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. 10 No. 22
w w w. a u to m o n i to r. co . i n
1-15 December 2010
INTERVIEW VOLVO BUSES LIKELY TO INTRODUCE ARTICULATED BUSES IN INDIA NEXT YEAR Akash Passey, Managing Director, Volvo Buses India
40 Pages
` 50/-
AUTOPINION DEAL TRENDS IN CROSS BORDER M&A – NAVIGATING Pg 14 AUCTIONS
Pg 08
Lines up investment of `36 crore in three years NEWS IN BRIEF
Roots Industries inks JV with Russian horn maker Avtocom Shobha Mathur Chennai
SkodaAuto India launches Yeti SUV Skoda Auto India recently launched its fi rst sports utility vehicle (SUV), Yeti, in the country, priced at `15.40-16.62 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). The SUV has been launched in two variants – Ambiente and Elegance – and is powered by a 2.0-litre TDI CR (common rail diesel) engine. The Czech carmaker has reported a booking of about a 1,000 units for its new offering which will be brought into the country as CKD (completely knocked-down) units, assembled at its Aurangabad plant. The SUV delivers a maximum power of 140 bhp at 4200 rpm, and offers a mileage of 17.67 km per litre.
DATA MONITOR Domestic Top 5 PV-makers Sector
Oct-09
Oct-10
Change
MSIL
71,551
107,555
50.32%
HMIL
28,301
34,725
22.70%
TML
24,781
29,053
17.24%
M&M^
13,114
16,061
22.47%
GMI
7,385
10,006
35.49%
Domestic Top 5 2W-maker Sector
Oct-09
Oct-10
Change
HHML
344,768
491,356
42.52%
BAL
179,404
239,936
33.74%
TVS
118,299
173,771
46.89%
HMSI
53,418
140,059
162.19%
IYM
26,879
31,791
18.27%
Domestic Top 5 CV-makers Sector
Oct-09
Oct-10
Change
TML
26,204
29,754
13.55%
M&M
6,892
9,108
32.15%
ALL
4,934
4,628
-6.20%
VECV Eicher
2,024
3,070
51.68%
FML
752
1,572
109.04%
* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL
C
oimbatore-based Roots Industries (RIL) has entered into an equal joint venture with the largest electrical horn manufacturer in Russia, Avtocom. The JV company – Roots Avtocom – in Lyskovo, Russia would produce electrical horns for OEMs in Russia. T he Memora ndu m of Understanding with Avtocom for the Russian project was inked in July this year. Roots Industries is the largest manufacturer of electrical horns in India and holds a high ranking globally. The joint venture would invest `14 crore in the new company over a three-year period, with `7 crore to be invested initially. To start with, electrical horns would be supplied to German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) for the Polo compact, customised for the requirements of the Russian market. VW is also in the midst of setting up a manufacturing facility in Russia that would become operational by
April 2011, at around the same time as the Roots Avtocom JV goes on stream. For the Volkswagen Polo, pre-production trials have been undertaken at the Roots factory in Coimbatore. The prototypes are currently under approval stage by VW. The fi nal clearance for the product is to be received from VW just before commencement of production in Russia. Chairman, RIL, K Ramasamy told Auto Monitor that the JV company would also supply electrical horns to other car manufacturers in the Russian market including French major Renault and Japanese carmaker Toyota, who builds the Camry sedan at its St Petersburg plant in Russia.
in 2010. Korean carmaker Hyundai, meanwhile, has completed construction of its fi rst plant in Russia that would commence production in 2011 with the compact sedan RBr. RIL is also a supplier to Toyota in India and is supplying a disc-based electrical horn for the carmaker’s latest entry-level sedan, Etios. ‘There is a lot of potential in the growing automotive market in Russia that will increase both our top lines and sales,’ confi rmed Ramasamy.
Contd. on P33
Banking On Russia Recently, there was news of Toyota planning a second plant in Russia to accelerate its business activity in the country. Renault though, was the fi rst car company to start assembling foreign-made vehicles in Russia, starting with the Logan sedan in 2005 and the Sandero hatchback
K Ramasamy, Chairman, Roots Industries
M&M sign acquisition agreement with Ssangyong Our Bureau Mumbai
B
U
tlility vehicle major, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) recently signed an agreement in Seoul, South Korea to acquire Ssangyong Motor (SYMC). The total cost of 70 percent stake acquisition in Ssangyong for M&M is around $463 million (`2,123 crore) with $378 million (`1,733.31 crore) in new stocks and $85 million (`389.76 crore) in bonds. As part of the agreement, SYMC will continue to function as an independent entity with a Korean management. The labour union
Contd. on P22
BMW Plant Chennai hits 10,000 mark
VS Parthasarathy, Group CIO and EVP, M&A and Finance, M&M, Yoo-il Lee, Joint Receiver, SYMC, Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sector, M&M and Young-tae Park, Joint Receiver, SYMC
VISIT, EXPERIENCE, GROW BUSINESS THE WAY I DO AT AHMEDABAD-10-13 DEC 2010 Gujarat University Exhibition Hall, Ahmedabad
9920401226 | www.engg-expo.com
MW India recently rolled out the 10,000th car from its Chennai-based plant, which the luxury car maker had opened on 29 March, 2007. The plant produces the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series sedans in petrol and diesel variants. By end of 2010, the plant – which has a capacity to produce 5,400 units per year on a single shift basis – will also start producing the BMW X1. Meanwhile, the company plans to scale up its investments in India to `180 crore by 2012-end. Till September this year, BMW had invested `110 crore in India, a company statement said.