Auto Monitor - 30 April 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 ns Tur w o N

ekly e W

Vol. 12 No. 10

30 April 2012

w w w.amonl ine.in

32 Pages

STUDY

` 50

INTERVIEW

ANALYSIS OF TWO-WHEELER INDUSTRY IN INDIA Pg 14

‘LINE FIT NAVIGATION WILL GIVE A BOOST TO IN-CAR NAVIGATION MARKET’ Kirk Mitchell, VP, Ocenia Sales, Navteq

Pg 8

ZF to launch next-gen steering systems Abhishek Parekh Pune

Z

F Group is looking to launch its next generation electronic power steering systems for commercial vehicles and passenger car applications through its new entity, ZF Lenksysteme, in which ZF Steering Gears (India) will have a minority stake.

“We are hoping to introduce our next generation and some of the current generation steering systems and products through ZF Lenksysteme from the new Pune facility. We are looking to enable seamless addition of customers from ZF Steering Gears for the latest products and will launch all our steering system related products from this entity in the coming years,” said Chief Executive Officer, ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, Michael Hankel. He added that one of the major reasons for establishing the new entity, as opposed to introducing new products through ZF Steering Gears (India), a publicly

(L) Michael Hankel, CEO, ZF Lenksysteme (R) ZF’s Phulgaon plant

listed entity headed by Dinesh Munot, is better control over intellectual property and seamless connectivity with ZF entities globally for product development and marketing.

The company is also evaluating aftermarket business in India and may utilise either ZF Steering Gears’ service and distribution network or Bosch’s aftermarket channel in addition to the OE’s authorised service network for

distributing spares and support services.

ZF Lenksysteme’s new facility, situated at Phulgaon near Pune, will help the company to step-up its India presence and address its commitments to Indian OEMs in the CV and passenger car segment. The new facility is spread over 10,000 sq mt with an initial production capacity of 70,000 commercial vehicles steering systems and approximately 400,000

passenger car steerings. ZF Group has invested around Euro 70 million in the facility. The production would be further ramped up to cater to market demand and other commitments from group entities over the coming years. The company will employ around 100 skilled and administrative staff at full capacity in the facility.

Hankel added that the company chose Pune given the

proximity to the world’s leading forging company (Bharat Forge) and many other leading auto manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Daimler Chrysler, General Motors, Force Motors in and around Pune, as well as two prominent automotive research labs, namely Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) & Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT).

“Our primary target is to achieve 80 to 100 percent localisation over the next couple of years,” said Chief Executive Officer, ZF Lenksysteme India Pvt Ltd, Ronaldo Alves. The company plans to manufacture hydraulic steering systems for commercial vehicles as well as electrical power steering systems for passenger cars at the plant.

ZF Lenksysteme GmbH is a JV between Robert Bosch GmbH and ZF Friedrichshafen AG and aims to bring together ZF´s experience in hydraulic steering systems and Bosch’s expertise in electronics and sensors to form a pool of advanced steering solutions.

Piaggio India revives Vespa Our Bureau Mumbai

P

iaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd has launched Vespa LX 125 in the premium twowheeler range priced

DATA MONITOR Top 5 CV Makers Company

Mar-11

Mar-12

Change

TML

44,970

51,803

15.19%

ALL

11,313

12,663

11.93%

M&M

10,941

12,313

12.54%

EICHER

4,722

5,786

22.53%

2,615

2,750

5.16%

FML

Top 5 CV Exporters Company

Mar-11

Mar-12

Change

TML

5,186

4,127

-20.42%

M&M

1,528

2,083

36.32%

ALL

856

1,622

89.49%

EICHER

343

265

-22.74%

SML

96

69

-28.13%

* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL

at `66,661 (ex-showroom Pune) across 35 major cities in the domestic market. The company has set-up a manufacturing facility for production of the Vespa at Baramati in Maharashtra.

The company plans to have an initial production of around 1.5 lakh units at the Baramati facility and this may subsequently expand depending on the market demand and export commitments to around 2.5 lakh units.

Piaggio has developed a new LX 125 engine for the Indian market and may use it for the model globally “Vespa is not just our most famous and bestselling product around the world; it is also our

Davide Scotti, EVP, Piaggio; Ravi Chopra, CMD, PVPL & Gabrielle Galli, CFO, Piaggio

business card, our technological f lagship,” said Chairman and CEO, Piaggio Group, Roberto Colaninno during the launch of the Vespa in Mumbai.

The company has developed a new LX 125 engine specifically for the Indian market and may use it for the model globally.

This new engine is ecofriendly and fuel efficient. It is a new generation global engine which will also be produced in Piaggio’s other manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia.

The LX 125 has been built with a single piece monocoque steel body construction as opposed to modular development in most modern scooters.

The front suspension system in the Vespa has an aircraft derived single sided trailing arm for better ride quality, according to a company release.

The company will sell the brand from 70 exclusive dealerships across 35 cities and plans to grow the network to more than 100 over the next couple

of years.

It is in the process of creating exclusive accessories and merchandise that will complement the Vespa, in addition to membership to Vespa Club.

The company is presenting a retro classic Vespa that not only comes with a whole series of design and ergonomic marvels but also marks the worldwide debut of a brand revived for a new generation of two-wheeler customers in developing markets like India.

A to Z product range as per Customer’s designs, applications, sizes and Internationals Standards

EDITORIAL Antidote Awaited

T

he revision of India’s long term credit rating to negative from stable, by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) last week has come as a bit of a surprise, though it is necessary to be factored in. The data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)a couple of weeks ago showed that India has surpassed Japan to become the third biggest economy after the US and China. IMF data revealed that India’s GDP in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms stood at $4.46 trillion in 2011, marginally higher than Japan’s $4.44 trillion. Its share in world GDP in terms of PPP is at 5.65 percent in 2011 against 5.63 percent of Japan. It also estimated that the gap will widen significantly by 2017.

S&P cited slow fi scal progress and deteriorating economic indicators as the reason for its surprise move of revising the outlook on India’s long-term credit rating to negative from stable. Though the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee stated that there is no cause for panic, he was concerned about downgrading India’s credit rating outlook, it is certainly a wake-up call for the government to pull up its socks in putting its act together on the macroeconomic front.

As far the global automotive industry is concerned, India is an attractive destination for investments due

to the sheer presence of its large untapped market, talent availability, low cost manufacturing base for not only manufacturing vehicles, but also sourcing components.

And these attributes will continue to woo investors in to the country. However, the government needs to take corrective action on a war footing so that the downgrading does not affect the prospects of the country.

While pursuing the macroeconomic policy for achieving higher economic growth, it is necessary to take specific measures to boost inclusive growth. It is time for an antidote.

Wishing you much pleasure reading. Do send us your feedback.

T. Murrali t.murrali@infomedia18.in

QUOTES Marc Llistosella, CEO & Managing Director, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles

Roberto Colaninno, Chairman and CEO, Piaggio Group

India is moving from a supply driven market to a demand driven market, which spells huge opportunities for global players

The Vespa is not just our most famous and bestselling product around the world; it is also our business card, our technological flagship

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CONTENTS CORPORATE Maruti counts on localisation for Ertiga

9

BWith around 96 percent local content, Maruti’s Ertiga is hoping to effectively compete with its rival Toyota Innova

GLOBAL WATCH Peugeot debuts models at CV show

20

Peugeot displayed its latest Partner Electric and unveiled the car in the UK for the first time at the recent CV Show at NIC Birmingham, UK

Nissan prototype wings European wet test programme

22

DeltaWing prototype sportscar kicked off its programme at Norfolk, with Marino Franchitti & Michael Krumm getting the opportunity to sample the car in wet conditions

Bosch closes acquisition of Voltwerk Electronics Coating suppliers target bus segment

10

24

Bosch Group recently consummated acquisition of Voltwerk Electronics GmbH, a supplier of electronic components and software solutions for photovoltaic arrays

AAutomotive coating suppliers are expecting higher usage from the growing bus segment. with industry volumes expected to touch 85,000 units over the next three to four years

OEMs befriend social media to up marketing

11

Automobile manufacturers have to see new ways to attract younger car buyers by exploring newer terrain of marketing

Commercial vehicles in India: A segment to reckon with

12

India is emerging as a manufacturing base for low cost CVs, and the global market can look at the country for sourcing not only vehicles but also components

12

30

THE OTHER SIDE

MSIL lays foundation for new R&D centre in Rohtak

16

MSIL is looking to invest Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 crore in its new R&D Centre at Rohtak in Haryana spread over 600 acre

MRF bags hat-trick in JD Power study

17

Madras Rubber Factory has been ranked the highest in the JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index Study 2012 with a score of 841, ahead of the industry average of 825 in 2012

Re-moding freight transport: TNO study EU’s white paper stated goal for road freight transport aims at 30 percent of the load over 300 km should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030

18

Lalit Choudary, Director, Infinity Cars Pvt Ltd Choudary saw the opportunity for selling luxury cars in India and has emerged as marquee dealer of Aston Martin, BMW and Mini

Delightful rides Now a part of every schoolchild's life

STARBUS ULTRA

Presenting Starbus Ultra Skool from Tata Motors The new Starbus Ultra Skool, with its contemporary aerodynamic design, reflects care that goes beyond what you'd expect from an ordinary school bus. Rest assured, it has all the superior safety and comfort features that are Government-mandated, and also additional ones we considered necessary.

