcontrol.com Website: www.tejivs.com

12 NOVEMBER 2012

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details Ace Micromatic Group

Auto Monitor

ADVERTISERS’ LIST Pg No 1, BC

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details Ferromatik Milacron India Pvt Ltd

Pg No 25

29 Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details Productivity Buzz

T: +91-80-40200555

T: +91-79-25890081

T: +91-80-66246600

E: customercare@acemicromatic.com

E: salesfmi@milacron.com

E: augustin@imtma.in

W: www.acemicromatic.net

W: www.milacronindia.com

W: www.imtma.in

Arvind Engineers

29

T: +91-129-4001978

E: sanjeevfbd@arvindengineers.com

W: www.arvindengineers.com

Auto Serve 2012

20

Fox Solutions

5

Ranger Stork

T: +91-253-6618100

T: +91-120-4372157

E: sales@foxindia.net

E: info@rangerstork.com

W: www.foxindia.net

W: www.rangerstork.com

G W Precision Tools India Pvt Ltd

14

Safexpress Private Limited

T: +91-80-40431252

T: +1800-113-113

E: info@gwindia.in

E: suyash.srivastava@safexpress.com

W: www.gwindia.in

W: www.safexpress.com

T: +91-44-42444555

E: autoserve@cii.in

Pg No 18

29

6

W: www.ciiautoserve.in

Guhring India Private Limited Automach 2013

BIC

Sandvik Coromant India

3

22 T: +91-80-40322500

T: +91-20-27104725

E: info@guhring.in

E: rupali.kavi@sandvik.com

W: www.guhring.in

W: www.sandvik.coromant.com/in

T: +91-124-4014060

E: rachna.jindal@cii.in

W: www.ietfindia.in/automach.aspx

Jyoti CNC Automation Pvt. Ltd. Automotive Dealership Excellance Awards

11

Swajit Abrasives Pvt Ltd

23

16 T: +91-2827-287081

T: +91-240-2553787

E: info@jyoti.co.in

E: enquiry@abracut.in

W: www.jyoti.co.in

W: www.abracutindia.com

T: +91-22-30034650

W: www.adea.in

Carl Zeiss India Pvt Ltd

15 Kalpa Industries

10

Tata Motors Ltd.

7

T: +91-80-43438102 T: +91-1334-231517

T: +91-22-66586195

E: info@larexcables.com

E: charu.gulati@tatamotors.com

E: imtndia@zeiss.co.in

W: www.zeiss.co.in

Larsen & Toubro Limited Dhoot Transmission Pvt Ltd

FIC

13

Trumpf

T: +91-09967800456 E: sales@dhoottransmission.com

W: www.dhoottransmission.com

Ecocat India Pvt Ltd

19

T: +91-129-4266500

E: alok@ecocatindia.com

W: www.ecocat.com

Engineering Expo

28

W: www.tatamotors.com

E: SM.Haridas@larsentoubro.com

T: +91-9823745435

W: www.larsentoubro.com

W: www.in.trumpf.com

Makino Auto Industries Pvt Ltd

17

Weiss Technik India Pvt Ltd

T: +91-120-6519685

T: +91-40-23224910

E: makino@makino.in

E: sales@weissindia.com

W: www.makino.in

W: www.weissindia.com

Meiban Engineering Technologies Pvt

21

World Courier India Pvt Ltd

T: +91-09819552270

T: +91-80-26860600

T: +91-80-43438607

E: engexpo@infomedia18.in

E: sales-turning@meibanengg.com

E: ripudaman@worldcourier.co.in

W: www.engg-expo.com

W: www.meibanengg.com

W: www.worldcourier.com

FIC : Front Inside Cover BIC : Back Inside Cover BC: Back cover

24

9

8

Our consistent advertisers

Auto Monitor

30

THE OTHER SIDE

Getting Personal

In Person

with Yogesh Chander Munjal, Managing Director, Munjal Showa Ltd

Managing Director, Munjal Showa Ltd, Yogesh Chander Munjal graduated in the field of Architecture from the IIT-Roorkee. He has been associated with many of the Hero Group companies in the capacity of CEO ever since he finished his formal education.

He has served as president of Gurgaon Industrial Association, Chairman of CII (Haryana Committee) and Chairman of Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gurgaon.He is also the Chairman of Indian National Suggestion Schemes’ Assn. (INSSAN) – (Northern India Chapter), Japan Desk of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry and TPM Club of India, Regional Council member of CII, Executive member of ACMA, Life member of Indian Institute of Public Administration, Member of National Safety council, All India Management Association. He has also received Client Award in 1999 from Leadership Management Institute U S A at Hawai, USA.

If not in the Auto industry, where would you be?

Basically I’m an architect from IIT-Roorkee. I would have been in the same field.

What car you drive? What do you dream of driving?

I currently drive the Mercedes S Class and I like it.

Your most recent indulgence?

Nothing in specific.

What are you currently reading?

I read a lot of books on management and spiritual subjects.

What are you doing when not talking auto?

I generally watch television and read books.

Outdoor activity you would miss office for?

When young, I was interested in sports.

Where did you go for your last holiday?

Kullu Manali.

You get angry when…

I don’t get angry often.

What’s the one thing you’d like to change in yourself?

I want to extract more achievements and effectiveness from within myself.

Best thing to have happened to you is…

My family.

Illustration: Sachin Pandit

12 NOVEMBER 2012

An experience I won’t forget…

I would never forget anything good done to me by anyone.

Regn. No. MH/MR/WEST/20/2012-2014. RNI No. MAHENG/2000/11414 Licenced to post at Mumbai patrika channel sorting office G.P.O. Mumbai 400 001.

Date Of Mailing: 1st & 2nd Fortnightly Issue. Date Of Publication: 28th of Every Month

32