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. 35
w w w.am o n l i n e.i n
22 October 2012
50 Pages
` 50
INTERVIEW
SPECIAL
TWO-WHEELER Pg 15-18
NEWS IN BRIEF Sumit Sawhney joins Renault India Our Bureau New Delhi
S
umit Sawhney has recently joined Renault India as Executive Director, Marketing & Sales. He was earlier working at GM India overseeing sales, marketing and after-sales operations. He has over 17 years of experience in the automotive sector. He ha s occupied diverse posit ions at different levels and fields. In Renau lt India, he will be based in Chennai and assume charge of the company’s sales and marketing effective November this year and will report to Marc Nassif, MD Renault India. Swahney will replace Len Curran, who will relocate within Renault Group after completing his assignment in India. Curran joined Renault India in 2010 and was responsible for sales and marketing activities of Renault in India. Currently, the company sells five models – the Fluence, the premium sedan, Koleos the top-ofthe-line SUV, Pulse – the premium compact, Duster the popular SUV and the recently launched mid size sedan - the Scala.
DATA MONITOR Top 5 CV Makers Company
Sep-11
Sep-12
Change
TML
41,757
41,071
-1.64%
M&M
10,677
11,915
11.60%
ALL
7,487
10,002
33.59%
VECV EICHER
4,152
3,026
-27.12%
FML
2,269
1,546
-31.86%
Top 5 CV Exporters Company
Sep-11
Sep-12
Change
TML
5,451
4,585
-15.89%
M&M
2,365
2,401
1.52%
ALL
1,120
621
-44.55%
VECV Eicher
475
124
-73.89%
FML
33
8
-75.76%
* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL
“WE ARE THE ONLY LUXURY MANUFACTURER TO HAVE SO MUCH INVESTED ON-GROUND IN INDIA” Piyush Arora, Director, Technical, Mercedes-Benz India
Pg 11
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Tata developing mini-Aria Anand Mohan Mumbai
T
ata Motors is developing a smaller variant of the Aria. The ‘compact’ Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) is expected to be in the same league as the Ertiga and the Innova in terms of size and price. The company appears to have realised the potential of the large budding market in the MPV segment under the `10 lakh mark where Maruti’s Ertiga is scripting its success story. The Innova too hasn’t been hit by the Ertiga with both models averaging around 6,000 units approximately per month in the period of April to September. The Aria on the other hand, priced at the wrong side of the Rs `10 lakh sweet spot, has managed just double digit sales despite being the most technologically advanced Tata vehicle to be ever built. Reducing the price by about `5 lakh implies that the company may find it difficult to use the latest hydro-formed ladder-frame chassis since it is an expensive platform, according to industry sources. The company may trade the extra stiffness and weight advantage for the lower costing old Safari platform to keep the
Artist’s Impression of the ‘Mini’ Aria
Sub four-metre Sumo in the works A new sub-four metre Sumo Gold is also being developed that could come as early as next year. Prices may start from around `five lakh making it an even more ‘value for money’ proposition in the intensely competitive segment. Sources reveal that the exterior design of the ‘mini’ Sumo is ready. It has been jointly designed by the Tata Motors European Technical Centre in Warwick and the company’s in-house design team in India. It is likely to be a seven seater using a pair of jump seats like the mini-Aria. price competitive. The benefit of ladder-frame construction compared to a monocoque shell is that it is easier to modify. From the rear, the boot could be reduced to either fall flush with the third row or even fit in a set of jump seats like on the Mahindra Quanto to
reduce the rear overhang even further. If the shortened ladderframe chassis from the Safari is used, the length will reduce by another 200mm to fall under the crucial four-metre mark. But that’s not the only criteria to qualify under the 12 percent
excise duty bracket. The diesel engine needs to be under 1500cc capacity. For this, one of the options for the company is to dump the 2.2-litre DiCOR block for the tried and trusted 1248cc Fiat Multijet engine. The challenge for the company would be to reduce weight. The Aria is a 2.2 tonne vehicle, one tonne more than the Ertiga. It will be a challenge for Tata Motors to adapt that same engine (1.3 Multijet Fiat diesel) powering the Ertiga to haul the heavier Aria without compromises in power or fuel efficiency. Apart from concerns regarding power and performance, a newer engine like 1.3 Multijet, which seems like the logical option, may help the company in pricing the shortened Aria more aggressively. If not, the 2.2-litre unit will deliver better performance due to lesser loads on a smaller car but at the cost of pricing it higher than its competition. That’s one mistake Tata Motors doesn’t want to repeat. If the 5,000 bookings for the Quanto in its first three weeks since launch is anything to go by, the company could be looking at an attractive market for this smaller value for money offering.
Pajero Sport’s price reduced to `22.56 lakh Our Bureau New Delhi
H
industa n Motors recently reduced price of its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Pajero Sport to `22.56 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). The customers will receive a benefit of `1.87 lakh. The manufacturer has passed on the benefit obtained after local assembly which started last month. The Pajero Sport is now assembled at the HM plant in Tiruvallur near Chennai. The SUV was earlier priced at `24.43 lakh (ex-show room New Delhi), when sold as a CBU. Currently components like tyres, batteries, window glass, seat belts, lamps, wiper assemblies, alloy wheels & headlining are the major items which are being localised at its Tiruvallur
plant. Currently, localisation ratio is about 14 percent but the company is planning to increase the localisation to 30 percent by next fiscal year. Speaking on the occasion, MD, HM, Uttam Bose said, “We are pleased to announce our start of production of the Pajero Sport in our Tiruvallur plant and are happy to extend the price benefit to our customers. India has in the recent past seen an increased desire for SUV’s; Pajero Sport will further consolidate its position in the Indian market. Pajero Sport will look at capturing 20 percent of the premium SUV segment in the country. With Pajero Sport being locally manufactured, the produc-
tion numbers are set to increase to over 400 units and also the plant has capacity to scale up operations based on market requirements. The manufacturing quality of Pajero Sport CKD is as great as the CBU quality and the dealers are also happy with the end result.” The CKD Pajero Sport comes with the same 2.5L common-rail DI-D & VG turbo engine providing maximum power 178 PS and
torque 400 Nm, 4WD, rear stabilizer and 5.6 m turning radius. HM also have its Mitsubishi range of dealerships across 40 locations with four service outlets and three show windows. The company will look at fortifying its dealerships to 55 points by end of 2012. Some of the cities include New Delhi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Agra, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Vadodara, Pune, Coimbatore, Cochin, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. The Pajero SFX, Mitsubishi’s popular SUV among off-roaders, was discontinued around June 2012. Many Mitsubishi dealers did not have Pajero Sports to sell for over a month. Since CKD operations were about to begin, the company had stopped supplying CBUs to dealers.