Go beyond your world to discover Starbus Ultra Skool. Enjoy peace of mind while your child travels in complete safety and security.

For details, call toll-free 1800 209 7979; write to businfo@tatamotors.com or visit www.buses.tatamotors.com

Power & performance from best-in-class technology • Aesthetics, comfort & safety way beyond the ordinary

Auto Monitor

30 APRIL 2012

INTERVIEW

8

‘Line fit navigation will give a boost to in-car navigation market’ Vice President, Ocenia Sales, Navteq, Kirk Mitchell speaks to Shambhavi Anand on current scenario in mobility space and how Nokia could offer value for automotive segment globally.

Could you highlight some of the current initiatives being undertaken by Nokia, Location & Commerce, in India?

Nokia’s Location & Commerce (L&C) has been established to enable unique location experiences for great mobile products, the navigation industry and the automotive market. Our location data is at the cornerstone for our customers being able to provide a vast array of consumer experiences: navigation, location based services and location-intelligent mobile advertising.

To offer our Indian customers accurate location content, we have expanded our India map coverage by almost 80 percent from 2,299 cites to 4,125 cities over a quarter; this coverage expansion includes over 1.225 mn km of road network, and more than six million Points of Interest (POIs).

On an average, we have launched a new product every quarter in India in the past year.

The latest product launched early this year was our Navteq Traffic Pro real time traffic service. We continue to build and offer a robust product portfolio, which is ‘made for India’ including point addressing, discover cities and natural guidance amongst many others. We will continue to drive and walk the roads in India, adhere to rigorous quality stand-

ards to develop maps unrivalled in richness, detail and accuracy.

We are looking to humanising technology to improve the enduser navigation experience.

What is the current level of line fit navigation system in vehicles globally? What is the level of the same in India?

In our tracking study 2011 for India, we noticed an increase of 12 percent point change in the awareness levels of in-vehicle navigation (versus 2010). The launch of India’s first line fit navigation in Tata Aria at the end of 2010 has set the trend in the industry, and subsequent conversations in the industry could have driven this positive change. In terms of experience with line fit navigation, this number remains unchanged from 2010 to 2011. Slow adoption of invehicle navigation by consumers in 2011 could be due to the fact that in-vehicle navigation was available in a select few SUV vehicles in India. Lag time exists between OEM launches and getting dealers up to speed about navigation being available in these new vehicle launches which may in turn delay consumer education/awareness.

Additionally, in the past year, we witnessed a positive growth in the aftermarket navigation in the auto industry. We expect to see more traction with leading auto OEMs to launch more line

fit navigation in mid-high segments in 2012.

What kind of opportunities are you looking at in India? What are the prospects in the line fitment segment?

The opportunities are immense. In terms of partners, we work with automobile OEMs, telecom players (handset manufacturers, carriers), and application developers to enable a ‘Where ecosystem’. All major OEMs have launched navigation or at least conducted trials for line-fit navigation systems in India. Line fit navigation is likely to take off from this year onwards and we are currently in discussions with numerous leading auto OEMs. In terms of aftermarket segment, there is tremendous growth and we continue to work with Mega Audio, Garmin and NNG to launch new devices powered by Navteq Maps.

Launch of 3G services in India, coupled with growing adoption of smart phones has resulted in a buoyant LBS (Location-Based System) application in India, never seen before previously.

Contribution of VAS (Value Added Service) to total telecom revenue here is increasing with a strong demand for regional and multilingual apps, leading to application developers and telecom operators focusing on local content. We see location-aware applications growing with more telecom operators providing navigation and map services. We have worked with Tata Docomo to launch the ‘Route

Finder’ and ‘Friend Finder’ with Navteq MapsinIndia.iPhone navigation apps, launched by our partners, Navigon, NDrive and NNG are also powered

by Navteq maps.

Globally, our location content powers nearly 175 million navigation-enabled devices (including Nokia devices).

What are the challenges that you face in the Indian market and how do you plan to address them?

The map building process has countr y specific nuances. We researched the India market before entering, to ensure that our maps are developed by local experts who possess the local knowledge and know their cities well. In addition, products & services are developed based on local consumers needs.

One of the unique characteristics of Indians is that they place value on guidance from people to reach their destinations. And they look for POIs, like banks, hospitals, movie theatres, places of worship and traffic signals for guidance. We saw this uniqueness as an opportunity and created and launched the Navteq Natural Guidance in India. For the first time in India,

navigation applications are able to provide guidance that moves beyond the norm of using only time and distance-based directional cues like “turn right in 50 metres”—it guides users through vivid descriptions of static orientation point, eg “turn left after the blue glass building” or “turn right at the traffic signal”.

The road infrastructure in India is constantly changing. Our local field teams are passionate about building the most robust map database and they ensure that we are constantly aware of the changes in the local road networks, ensuring that we have the highest quality map data.

30 APRIL 2012

Auto Monitor

C O R P O R AT E

Maruti counts on localisation for Ertiga

9

Aesthetics & Interiors

Bhargav TS Chennai

C

ompetit ion ha s compelled car manu f ac t u r er s i nto developing all kinds of strategies to succeed. While offering more features at competitive rates and manufacturing products locally are some of the strategies often adopted by the car makers, there is another strategy that is getting more attention from them ie increasing the intensity of local component sourcing. In order to position its new segment vehicle, Ertiga in the Indian market, Maruti Suzuki has priced it very competitively. The car has 96 percent local content, thereby competing with its rival Toyota Innova.

this forward, Maruti will be exporting Ertiga to Indonesia soon. “The fi rst batch of Ertiga will be shipped to Indonesia by the end of May,” said Maruti Suzuki India, Chief General Manager (Marketing), Shashank Srivastava. He added that the company has about three percent market share in the country and hopes to increase it in the future with the launch of Ertiga in Indonesia. The company will export the MPV as a CompletelyKnocked Down (CKD) unit and assemble it there.

Capturing New Segments Maruti Suzuki has always been a frontrunner in identifying new passenger car segments and providing increasingly better products to its customers.

The latest addition to this is the new seven-seater Ertiga, an MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) that is uniquely positioned and called as LUV (Life Utility Vehicle), at just above the price-tag of a compact car.

Eye On Exports Since the new MPV has high localised content, the manufacturer is able to price it competitively and planning to increase its market share in the other emerging markets. Taking

Targeting Indonesia MPVs in Indonesia accounts for about 60 percent of the total car sales and with Ertiga, Maruti Suzuki is going to make its presence felt in the booming MPV segment. The company has targeted to sell over 50,000 units in the first year. The car maker has also plans to roll out Ertiga in the other ASEAN markets as well, since the demand for a multipurpose vehicle in these countries is quite high.

Though major markets like Europe and Australia have communicated their interest in such a low cost MPV, the company is not looking at these markets as of now.

Ertiga looks like an extended version of Ritz when seen from the front; the sharp swept-back headlamps dominate the front end while the grille and bonnet significantly complements the facia.

However, the vehicle is based on an extended Swift platform, which helped Maruti to build an MPV in a monocoque chassis. The suspension has been fine-tuned according to the size and the weight of the vehicle to keep body roll minimal.

Due to the monocoque chassis, it inherantly feels like car or sedanlike vehicle. While most rival MPVs have used the ladder frame chassis, the monococque design is an added advantage to Ertiga.

The company has made efforts to make its new MPV look like a large hatchback. It has an overall length of 4,265 mm and width of 1,695 mm, a length of 4,580 mm with a height of 1,760 mm. On the sides, the vehicle has a clean look and the flared wheel arches add muscle to its shape without appearing cluttered.

What’s more, Ertiga is larger in reality when compared to its pictures.

To add more space in the interiors, Ertiga is 155 mm taller than the Swift and the wheel base has been increased by 310 mm.

The ground clearance has been increased by 15 mm when com-

pared to Swift. The width of both the Ertiga and the Swift are the same (1,695 mm). In short, the physical attributes of the Ertiga are very suitable for the purpose of a compact MPV. On test driving the car recently, this correspondent could fi nd that Maruti has executed its engineering well by considering the Indian road conditions. The vehicle has the MacPherson strut at the front and torsion beam at the rear. The riding and handling are impressive perhaps due to monocoque chassis and bumps are also absorbed effortlessly.

The car was tested in the rough road conditions outside Chennai where it performed well. The steering offers a good feel and response. This combined with the hatchback-like proportions makes it quite easy to drive in city. On highways too, the car is quite smooth even during overtaking and lane changing.

Under The Hood Ertiga comes with two engine options, one is on 1.4 litre, four cylinder VVT engine—K series, used in petrol variants. This is a new engine that Maruti has developed recently and Ertiga is the fi rst to use this new engine, which produces 95 PS of power @6,000 RPM.

This engine churns out a torque of 130 nm @ 4,000 RPM. The second engine option is 1.3 litre DDiS super turbo engine that also powers the Maruti Suzuki SX4 Diesel.

This VGT engine gives out 90 PS power @ 4,000 RPM and has 200 nm of torque that kicks in at 1,750 RPM. Drive-wise, the Ertiga feels like a car unlike any of the current utility vehicles and gives a feeling of immense confidence and enables the driver to be in absolute control.

