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 ns Tur w o N
ly k e We
Vol. 12 No. 16
11 June 2012
w w w. a m o n l i n e . i n
FOCUS
32 Pages
` 50
INTERVIEW
MACHINING
Pg 10-12
“OUR PRIORITY IS TO BE SELF SUFFICIENT IN DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION ENGINEERING” Christoph Hesse, Engineering Director India, Faurecia Technology Center India
Pg 8
CV segment staring at cyclical downturn
NEWS IN BRIEF Maruti signs land deal with Gujarat government Our Bureau New Delhi
M
aruti Suzuki India Limited (SMIL) recently signed an agreement with government of Gujarat for purchase of land near Mehsana (around 100 km from Ahmedabad) to set up its new manufacturing facility. “The Mehsana manufacturing, around 100 km from Ahmedabad and 300 km from Mundra port, will have initial annual capacity of 250,000 units and will be commissioned by 2015-16 depending on the market conditions. SMIL will invest around `4,000 crore in the first phase for land and construction of the plant if the board approves,” according to a company official. Gujarat Government has allocated around 700 acre to MSIL for this facility. This new facility will take Maruti Suzuki’s combined manufacturing capability to two million units by 2015-16. The company estimates to generate direct employment for over 2,000 people at the Gujarat facility. In addition to Maruti’s vendors and ancillary suppliers are expected to invest in Gujarat at matching levels creating additional employment oppurtunities.
DATA MONITOR Top 5 3W makers Company
Apr-11
Apr-12
Change
BAL
12,916
12,352
-4.37%
Piaggio
12,868
11,100
-13.74%
M&M
4,411
4,659
5.62%
Atul Auto
1,722
2,182
26.71%
TVS
850
1,002
17.88%
Top 5 3W-Exporters Company
Apr-11
Apr-12
Change
BAL
32,158
26,914
-16.31%
TVS
2,711
1,902
-29.84%
Piaggio
2,125
798
-62.45%
M&M
338
22
-93.49%
Atul Auto
20
50
150.00%
* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL
Our Bureau Mumbai
M
edium and heavy commercial vehicle sales are set for a stretched period of lower growth or even degrowth. Industry players are of the opinion that with economic growth rate slowing down and freight rate also softening, medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales are unlikely to pick up in the near to medium term. “The current slowdown in truck sales had been anticipated as fleet operators are unlikely to add new or used trucks to their existing fleet strength unless there is clear demand for goods transportation. The current downturn in CV sales may be an extended one given the economic uncertainty in Europe coupled with lower anticipated
GDP growth rate in India, are acting as double whammy for the CV segment,” said Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Shriram Transport Finance, Umesh Revankar. He added that barring a major government intervention to kick start infrastructure related projects and resumption of mining and support activities, there are not many triggers for pushing up the growth of CV sales at the current juncture. Overall medium & heav y commercial vehicle sales fell by around 11 percent in April this year to 19,914 units as compared to 22,528 units registered in April last year, according to the latest data available from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In the M&HCV segment, sales of goods carriers fell by around 18 percent to 16,190 units in April as com-
TML was the major loser in the M&HCV segment in the month of April with dispatches falling to 8,460 units compared to 12,689 units dispatched in April last year pared to 19,724 units in the same month in the previous year. Tata Motors was the major loser in the M&HCV segment in the month of April with dispatches falling to 8,460 units compared to 12,689 units dispatched in April last year. Light commercial vehicle sales grew by around 15 percent to touch 36,343 units as compared to 31,375 units in the same month last year.
Ashok Leyland’s M&HCV goods carrier sales were relatively flat at 3,812 units as compared to 3,701 units in the same month in the previous year. The company registered a sales turnover of `12,841.99 crore during 2011-12 compared to Rs 11,177.11 crore in the previous fiscal reflecting a rise of 14.9 percent. Net Profit was down by 10.3 percent at `565.98 crore (`631.30 crore). The company sold 101,990 units last fiscal including exports of 12,852 units, a growth of 25 percent. “Our strongest market was depressed. Also, segments like ICV in which we are not too strong grew substantially. We have, however, rebounded. We gained Market Share in March ’12 and continued the good showing in April and hope to keep up this momentum,” said MD, Ashok Leyland, Vinod Dasari in a company statement.
Solar tech may provide answer for thermal heating needs at automotive facilities Nabeel A Khan New Delhi
H
eroMotor Corp tapped Ma ha r ish i Sola r Technology Pvt Ltd (MSTPL) to install solar technology to replace use of 90,000 litre per month of diesel, which the two wheeler maker was using for generating heating at the Haridwar plant. The two wheeler manufacturer may not be alone in this endeavour. Demand for green or environment friendly solutions that can also be cost effective, is leading to numerous solar technology based solution providers pitching auto sector companies. MSTPL, funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for developing silicon in India, and for its pilot plant for parabolic trough is one such solution provider. The automotive industry uses thermal energy (mainly produced by diesel, electricity and other fossils fuel) at the manufacturing units to produce heat in the range 120 to 130 degree celsius. The utility includes in applications such as paint shop,
curing or metallic parts which have to be dipped into solutions. Some of the larger companies end up using electrical energy for thermal use. The current procedure for producing heat is not good in terms of environment as well as cost. As the fuel will continue to become more and more expensive as the availability is limited. MSTPL estimates the size of solar technology segment in India to be around `50,000 crore. The capital cost in installation of solar technology for producing heat is comparatively very high but the there is no spend on fuel which is an attractive feature for the industry. “If a company uses diesel as a fuel to produce heat and it replaces that with the solar technology the difference in the capital cost can be recovered within three year,” CEO, MSTPL, Pradeep Khanna said. The life of a solar system installed to produce heat is around 25 years. Khanna insists that, the industry should not replace diesel or other fuel system with solar system as the solar system can work around 270 day in a year (six to
Pradeep Khanna, CEO, MSTPL
eight hours a day) due to weather system and other implications. The benefit of the solar technology is that the government support to the industry. The renewable energy has most effective solution for heat producing. But a major issue with solar based solutions is that it requires space. MSTPL sees huge opportunity in the automotive industry. The system can produce heat required in automotive manufacturing units for electroplating, paint curing oven among other applications.
The sheet metal components maker is one of the major customers segment for MSTPL. The Government also offers major financial support of upto 50 percent in term of cost of the system to the industry, to encourage them for the use of this green method of producing heat. This implies that in a scenario where a company installs a solar system worth Rs two crore then `71 lakh will be given by the government under MNRE solar thermal application subsidy.