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
kly e e W
NEWS IN BRIEF Fiat, Premier sign threeyear engine supply deal Our Bureau Mumbai
F
iat India Automobiles Ltd and Premier Automobiles Ltd have entered into a three-year agreement for procurement of Fiat 1.3-litre multi-jet diesel engine for Premier Rio. Fiat will initially supply around 28,000 engines from its Ranjangaon facility over the period of the agreement. The Rio, with new Fiat 1.3 litre diesel engine, is expected to be `45,000 higher than the current price.
Premier Automobiles currently has a nationwide network of 60 dealers and the company is also in the process of setting-up 200 Premier Authorised Service Stations (PASS) around the country. The new engine will enhance the fuel efficiency to around 18 kmpl and also enable Rio to be BS IV compliant with expansion of market to additional 14 key cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune.
DATA MONITOR Top 5 Car Makers Company
Apr-11
Apr-12
Change
Maruti
87,144
90,255
3.57%
Hyundai
31,636
35,070
10.85%
TML
28,109
27,613
-1.76%
M&M
16,458
23,030
39.93%
9,681
14,378
48.52%
TKM
Top 5 Car Exporters Company
Apr-11
Apr-12
Hyundai
20,422
19,536
Change -4.34%
Maruti
10,011
10,160
1.49%
Ford
1,165
2,368
103.26%
Nissan
9431
1310
-86.11%
TML
1,152
598
-48.09%
* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL
Vol. 12 No. 13
21 May 2012
www.a m onli ne.i n
32 Pages
FOCUS
` 50
INTERVIEW
NEW MATERIALS Pg 9-11
INDIA HAS SHOWN THAT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES ARE WIDE SPREAD AND ALTERNATIVE-FUEL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN A SUCCESS STORY Dr LM Das, Professor, CES, IIT Delhi
Pg 8
M&HCV sales tumble by 11 percent in April, cars sales stagnate Our Bureau Mumbai
T
he auto industry has had a lukewarm beginning in the new fi scal. Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (MHCV) sales fell by 11.6 percent to 19,914 units in April compared to 22,528 units in the same month last fi scal. The decline was led by around 18 percent fall in dispatches of good carriers within the M&HCV segment. The overall commercial vehicle segment sales perked up by 4.37 percent. This was followed by around 16 percent growth in the light commercial vehicle segment, according to the data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). AMW, which had been steadily gaining marketshare over the
Industry players attribute the lack of demand to economic uncertainty that is bearing out on the freight segment last few months with average monthly sales of around 1,000 units, registered around 16 percent decline to touch 602 units in April this fiscal. Tata Motors, one of the largest CV makers too, lost ground in April with sales falling by around 10 percent to touch 29,692 units. Industry players attribute the lack of demand to economic uncertainty that is bearing out on the freight segment. This is lead-
ing to lower sales of commercial vehicle segment. It may be a bit early to term the lower CV sales as a cyclical downturn, but sales are likely to remain soft in the coming months. The passenger vehicles segment grew at 9.3 percent during April 2012 over same month last year. Within passenger vehicles, passenger cars grew by 3.4 percent, utility vehicles grew by 47.32 percent and vans grew by 6.74 percent in April 2012 as compared to same month last year. Passenger vehicles registered negative growth at (-10.47) percent in t he mont h. Commercia l vehicles and three-wheelers also recorded deceleration at (-13.62) percent (-20.50) percent respectively. Two-wheeler sales maintained a growth momentum with
around 10 percent increase over the same month last year. Honda Motorcycles & Scooters emerged as a significant gainer in the two wheeler segment with around 47 percent growth in the month of April to touch 193,511 units compared to same month last fiscal. The segment registered a double digit growth of 10.94 percent in April 2012. Also, the overall automobile exports registered a marginal growth rate of 1.29 percent. Three-wheeler sales recorded decline of around 5.35 percent in April 2012. Piaggio registered around 13 percent fall in April to touch 11,100 units. Atul Auto and TVS Motors were the only major gainers in April with the former notching a growth of 26.71 percent and later, of around 17 percent.
Escorts fortifies presence in premium tractor segment Bhargav TS Chennai
E
scorts Limited recently launched executive tractors in the large (above 60 HP) category. The tractor manufacturer will focus on high end tractors and plans to launch new products every six months for the next two years in order to strengthen the company’s presence in this segment. According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, S Sridhar, the market for large-sized tractors in India has nearly doubled over the last decade as compared to the small-size segment, which has not grown at the comparable rate. The mid-size segment has seen a growth of only four percent. Therefore the company is looking at achieving top position in the large tractor segment of over 60 HP, with the launch of its Farmtrac 6060 and Farmtrac 6065 models. The company’s plant in Faridabad can produce one lakh tractors per annum, but currently it is utilising only 75 percent of
the production capacity, which will be scaled up in the coming years. In the last fi scal, Escorts sold 63,000 tractors and predicting stagnant market conditions for the tractor industry this fiscal. Sridhar said the market would grow from next year onwards and Escorts would like to be comfortably positioned to cash in on that. The new executive tractors are available in 60 HP and 65 HP options and are equipped with four wheel drive, 24-speed syncroshuttle gearbox and a four-cylinder turbocharged intercooled engine, which delivers higher torque to run larger implements and pull heavier loads. These tractors will be manufactured at Escorts Faridabad facility where a separate unit has been set-up for manufacturing these executive tractors. The company will be manufacturing 10,000 units per annum. At present, the market for tractors in India stands at nearly 5.25 lakh units annually, and the demand for large tractors has doubled in the last seven years.
S Sridhar, CEO, Escorts Agri Machinery & Shenu Agarwal launching Farmtrac
According to Sridhar, the sale of tractor units in India is 5.25 lakh and the company has a market share of around 12 percent. “We are focussing on the growth in the higher horse power tractor segment and we will be launching two new products every six months for the next two years. Therefore we are expecting a market share of 15 percent by next year,” he added. The compa ny’s HeadMarketing Shenu Agarwal said that there was an “informal consolidation” of land holdings among relatives at the farm
level in the states like Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Farmers in these three states are progressive and are exposed to innovative technologies. If satisfied with the value proposition, they would go in for higher powered machines, he added. Commenting on the exports Sridhar added that the company is exporting around 2,000 tractors each year to SARC countries and 1,000 tractors have been exported to Europe from our wholly-owned subsidiary in Poland, which makes 100 HP tractors.”