The manufacturer has used the same five-speed manual gearbox, which is commonly used in the Maruti family. However, the gear ratios have been adjusted according to the nature of the car to make it most drivable at all speeds. Gear shifting is smooth and accurate.

There was a slight disengagement of gears in the car, which was given to us, but the clutch pedal is soft and enhances the comfort level during gear shifts.

In terms of comfort too, the Ertiga is in line with much of the compact cars out there, with quite comfortable fi rst and second row seats, with ample space available. The leg and back support is also ample and one does not feel tired after long drives.

It is at the third row that the car feels a bit constrained; it is most suitable for kids due to the lack of space—both headroom and legroom—owing to its compact dimensions. Feature-wise too, the car is well loaded with almost all the features of Swift, except for the automatic AC being provided in the vehicle.

According to Srivastava, MPVs have emerged as the fastest growing sub-segment, registering over 20 percent growth in the last three years. MPVs presently account for ten percent share of the Indian automobile industry.

THE T HE JJOURNEY OURNEY OF OF A THOUSAND THOUSAND MILES MILES STARTS WITH ONE STEP S TARTS W I TH O NE S TEP

VTUEEE V TUEEE 2 2012 012

G-ARC (NATRiP, Chennai Centre)

CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED COMPUTING (C-DAC), PUNE

G-ARC (NATRiP, Chennai Centre)

Auto Monitor

30 APRIL 2012

C O R P O R AT E

10

Abhishek Parekh Mumbai

A

utomot ive coat ing suppliers are expecting higher usage from the growing bus segment. Industry estimates peg the total volumes of buses above eight tonnes at around 85,000 units over the next three to four years and the segment may offer major opportunities for quality solutions.

Origina l Equ ipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and independent bus manufacturers are increasingly demanding for quality and consistent fi nish and gloss, Distinctness of Image (DOI) and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) compliance, extended warranty on the paint life, which sometimes is as much as 10 to 12 years. Most coating suppliers are investing in upgrading their capability through research in colour science and craft that leads to exact formulations and state-of-the-art colour tools that meet the needs for the advanced automotive coatings market and professional body shops.

“Large commercial vehicle manufacturers expect value addition in terms of enhanced participation like apply & supply on turnkey basis. Superior customer service, top-notch training, full technical & logistical support and detailed local knowledge is expected from coating suppliers,” said General Manager, Marketing, Automotive & Aerospace Coating, India & South Asia, Akzo Nobel, Hitesh Mehta.

On-time delivery and uninterrupted material availability is one of the key aspects for bus manufacturers. Additionally, maintenance of planned inventory close to manufacturer’s location is another supply related requirement. Manufacturers are also increasingly looking for environment-friendly solutions like waterborne paints that meet tough international VOC norms.

Bus manufacturers have traditionally used paints, which are low on performance and cost, are now increasingly switching over to PU (polyUrethane) based paints for better value addition.

PU provides more durability, increased weather resistance and

higher gloss.

The company aims to broaden its product range, dealership network and service points to help reaching out to both premium as well as other bus segments in commercial vehicle market.

There is a significant increase in the number of multinational commercial vehicle manufacturers entering the Indian market.

Global coating suppliers are looking to leverage their international relationship with OEMs and bus body builders to penetrate deeper into this segment.

“Though there may be some diffi culty in terms of overall automobile production in the short term, but medium to long term outlook for automobiles is very positive and hence we decided to restructure our business interest with our partners to address the opportunities in the segment,” said Chief Executive, Asian PPG Industries, Jagdish Acharya. The company is a major supplier to many OEMs including passenger cars, twowheelers, bus body builders and commercial vehicle manufacturers. Some of its major

Photograph: Joshua Navalkar

Coating suppliers target bus segment

customers include Volkswagen, Ford and GM India. He added that most suppliers are building up capabilities for the future but may not be keen to raise production capacity or output given the uncertain demand scenario.

A sia n Pa i nt s recent ly restructured its joint venture arrangement with its partner PPG by bringing performance, powder and protective coating solutions under a new JV entity with automotive and marine coating solutions offer existing

JV Asian PPG in order to enhance product lines in each of these segments and grow market share. He elaborated that there is a major forward momentum in the refinish market, including the bus body segment, and premium solutions w ill be increasingly sought after by these manufacturers. “Refinish market has been growing faster than the automobile OE market but both the segments have been lacklustre since last year,” Acharya signed off.

RFID toll plaza in action Our Bureau New Delhi

C

ountry’s fi rst RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device)-based electronic toll collection plaza that has been introduced recently at Chandimandir, Punchkula (Haryana) will help users make payment without stopping at toll plazas, eventually reducing traffic congestion and commuting time.

Toll statements can be made or made available online to the road users and they need not have to stop for receipt.

RFID, besides satisfying functional requirements, is the cheapest solution available. It is extremely simple to use and administer, requiring no action on the part of the user. In fact the sticker itself can be stuck on the vehicle by the user. It is essential to network all the toll plazas for seamless data communication between toll plazas and the Central Clearing House (CCH).

For updating toll data, a two tier database structure is deployed—one at the plaza level and other at the national level (Central Clearing House). All the transaction details of the tag accounts will be stored in the central database. Before issuance of RFID tags, the road users need to register with the agency with the basic details like name, address, vehicle type and vehicle registration number. The information will be stored in the central database along with the unique identification code of tag.

To begin with, one-two lanes in each direction will be dedicated for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) at each toll plaza. The number of ETC lanes may be increased depending on the number of tag users.

Each ETC lane will be equipped with an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) system for cross verification of vehicle categories to avoid any misuse of tags. The ETC management software will compare the class of vehicle as per the tag account and the AVC class. In case of discrepancy, the system triggers the camera fitted in lane and computes the image of the vehicle along with the number plate. The information will be used for the enforcement of violated vehicles.

A centralised back office operation or Central Toll Clearing House (CTCH) is mandatory for the operation of nation-wide ETC systems. The CTCH concept is a transaction management system, which will enable multiple toll collection agencies to share toll transaction data and revenue reconciliation.

Irrespective of the toll plazas being operated by NHAI or BOT concessionaires, the readers at toll plazas will read tag IDs and send this along with the plaza ID to the CTCH. The CCH system will debit the applicable amount from the account of road users. It will run an end of day settlement and send fi les to every toll plaza operator, and also be sent to the bank for conducting fi nancial settlements of all the toll collecting agencies.

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OEMs befriend social media to up marketing Nabeel A Khan & Shambhavi Anand New Delhi

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o print advertisement, not a single television commercial during the launch, yet, Mahindra XUV500 seized customers’ imagination. The demand for the sports utility vehicle (SUV) went frantically so high that the manufacturer had to stop booking. “To say that we did not communicate will be wrong, we were communicating, we were advertising, but the point was that we were advertising through different media that is new media,” Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, Anand Mahindra said recently.

The OEM has created a frenzy for the XUV on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs. One of India’s largest utility vehicle manufacturers has several thousand friends on Facebook for various products including XUV400, Xylo, Scorpio and Thar 4X4.

The average age of car buyers is becoming younger with

an increasing number of youth having disposable income. The manufacturers have to see new ways to attract these kinds of people and understand the new terrain of marketing. Mahindra added “Simply spending more on marketing doesn’t mean that I will get more market share.

Around 90 percent of car buyers do comparison of research of products online. The mantra is how effectively we are able to get across to target audience.”

Echoing, Mahindra’s opinion, the country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), Chief General Manager (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava, said “Digital media is very good for existing brand where the positioning is clear and you want to simply support the brand and have sustenance. The digital marketing that we use includes social media, ORM (Online Reputation Management) and search engine optimisation. We have found digital media an extremely cost effective tool of advertising.

MSIL has increased its marketing expenditure on digital media to `17 crore for this fi nancial year

Will monetary policy announcement help revive investments?

Our Bureau Chennai

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nion Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee has said that everything will be done to help maintain a supportive monetary policy stance for growth. The Finance Minister was responding to the Annual Monetary Policy statement for 2012-13 announced wherein the RBI has declared a 50 basis point reduction in the policy rates. The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility now stands at eight percent and the reverse repo rate, maintaining the fi xed corridor of 100 basis points, at seven percent with immediate effect. This marks a beginning of the reversal in the policy rates after more than two years.

The minister said that the moderation in the core inflation rate for four months in a row from 8.31 percent in December 2011 to 5.18 percent in March 2012 along with a sharper decline in the inflation for manufactured products from 7.64 percent to 4.87 percent in this period, has facilitated the change in the monetary policy stance.

However, he said that food and primary inflation has shown some signs of hardening in the month of March 2012, which is a cause for some worry.

It was intended to continuously monitor the situation and take the required steps to manage the short-term supply constraints especially in those food items which have been a cause of inflationary spikes in the past months.

The growth outlook, which had weakened in these past months should now improve. The monetary policy announcement is expected to help in investment revival and contribute to strengthening of business sentiments. In the coming weeks some additional steps will be taken to further reinforce the focus on growth, he said.

Skoda Scout priced at `6.79 lakh Our Bureau New Delhi

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koda Auto India introduced the Fabia Scout variant to the Fabia model line at `6.79 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Some of the newer features include projector headlamps, front bumper with spoiler, rear bumper with diffuser, peripheral protective cladding, front and rear door sill trims and stainless steel pedal set. The Scout would be available in petrol and diesel 1.2-litre engine with five speed manual transmission. The diesel variant is priced at `8.1 lakh (ex showroom New Delhi).

A Haas product

“We were advertising through different media that is new media,” Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & MD, Mahindra & Mahindra.

The OEM has a created a frenzy for the XUV on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs from `seven crore a year ago.

The average age of car buyers have shrunk to 29, and these people are very tech savvy, so addressing them has to be very much different from the conventional customers. Hyundai Motor India, Director (Marketing & Sales) & Board Member, Arvind Saxena opined, “We are now focusing on digital platform because I think that’s where we fi nd lots of customers at least in

big cities. On this side of communication, we would mean using email of the customers, social media in addition to the standard way of marketing.”

Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan Motor India has been running a successful branding campaign Star India Campaign on Facebook, which has got received a million likes, while over 80,000 people are talking about it. The carmaker is producing a fi lm with Hindi fi lm star and its brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor and

will cast the winner of the campaign with him. The audition of the fi lm was done on Facebook for which over 3,000 participants uploaded their videos.

“There is emphasis on the digital platform, though the investment in this media for Nissan Motor is still only single digit of the marketing spends. In three to four years, it will become double digit.” CEO, Hover Automotive India (HAI), Dinesh Jain. HAI is responsible for the marketing of Nissan Motor in India.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Commercial vehicles in India: Our Bureau Chennai

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ndia is emerging as a manufacturing base for low cost Commercial Vehicles (CV), and the global market can look at the country for sourcing not only vehicles but also components. This is because the megatrends of India for the commercial vehicles are in sync with those of the developed markets.

This is the message that emerged out of the two-day event—Commercial Vehicle Megatrends India 2012—organised by Automotive World in Chennai recently.

Product and the Purchase Power Parity. These indicators show that India is rising and the truck segment is bound to witness significant growth.

According to him, the country has low cost manufacturing capability, excellent brain centre, good sourcing and a huge market, which are enough indications for a good business in the CV segment. So far, the global players have achieved little success in India due to lack of India specific products. The Indian market is still very heavily slanted towards local CV manufacturers, who hold around 98 percent of the local CV market.

Key Notes Delivering his keynote address, CEO and Managing Director, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Marc Llistosella said India is moving from a supply driven market to a demand driven market, which spells huge opportunities for global players.

The pressure to grow in India is dramatic due to the growth of population, Gross Domestic

Evolving Customer Needs Talking on the theme of the session—‘View From The Top,’ he said, with changing times and evolving customers’ needs, the market is expected to modernise in the coming years in terms of concepts, segments, technology and value added services.

Besides, strong fundamentals of Indian economy coupled with

the growth will drive the truck industry volumes. The Indian CV market is expected to follow the footsteps of peers and the developed market in terms of value and technology. India has dramatic potential for the next 20 years, he said. However, the President-Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, Ravi Pisharody opined that the CV segment in India has a global scale, which coupled with low cost

base, will enable the country to have a significant presence in the global arena.

Since China ba n ks on production numbers, the scale will remain h ig her, but there exists an opportunity for building a superior brand value for ‘Made in India’ products.

The Indian CV industry, in short term, will see fast recovery and growth.

In the mid-term, the small CVs will remain robust due to rural penetration and increasing purchasing power. MHCV will see another growth spurt in two to three years on the back of increased spending on infrastructure. The shift in customer preference is expected in engine power and torque related issues besides, value added services.

According to Managing Director and CEO, Asia Motor Works, Anirudh Bhuwalka, there are five key drivers that influences the CV industry in a positive manner—infrastructure, legislation, environment, product and driver. Elaborating his views, he said the infrastructure is the key due to rapid expansion in urban megacities, continued impetus on road infrastructure, development of the hub and spoke transport model and upgradation of major ports. The legislation can drive the truck industry with the introduction of GST as it will improve transport efficiency by seamless inter-state travel.

Legislation on replacement of trucks and ban on overloading will spur the growth further. As far as the trend concerning the environment, he said tougher emission norms will propel the demand for new and higher technology vehicles. It is necessary to control development costs and the government needs to provide cleaner fuels. Customers’ expectations in terms of increased

THIRD “Demand profile, product development and new business models to dominate” Giving his view on CV Megatrends India 2012, the Partner and National Leader, Automotive Practice, Ernst & Young, Pakesh Batra said the emerging trends that are likely to affect the Indian CV industry, are along the dimensions of demand profi le, product development and new business models. Fleet operators focus on capacity utilisation to reduce operating cost and diversify customer base while rapid urbanisation, improving road infrastructure and regulatory policies influence CV buyers and OEMs. Global OEMs redefi ne brand position while their domestic counterparts build R&D competence and optimise costs through outsourcing and modularisation.

Suppliers improve local capacity and invest in R&D while improving operational efficiency and developing an aftermarket proposition.

OEMs tackle manpower, economic and supply chain risks through skill development, production localisation and supplier collaboration. Yet another megatrend, according to him is the building up of R&D competence and evolution of India development hub. Product development trends are evolving in response to varying product needs across customer segments, he said.

Western MNCs mostly focus on global product segments as part of their product and marketing strategy for emerging markets. Some MNC’s in India have successfully begun to realise the opportunity in local and bottom of the pyramid customer segments, which represents a large future global market. He pointed out how Nokia, being an MNC, has made India as a manufacturing base for mobile phones. The MNCs from emerging markets are developing ‘value products’ for these segments that will be exported to developed markets and other emerging markets.

To retain and establish market leadership and exploit the opportunities in India, several changes need to be considered in the operating model including product development and procurement. For many MNCs, the emerging markets like India and China now account for an important portion of the global revenue and profits. Product development paradigms in western countries need to change and adopt more ‘frugal engineering’ approaches to compete with emerging market competitors. There is a need for modular design approach to decrease time to market and cater to a wider range of customer segments. Not every country

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A segment to reckon with power to weight ratio, international standards at competitive prices, better ergonomics, higher safety standards, durable and reliable, lighter and efficient vehicles drive the demand further.

Bhuwalka expressed concern on the issue of driver shortage.

He said it is necessary to elevate status of Indian truck drivers as qualified drivers can adapt to new technologies.

Emerging Trends Subscribing to Bhuwalka’s view, Director-Diesel Engine Oil Technology Programme, Castrol, Gordon Lamb said emissions, infrastructure and increasing fleets are the emerging trends.

The emerging environmental legislations drive future powertrain projects across the world and India is not spared. The cost of trucks is increasing due to emission regulation and this needs to be offset by the increased productivity, he said. Though the OEMs burn their midnight oil to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, the cost of ownership remains

key for customers, he said. The cost of ownership comprises of cost of vehicle, fuel, servicing and resale value.

The Head of Engineering (commercial vehicles), Tata Motors, AK Jindal had a different view. According to him, the key drivers for the growth of commercial vehicles are technological advancements, political and social changes, environment and infrastructure. The challenges for the CV engineers include managing fraudulent fuel practice, norms on vehicle weight, weak enforcement, emissions, poor road conditions and varying geographical conditions.

Mere adoption of engineering and technology from the developed markets will not suffice.

Instead, it is necessary to offer customised solution for the market with trade-offs between cost and performance keeping geographical variations.

Scope For Improvement There is a huge scope for improving the efficiency since

EYE needs to follow the path of more mature and developed economies. In a bi-polar world, the experience and expertise required to achieve market leadership is different between developed and emerging markets. India is emerging as a manufacturing and product design hub for small and low cost vehicles, he pointed out.

The competition among commercial vehicle manufacturers in India is expected to intensify as international OEMs raise the bar in terms of technology, quality, durability and reliability. While the domestic OEMs invest to upgrade products and technology, strengthen dealer relationships and loyalty, reinforce distribution networks and build new competencies.

“Advancing regulations, better infrastructure to spur demand” According to Rahul Jain of Boston Consulting Group, by 2020 global OEMs will emerge from BRIC nations and this region will outstrip TRIAD nations in terms of volumes. About 50 percent of the revenues for the world truck industry will come from BRIC nations. Six of top ten truck OEMs are from BRIC markets today. The Asian OEMs gradually conquering worldwide sales leadership, but still focusing on home markets. However, the market dynamics differ amongst BIRC nations. Industry drivers for commercial vehicles in India include advancing regulations, better infrastructure, more organised demand and globalising CV landscape.

In this scenario, the strategic agenda for the Indian OEMs will be on managing two different portfolios over time, containing complexities, controlling the transition and retain the customers, bridging the technology gap with Triad OEMs and leveraging current portfolio in other markets. For the OEMs from TRIAD, it will be on developing a platform that offers better economics than the Indian trucks, garnering share from Indian OEMs before their portfolio catches up, retaining customers besides, localising and ramping up operations with the right cost-to-serve. Jain said the global suppliers should look at developing aggregates to serve the new Indian mid-market, localise operations to achieve the right cost to serve in addition to developing Tier II and Tier III suppliers despite constraints of sub-scale India operations. The Indian suppliers have to look at options to enhance technical know-how and offer superior quality to serve the mid-market, ensuring parts re-use / modularity to manage complexity and leverage cost position to serve other markets.

the overall efficiency of the automobile currently is estimated at only 13 percent. According to him, up to eight percent of fuel efficiency can be achieved by improving aerodynamics, especially in tractor-trailer vehicles.

Engine calibration and optimisation of drive train ratio can get about seven percent and five percent improvement in fuel efficiency respectively.

The Vice President of Innovation, Dana Corporation, Don Rembosk i, sa id t he megatrend that will spur commercial vehicles in India is its young population as it will fuel economic growth. Strong and sustainable growth of Indian middleclass will fuel economic growth and increase demand for trucks. “Indian emission regulation lags, but on par with western markets; enforcement is often contingent upon economic impacts,” he said. The four key elements for commercial vehicle efficiency are engine, drivetrain, aerodynamics and tyres.

Indian CV sales to reach 1.6 million units by 2016 According to the report released by Ernst & Yong: ‘Megatrends Shaping The Indian Commercial Vehicle Industry’, the Indian CV sales will reach 1.6 million units by 2016, growing at 15 percent CAGR for the next five years. The OEMs and distributors will increase crossselling of products, promote captive fi nance and variety of value added services. The report found the need to design buses with low-floors, GPS and lower NVH. It also pointed out that 10 to 15 percent of the truck fleet remain idle due to shortage of trained drivers and inadequate service network.

Urging the need for road infrastructure development to facilitate OEMs, Partner & National Leader, Automotive Practice, Ernst & Young, Rakesh Batra, said, “By 2012, one expects

to have six-laning of 6,500 km and a development of 1,000 km of expressways. Of the 66,590 km of National Highway, only 38 percent are single-lane, leading to logistics inefficiencies as trucks can cover only 250 km per day versus 600 km globally. Moreover, the development of road infrastructure enables OEMs to introduce higher power vehicles. By 2012, the modernisation of roads under the NHDP (National Highway Development Programme) is expected to involve a total investment of $47.2 billion.”

The report identified some megatrends that will impact the Indian commercial vehicle industry: Focus on capacity utilisation, rapid urbanisation, improving road infrastructure redefi ned brand positioning, and value added services.

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Analysis of two-wheeler industry in India

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n Q3, 2011-12, the Indian two-wheeler (2W) industry recorded sales of 3.4 million units and maintained a growth of 11 percent (YoY) but a flat (QoQ). Although the YoY volume growth of the industry remained in double digits, the pace of growth during the last quarter was at its lowest gear in the last three years.

The deceleration in growth was contributed mainly by the motorcycles segment which grew at a much lower rate of 9.2percent (YoY) in Q3, 2011-12; even as the

The 2W industry growth has been supported by various structural positives associated with the domestic industry including favourable demographic profile, urbanisation & strong replacement demand scooters segment continued to post 20percent+ (YoY) expansion. Overall, ICRA expects the domestic 2W industry to report a volume growth of ~13 percent in 2011-12 as we expect growth to fade further in Q4, 2011-122 due to base effect.

In an environment where the northward movement of infl ation, fuel prices and interest rates has been the nemesis of the Indian automobile industry at large, the 2W industry has been the most resilient, reflected in its healthy volume growth of 15 percent (YoY) in 9m, 2011-12.

The growth has been supported by various structural positives associated with the domestic 2W industry including favourable demographic profi le, moderate 2W penetration levels (in relation to several other emerging markets), under developed public transport system, growing urbanisation and expected strong replacement demand, besides moderate share of fi nanced purchases.

ICRA expects these strengths, coupled with the OEMs’ thrust on exports, to aid the 2W industry to report a volume CAGR of 10-12 percent over the medium term to reach a size of 21-23 million units (domestic + exports) by 2015-16.

The Indian two-wheeler (2W) industry recorded sales volumes of 3.4 million units in Q3, 2011-121, a growth of 11 percent (YoY) but fl at (QoQ). Although the YoY volume growth of the industry remained in double digits, the pace of growth during the last quarter was at its lowest gear in the last three years.

The deceleration in growth was contributed mainly by the motorcycles segment which grew at a much lower rate of 9.2 percent (YoY) in Q3, 2011-12; even as the scooters segment continued to post 20 percent+ (YoY) expansion. Overall, ICRA expects the domestic 2W industry to report a volume growth of ~13 percent in 2011-12 as we expect growth to

fade further in Q4, 2011-122 due to base effect.

In an environment where the northward movement of infl ation, fuel prices and interest rates has been the nemesis of the Indian automobile industry at large, the 2W industry has been the most resilient reflected in its healthy volume growth of 15 percent (YoY) in nine-m, 2011-12. The growth has been supported by various structural positives associated with the domestic 2W industry including favourable demographic profi le, moderate 2W penetration levels (in relation to several other emerging markets), under developed public transport system, growing urbanisation and expected strong replacement demand, besides moderate share of financed purchases. ICRA expects these strengths, coupled with the OEMs’ thrust on exports, to aid the 2W industry to report a volume CAGR of 10-12 percent over the medium term to reach a size of 21-23 million units (domestic + exports) by 2015-16.

SALES VOLUMES & MARKET SHARES Scooters: Sales Volume Barring Q1, 2011-12, the growth in scooter segment’s sales volumes has generally outperformed that of the motorcycles segment, partly due to the former’s smaller base. In Q3, 2011-12 too, the sales volumes of the domestic scooters segment at ~660,000 units recorded a growth of 21.6 percent (YoY), higher than the 9.2 percent growth in motorcycle sales. With this, the share of the scooters segment in the total domestic two-wheeler volumes increased to 19.4percent in Q3, 2011-12 from 17.6 percent in 2010-11.

Trends The Indian motorcycles segment continues to be dominated

by Hero MotoCorp (erstwhile Hero Honda) which has been recording sequential gains in market share over the last three quarters. The top three players accounted for 88.2percent of the industry’s volumes in Q1, 201112 (92.0percent in 2007-08), with Honda Motorcycles having overtaken TVS since Q1, 2010-11 as the third largest player after Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto.

50.7 percent in Q3, 2011-12. While capacity shortfall at the company’s plant at Manesar (Haryana) had restricted its volume growth in the recent past, the company began commercial production at its new plant at Tapukara (Rajasthan) in July 2011. This has allowed the company to consolidate its market position over the last two quarters. However, Hero MotoCorp’s demonstrated success in improving market share (through its sole brand Pleasure) coupled with new scooter models proposed to be launched by Hero MotoCorp, TVS and Yamaha over the short to medium could imply shrinkage of market share gap between the market leader and others over time.

Short To Medium Term Outlook ICRA expects the scooters segment to gradually increase its share in the domestic 2W market from 17.6percent in 2010-11 to ~21percent by 2014-15. With this, the domestic scooters market is estimated to nearly double in size by 2014-15. Thus, even as a multitude of brands already dot the segment’s landscape and more are expected to follow, the likely expansion in the pie should offer sufficient volumes for the industry to grow profitably. For the new entrants, a faster gain in market share could hasten the process of profitability improvement.

OEM FINANCIAL STATUS SCOOTERS: QUARTERLY SALES VOLUMES AND MARKET SHARE Sales Volumes Analysis Barring Q1, 2011-12, the growth in scooter segment’s sales volumes has generally outperformed that of the motorcycles segment, partly due to the former’s smaller base. In Q3, 2011-12 too, the sales volumes of the domestic scooters segment at ~660,000 units recorded a growth of 21.6percent (YoY), higher than the 9.2percent growth in motorcycle sales. With this, the share of the scooters segment in the total domestic two-wheeler volumes increased to 19.4percent in Q3, 2011-12 from 17.6percent in 2010-11.

Market Share Patterns Overall, Honda Motorcycles continues to maintain its leadership position in the scooters segment through its f lagship brand Activa (besides Aviator and Dio) enjoying a market share of

• Hero MotoCorp Graph Revenues: In Q3, 2011-12, Hero MotoCorp’s revenues at `5,983.6 crore grew by 16.9 percent YoY and 3.4 percent QoQ, supported by 11.3 percent YoY and 2.9 percent QoQ increase in sales volumes and 5 percent YoY and 0.5 percent QoQ increase in average realisations. Till 2010-11, exports accounted for 2.5 percent of the company’s sales volumes.

Although since the time Hero MotoCorp’s JV agreement with its erstwhile partner Honda (Japan) ceded in Dec 2010, the company has been unable to scale up its exports much; it is likely to get more aggressive on the exports front as and when its fourth manufacturing plant gets established (for which the company is mulling a location near one of the ports).

Operating Profit Margins (OPM): Hero MotoCorp’s

OPM at 15 percent in Q3, 2011-12, declined marginally by 15 basis points (bps) QoQ but increased by 454 bps YoY. The YoY expansion in HMCL’s core EBITDA margins, however, was relatively lower at 194 bps YoY on exclusion of the estimated royalty payments made by HMCL to its erstwhile partner Honda Motor Company (HMC, Japan) in Q3, 2010-11. Going forward, HMCL’s ability to sustain the scale required to absorb the additional expenses being incurred for creating a new corporate brand, introduction of new models, building of R&D capability and exploring overseas markets will govern its profitability.

Net Profits: Hero MotoCorp’s Q3, 2011-12 PAT at `613.0 Crore grew by 42.9 percent YoY and 1.6 percent QoQ. Overall, the company’s revenues and PAT touched a record high in Q3, 2011-12.

• Bajaj Auto Revenues: In Q3, 2011-12, Bajaj Auto’s revenues at Rs. 5,063.2 Crore grew by 21.2percent YoY but declined by 3.9percent QoQ) led by continued strong exports growth in both the 2W as well the three-wheeler (3W) segments; increase in average realization due to both price increase as well as favourable change in product mix; and favourable currency movement on exports. The company management’s outlook on exports (~32 percent of 2W volumes in Q3, 2011-12) remains robust with a target to achieve export of 1.5 million units in 2011-12E, reflecting a growth of 25 percent over 2010-11.

Operating Profit Margins (OPM): Bajaj Auto’s OPM improved to 21.0percent in Q3, 2011-12, higher by 63 bps YoY and 89 bps QoQ. The improvement in margins was supported by relatively higher realizations from exports, operating leverage benefits and rationalization of spends on sales promotion. The DEPB benefits were discontinued post September 2011; however, BAL has undertaken price increase on export models (besides price increase on domestic models), which should allow the company to sustain its margins

going forward.

Net Profits: In Q3, 2011-12, while Bajaj Auto’s OPBITDA growth at 25.0percent (YoY) was robust, the company’s PAT at Rs. 795.2 Crore grew at a relatively lower rate of 19.2percent (YoY). This was due to the exceptional MTM loss of Rs. 58.9 Crore recorded by the company in Q3, 2011-12 related to the valuation of forward exchange contracts. This is a notional loss and would get reversed on maturity of the underlying contracts (assuming the company’s actual exports remain in line with its budgeted estimates during the term of the contract).

• TVS Motor Revenues: In Q3, 2011-12, TVS’ Net Sales at Rs. 1,762.2 Crore grew by 7.0percent YoY but declined by 11.5percent QoQ. While the company’s total 2W volumes in Q3, 201112 grew by 0.9percent YoY and total three-wheeler (3W) volumes declined by 11.0percent YoY, the revenue growth was much higher by virtue of favourable change in product mix. Thus, notwithstanding the increase in proportion of low-ticket mopeds in TVS’s domestic 2W sales volumes from 39percent in Q3, 201011 to 41percent in Q3, 2011-12, the increase in proportion of >100cc scooter (Wego) and >125cc motorcycles (mainly Apache RTR family) in its sales mix enabled it to improve its average realization YoY. Operating Profit Margins (OPM): TVS’ OPM at 6.5percent in Q3, 2011-12 was 44 bps higher YoY but 40 bps lower QoQ. While the company’s product mix in Q3, 2011-12 was in its favour on YoY basis, its relative deterioration on QoQ basis accordingly translated into movement in OPM. Net Profits: While TVS recorded OPBITDA growth of 14.6percent YoY in Q3, 2011-12, the company’s PAT growth at 1.4percent YoY was much lower on account of higher tax rate and lower ‘other income’. Also, the company’s PAT in Q3, 2011-12 declined by 26.1percent on QoQ basis both due to negative revenue growth (QoQ) as well as decline in OPM on QoQ basis.

(Courtesy: ICRA)

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Hinduja Group Co, L&T Komatsu oil MSIL lays foundation for new R&D centre in Rohtak agreement for co-branded range Our Bureau New Delhi

Our Bureau Chennai

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&T-Komatsu Limited i n ked an ag reement with Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd (A Hinduja Group Compa ny) recently to market a co-branded range of lubricants for its equipment aggregates across the country. L&T-Komatsu, a JV between L&T and Komatsuworld’s leading manufacturers of hydraulic excavators, while Gulf Oil Corporation is one of the leading private sector players in the lubricant industry.

Gulf Oil Ltd, President & CEO, Ravi Chawla, said, “We are pleased to tie-up with L&T Komatsu, an industry leader with their high technology products. This further strengthens our presence in the construction sector, which is the key segment for our growth in the coming years. Our products and services have been designed keeping in mind the extreme working environment of construction and mining sites. For this, our team is fully prepared to deliver total customer satisfaction.”

The co-branded oils have been specially formulated for L&T-Komatsu equipment to meet the stringent engineering specifications. The portfolio includes engine oils, transmission oils and hydraulic oils. These highly engineered products represent the next generation of lubricants and exceed the existing performance and emission norms, thereby increasing the life and

Gulf Oil and L&T Komatsu officials during the tie-up

The co-branded genuine oils have been specially formulated for L&T-Komatsu equipment and are engineered to represent the nextgen lubricants, thereby increasing the life of the equipment reliability of these capital intensive equipments. The products would be available in convenient pack sizes of 20 and 210 litres to cater to the varied consumer requirements.

Gulf Oil developed and implemented the usage of ‘longer drain lubricants’, with technologically advanced formulations in India over the years and is backed by a

strong and extensive distributor network.

The company has experience of marketing co-branded oils with other OEMs like Ashok Leyland, MAN Force and Mahindra & Mahindra and is confident that this expertise will also add value to customers of L&T Komatsu in the construction sector.

This product range will be marketed through both L&T-Komatsu’s and Gulf Oil’s distribution channels and will also be sold directly to their major customers. This will give an impetus to ensure the availability of quality products to the end- customers, who are located in remote parts across the country.

Gulf Oil is expanding its reach rapidly and currently the company’s distribution channel comprises of over 50,000 retailers across India.

s contribution of Indian engineers is increasing in the development of Maruti Suzuki India’s (MSIL) products, the carmaker is boosting its investment in research and development in the country.

MSIL recently laid the foundation stone of its new R&D Centre at Rohtak in Haryana.

The facility is spread over an area of 600 acres. The company is expected to invest in the range of `2,000 to `2,400 crore to set-up this facility. Speaking on the occasion, MD and CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi said, “Maruti Suzuki’s R&D centre at Rohtak will be equipped with latest infrastructure and world class test tracks.

It will augment its capability of Maruti Suzuki engineers manifold. This will enable us to design, develop and launch cars at a faster pace.” The centre at

Rohtak will be an integrated facility for vehicle testing and evaluation, which is crucial for developing new car models.

Maruti Suzuki has increased the number of engineers in a systematic way over the last few years, and is scaling up its R&D capability to launch newer models and strengthen leadership in the fast growing Indian market.

In recent years, MSIL engineers have acquired significant know-how and hands-on experience in different areas of automobile R&D. They have codesigned and developed global models like Swift and the recent Ertiga, with their counterparts in Suzuki, Japan.

The company has introduced the highly acclaimed light weight and fuel efficient K-series petrol engine with next generation engine technology. In the area of alternate fuel technology too, Maruti Suzuki engineers have successfully designed and developed CNG and LPG vehicles.

CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda with S Nakanishi, MD & CEO MSIL at the laying of the foundation stone of Maruti Suzuki R&D centre at Rohtak

30 APRIL 2012

Auto Monitor

C O R P O R AT E

17

Volvo to triple its luxury TVS Logistics appoints Gordon Silvey as global head-customer development car sales this year Bhargav TS Chennai

I

n spite of increase in excise duty, Swedish luxury car maker Volvo aims to triple its sales this year, though it is very small in number compared to German luxury car makers.

Last year, the Swedish carmaker sold 320 cars in the country and this year, it expects to deliver over 1,000 units. For achieving this target, Volvo Auto India is planning to bring newer products and will be expanding its dealer network. “We will be bringing smaller diesel engines for the Indian market, which will have very good mileage, good torque and environmental friendly,” said Volvo Auto India, Managing Director, Tomas Ernberg.

At present German majors BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz have a stranglehold on the luxury car market in India. They are followed by Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover and then Volvo. The Marchquarter numbers show Audi overtaking Mercedes to grab the number two slot which Mercedes

had held since 2009. Mercedes was leading the pack till BMW displaced it in 2009. Ernberg said, “We will be having a lot more presence in the markets in the coming months to achieve our targets and there is intense competition for the top position. The recent trend shows that there is a space for everyone to grow and give us the confidence to fight for bigger market share.”

Volvo Cars has been here since 2008 and currently has a small footprint in India, but the company believes the country will become its “focal point” in the coming months. Ernberg said “Under a relatively new owner (Ford sold Volvo to Chinese carmaker Geely in 2010) and a new CEO globally, the company has now put India in perspective – as one of the most promising markets in the world.”

The luxury car segment in India accounts for just one percent of the overall volumes of 2.5 million cars.

By 2020, car volumes will touch five million and is gunning for 15 percent of the segment by then. Volvo has eight showrooms and seven dealerships across India, which will be doubling its showrooms and dealerships by 2013.

Director, TVS Logistics Services, S Ravichandran.Gordon, an alumnus of the prestigious Cranfield University and Henley Management Schools in UK. Working previously in senior roles for United States Lines (shipping); FedEx (logistics); Ryder Europe (transportation and logistics); Ryder GSCS (global supply chain solutions); Linfox Logistics (Asia-Pac logistics); Australia Post (Asia-Pac logistics), he has an exceptional track record as a leader and expert in global customer development in the supply

Our Bureau Chennai

T

VS Logistics Services has announced the appointment of Gordon Silvey to its senior management team, as Global Head-Customer Development. In his new role, Gordon will be responsible for continuing the worldwide growth of TVS Logistics, its subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Silvey will be based out of TVS Logistics’ Chennai office and will be reporting to Executive

Gordon Silvey

chain, logistics and transportation service sectors.

HML offers Montero upgrade at same price solid white, black mica and cool silver metallic shades.

After the launch of Pajero Sport, Outlander 2012 and now the upgraded Montero, Hindustan Motors has also repositioned the price of Mitsubishi’s sedan Cedia, a car with a strong rally pedigree, at `7.99 lakh, exshowroom New Delhi, enhancing the value-for-money quotient for its numerous enthusiasts.

coloured key front bumper, new chrome radiator grille, new fi nish on power window panel and new stitch design on leather seats.

Montero’s other acclaimed features like 3.2 litre DOHC diesel engine with intercooler and turbocharger, 202 PS@3800 RPM power and 441 nm@2000 RPM torque continue to provide the vehicle formidable power and thrust. The vehicle is available in

Our Bureau New Delhi

H

i ndusta n Motors Limited has launched an upgraded version of the Mitsubishi Montero with a host of new features while the price of the vehicle will remain same that `41.34 lakh (ex-showroom). The value-added features include new muscular

MRF bags hat-trick in JD Power study

Photograph: Bhargav TS

Our Bureau Chennai

C

Tomas Ernberg, MD, Volvo Auto India

replacement tyres, compared with customers who are less satisfied.

The ‘2012 Indian Original Equipment Tyre Customer Satisfaction Index’ study is based on responses from new vehicle owners surveyed at 12 and 24 months of ownership.

The study also fi nds that the occurrence of problems with original tyres negatively impacts overall satisfaction.

According to the company statement, MRF achieved a score of 841, much ahead of the industry average of 825 in 2012. MRF improved by eight points from 2011 and performed particularly well across all factors.

The study has revealed that customers that are highly satisfied with their OE tyres are twice as likely to repurchase their current tyre brand when buying

henna i-based t y re manufacturer, Madras Rubber Factory (MRF) has been ranked the highest in the JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index Study 2012 making it three-times in a row and ninth time in the last 12 years that the tyre manufacturer has topped the study.

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Auto Monitor

30 APRIL 2012

STUDY

18

Re-moding freight transport: TNO study Lorant A. Tavasszy TNO and Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands Jaco van Meijeren TNO, the Netherlands

E

uropean Commission 2011 has recently published a white paper that stated that according to one of the stated goals, for road freight transport over 300 km, 30 percent of the load should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030, and more than 50 percent by 2050. For the purpose of a discussion on the feasibility and implications of this target, this paper reviews its rationale and the mechanisms by which a substantial modal shift could be achieved. Several concrete questions emerge as to the realisation of the modal shift target.

New Target Implications Clearly, the new target calls for a major trend break in modal split.

Looking back, the autonomous trend in modal split over the last 13 years shows an increase in the share of road and sea transport.

There are different underlying trends that together make up this picture, including (a) Increased value density of goods and values of service, favouring road transport (b) Privatisation of transport markets in Central & Eastern Europe countries, also favouring road (c) Strong internalisation and a modest growth in domestic transport flows and (d) Decreasing shares of rail and waterways transport.

These autonomous trends indicate that an increase in rail and waterways was not favoured by the market and that any modal shift policies of the past have been unable to change the share of the modes. There are, however, some autonomous future tendencies within the logistics and transport sector that might help to break this trend; these occur both on the demand and supply sides of the transport system.

The Impact In order to get an idea of the impact of this policy goal on the transported volumes by transport mode in Europe, a European trend scenario for the year 2030 based on a trans-tools run is analysed.

This analysis focuses on the transport flows within the EU27 for the year 2030; the year 2050 is not included. In the European trend scenario, limited policy measures are included to influence the modal split. The 2030 database contains information about origin regions, destination regions, transport modes, commodities, volume in tonnes and the distance between regions.

As expected, most of the transport volumes are carried over a distance of less than 300 km. For road transport and all commodities, 89 percent of the volume is transported over a distance of less than 300 km, while 11 percent of the volume is transported over a distance greater than 300 km. Per commodity, the share of transport above 300 km differs. The commodities “other products”, chemicals, metal products, crude oil and solid mineral fuels have relatively high shares of transport over distances above 300 km.

Note that these numbers refer to tonnes lifted; the distribu-

tion of transport performance (tonne/km) over distance shows quite a different picture: here the majority of tonne-km (56 percent) is moved below distances of 300 km.

In a next step, we focus on the transport flows over a distance greater than 300 km.

Since the European trend scenario contains only a few policy measures that influence the modal split, these results can be regarded as the expected modal-split baseline.

Of the total volume over all commodities, 75 percent is transported by road, 21 percent by rail and four percent by inland navigation (note that the accessibility of inland navigation is limited in the EU27). The commodities

The reduction of road transport by 30 percent leads to a decrease in the share of road from 75 percent to 52 percent, an increase of rail transport from 21 percent to 39 percent and an increase of inland navigation from foureight percent.This means that the volume of rail and inland navigation increases by 88 percent solid mineral fuels, petroleum products, ores and metal waste, fertilisers and metal products show relatively high shares of rail and inland navigation.

If the modal split objective is applied to these results, the modal split for the total over all commodities will change as indicated. The reduction of road transport by 30 percent leads to a decrease in the share of road from 75 percent to 52 percent, an increase of rail transport from 21 percent to 39 percent and an increase of inland navigation from four percent to eight percent (if the shift of road transport is equally distributed over rail and inland navigation). This means that the volume of rail and inland navigation increases by 88 percent. The question whether this is a feasible scenario, from the perspective of available railway capacity, is discussed further in the paper. The commodities with the highest potential of this shift —simply in terms of volume of road transport—are in the “other products” category, in building minerals, chemical products and foodstuffs.

To the extent that the market cannot absorb the burden of internalisation of external costs itself (i.e., consumers are not willing to pay extra for greener products), this can be enforced through government regulation, emissions trading schemes or additional taxes or levies.

Here, government is needed to select, introduce and maintain the fi nancial schemes, limiting investments to those cases that create a net social benefit.

In a TNO study from 2006, the theoretical potential for rail transport, inland navigation and

M O DAL S P L I T I N T HE E U 2 7 F OR T R A N S P O R T A B OV E 3 0 0 K M Eurostat Road |

Rail |

Inland navigation

% 1,00 0,90 0,80 0,70 0,60 0,50 0,40 0,30 0,20 0,10 0,00 Agricultural products

Solid mineral fuels

short sea was determined for the Netherlands. From the perspective of the demand of transport flows (logistical requirements of the goods to be moved), the study determined limiting factors for the theoretical potential of alternative modes. These factors are listed in the next table.

These factors were used to determine the potential of rail, inland navigation and short sea from the perspective of shipments.

The maximum share for alternative modes of transport in the Netherlands, according to these criteria, came to 34 percent. As this was a theoretical exercise, it is only a crude indication of the potential. For inland waterways, the realisation is higher than the potential, due to factors not taken into account. For rail transport, the realisation was below the potential. A doubling of flows for rail and inland waterways would be an extreme scenario, however, which would not f it well to the known characteristics of the goods.

In this study the theoretical potential for rail, inland navigation and short sea was determined from the perspective of the demand side of freight flows. Of course, the supply side is also an important factor: the availability of capacity is an important requirement and increasing congestion on the road or transport charges can have a substantial impact on the shares of the different transport modes.

In a CE /TRT study from 2011– focusing on the potential of rail transport – a literature study was performed on studies of modalshift potential. A lot of studies were reviewed, but in the end, it was concluded that only two studies covered the maximum potential in Europe. The other studies had different objectives, scope and methodologies. The two relevant studies are briefly discussed below: Vassalo and Fagan (2005).

In a scenario with new policies that repaired all the above-mentioned deficiencies, rail freight transport could grow by 100percent. The base potential of road transport that can be shifted to rail was estimated by EEA at 19percent. Two approaches are applied.

In the first, a theoretical potential is based on trip length and the assumption that the share of rail can rise significantly over longer distances, leading to a growth in rail transport of 100 percent. In the second, factors such as distance, costs, quality of supply and rail access are also included, leading to a growth in rail transport in

Crued oil

Ores, metal waste

Metal products

Building minerals

Fertilisers

Europe of seven percent.

Besides the demand side factors, another important question that determines potential is whether there is enough capacity in the other modes of transport to absorb a doubling of flows. In the EC /TRT study, an analysis was made of the available free capacity of rail infrastructure.

The main fi nding was that, if rail freight volume increased by more than 30 percent to 40 percent, the current rail network would not have sufficient capacity. We note that the free capacity depends strongly on whether flows are concentrated on corridors, the primary network or the whole network.

A Mode Model Below we discuss the effects of policy using a simple theoretical model for mode choice. The choice of mode in freight transport has been well researched over the past decades. The textbook model of mode choice applied most often is based on the trade-off between the outof-pocket costs of transport (the tariff paid by the shipper) and the lead-time between origin and destination. Transport time is weighted by the value of time (measured in euro/hr, per shipment or tonne). The weighted sum of tariffs and time is called the generalised costs of transport and determines the attractiveness of transport modes. Shippers will choose those alternatives that have the lowest generalised costs. In mathematical notation: GCm,g = VOTg*Tm + Pm Where GC = Generalised Costs; VOT = Value Of Time; T = Time; P = Price and subscripts; m = mode of transport; g = good The value of time of transport is closely related to the logistics characteristics of goods (see e.g., Blauwens and Van de Voorde, 1988 for a discussion). Time-related cost drivers include physical characteristics, such as the value density of goods, their perishability, as well as other characteristics, such as order lead-time and production technology. An indication of the influence of value density on mode choice is that the value density of goods decreases for slower and cheaper modes of transport. This distribution is not fi xed, however, and may change if prices or transport times change in the system.

Supply Side Changes There are many changes on the supply side of the transport market that are relevant for

Chemicals

Other products

Petroleum products

Total

modal shift; examples of these include (a) Deterioration in the performance of road, through pricing, changes in cost components such as driver wages or fuel prices, increased regulation and congestion (b) Improvement in the performance of rail and waterways transport, in time dimension (through increased frequency, reliability, etc) or tariffs, information availability (transparency of schedules).

The effect of changes in transport times is less well studied.

Elasticities for changes in the transport time of other modes of transport in competition with road transport vary widely (dependent on the type of product), but may be around unity (a 10percent decrease of transport time or increase in frequency can result in 10 percent increase in volume). It is questionable, however, whether these elasticities could be applied to major changes in transport times. In any case, a doubling of f lows would require a substantial improvement in transport performance.

Demand Side Changes Changes on the demand side that can lead to a modal shift are less straightforward to explain than supply side changes, as they require a change in the logistics processes. In our choice model, a move away from road transport would be achieved if the VOT, or time sensitivity of the goods were to decrease. Where fi rms are able to reduce the VOT, their generalised costs of transport would already decrease even if they used the same mode of transport.

Note that the changes are very difficult, if not impossible, to induce or influence through public policy. These measures are not even easy to implement for companies themselves, as they require a careful reconsideration and reorganisation of logistics structures and operations. Companies are generally well aware of typical issues, such as the trade off between transport and inventory costs, or the benefits of improved conditioning.

However, other measures are more complex, such as the creation of hybrid networks, where logistics channels are split into two or more parallel channels, according to demand volume and variability. Currently, such innovations are still decades away for many companies. At the same time, it is part of a long term autonomous evolution of supply chains and will, sooner or later, transform the industry.

(Courtesy: ACEA)

Auto Monitor

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30 APRIL 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Peugeot debuts models at CV show Range of models padded with better technology and safety features

P

eugeot displayed its latest Partner Electric and has been reported to have unveiled the car in the UK for the fi rst time at the CV Show at NIC Birmingham, UK, held recently. Grip Control versions of the latest Peugeot van range, marketed under the ATV identity (All Terrain Vehicle) were on show, and the Peugeot stand was designed to illustrate these vehicles that cater to all weather and low-grip driving eventualities.

Six vans were on display: Bipper Van (Silver) ATV with Grip Control, New Partner Van ATV with Grip Control, New Partner Electric Van Preview, New Expert Cell Van, Boxer Dropside and the Boxer Van. Fleet and Used Car Director at Peugeot UK, Phil Robson said: “Peugeot is on a roll with its cohesive van range that includes the established Bipper, Partner, Expert and Boxer. With Euro V engines, re-styled new-look identity and the new ATV capability, we have an attractive commercial proposition for customers, and we know for those that presently operate our products they enjoy great durability and value.”

New Technology The new Partner, available in two platform lengths, renews its style in keeping with the new Marque image and incorporates the e-HDi engines to retain a technology lead in the light van segment.

The Partner light van is the fi rst vehicle in our LCV range to incorporate the new style codes of the Peugeot marquee. Until now carried by Peugeot cars, the new Marque image applied to the world of the light commercials emphasises the modernity of the lines and the quality of the new Partner.

This is demonstrated by a new front face, redesigned headlamps for a new expression, new mirrors and a new two-material Lion badge on the bonnet. The fog lamps with static intersection lighting function contribute to the modern image while the use of black coloured components to enhance the front face amplify the robust appearance of the new light van. At the rear, on vehicles which have a tailgate, the lamps are given a new smoked treatment in keeping with the restyled vehicle. In the same way, a new ambiance with a new trim is offered for the interior.

e-HDi Technology To Take The Lead Five latest generation Euro V engines (including four diesel

engines) are offered with the new Partner. The e-HDi micro hybrid technology (with latest generation Stop & Start System) allows Peugeot’s light van to take fi rst place in the segment with bestin-class low CO2 emissions (L1 version, in the Combined Drive Cycle).

Technology that is rapid, silent and transparent in its implementation, the e-HDi system also brings a considerable improvement in driving pleasure by increasing the number of engine stopping phases and therefore the number of quiet periods inside the vehicle. The style and the technology offered by the new Partner reinforce the qualities and features for which the vehicle is already acclaimed: benchmark modularity, versions with three seats in the front, large loading capacity, with safe and effective handling.

Two Lengths For Optimum Loading Capacity The Partner is available in two lengths (L1: 4.38m or L2: 4.63m) and offers loading volumes among the best in the light van segment. The L1 version reaches a capacity of 3.7m3 with the Multiflex seats folded a payload of 625 or 850 kg and a load floor length of 1.80m. For the L2 long version, this offers a volume of 4.1m3, a payload of 750 kg and a useful length of 2.05 m.

In both cases, the loading length combined with the 1.23 m width of the wheel arches means that the vehicle can accommodate two europallets (1.20 m x 0.80 m). The rear area can be accessed by means of one or two sliding side doors and hinged rear doors (or a tailgate). The passengers are not forgotten as they can use up to 58 litres of storage spaces spread throughout the interior of the vehicle.

Designed to fulfi l the expectations of all types of user, professionals, the new Partner is able to adapt to the different uses demanded of it thanks in particular to exclusive modularity equipment which is what makes the Partner so attractive.

Multi-flex bench seat: three seats and an additional 400 litres of loading volume With this equipment, unique in the segment, three occupants can be seated in the front. This practical aspect is greatly appreciated by professionals who can transport their tools and their employees from one work site to another without making multiple journeys.

The Multi-Flex bench seat is also partly retractable, which means that the loading lengths

of the L1 and L2 versions can be increased to three and 3.25m respectively. The volume is increased by 400 litres, bringing the loading capacity of the L1 version to 3.7m3 and that of the L2 version to 4.1m3.

Safe & Effective Handling In terms of safety the new Partner benefits from the latest technology with notably a structure with three force channels at the front, the availability of Electronic Stability Control (ESP) or the possibility of having up to four airbags.

In addition to the variable speed limiter/cruise control, a speed governor is now offered as an option on the HDi engines. It can be configured by the dealership to one of four pre-set speeds as selected by the customer.

Handling is still of a high level due to the suspension (Pseudo MacPherson at the front, deform-

Peugeot is on a roll with its cohesive van range that includes the established Bipper, Partner, Expert and Boxer. With Euro V engines, re-styled new-look identity and the new ATV capability, we have an attractive commercial proposition for customers, and we know for those that presently operate our products they enjoy great durability and value—Phil Robson, Fleet and Used Car Director, Peugeot UK able cross-member at the rear) developed using the full extent of Peugeot’s expertise.

Improved Traction To move on roads, work sites or tracks with poor surfaces, the Grip Control equipment noticeably improves traction. Due to its individual management of wheel skid, its four driving modes suited to the terrain (Sand, Snow, Mud, ESP) which can be selected using a dial on the dashboard control panel and ‘Winter’ tyres which accompany this option, the Partner increases its freedom of use. It can continue forward where a conventional two-wheel drive vehicle would normally become stuck.

Professional Equipment As light vans can be used as a work tool, the new Partner offers equipment which makes everyday life easier: Bluetooth hands-free kit and the highperformance telematic system Peugeot Connect Navigation, Peugeot Connect Assistance and fleet management software.

There are also numerous driving assistance systems: rear parking assistance, automatic wiping, automatic lights, electrically folding and heated mirrors.

New options are also available for even better personalisation of the Partner to the needs of each professional: towbars and non-slip wooden coverings for optimum protection of the loading cell, for example.

the left-hand side of the dashboard, the driver can select four driving modes suited to terrain (Sand, Snow, Mud, ESP). So, the new Expert can continue forward where a two-wheel drive vehicle could become stuck.

Versions Suited To Every Professional Use

Increased Safety

The Partner light van is offered in various body types to provide the best response to the needs of its professional customers. In addition to the two lengths available, a crew cab version with a retractable bench seat in row two with load retainer is on sale, as is a floor cab version for coachbuilder conversions.

The new Peugeot Expert is part of the Marque’s upmarket trend incorporating the new style codes, new equipment and a range of Euro V engines, which position it as leader in its segment as regards emissions of CO2.

Peugeot was one of the forerunners in the creation of compact vans and combis. Today, the restyling of the third generation of the Expert symbolises the intention to continue the success of this model, with more than 475,000 units (private vehicles + light utility vehicles) produced since its launch in 1995.

The restyling of the Expert obviously includes integration of the new Peugeot design style. The Lion badge in its new form takes its place on the front face, adorns on the bonnet. The grille, redesigned with notably the addition of a chromed edge, raises the image of the vehicle making it distinctive, while looking more dynamic.

Technological Lead The new Expert sets itself apart through its new range of Euro V engines allowing it to reduce fuel consumption and further improve CO2 emissions performance in its segment.

To achieve these record values, the versions equipped with the two-litre HDi 128 BHP and 163 BHP engines have benefited from specific work to reduce CO2 emissions: bulkhead under the body for improved aerodynamics, advanced controls of the alternator and special calibration of the engine. It is important to emphasise that these developments are compatible with widespread distribution and are not reserved for versions of limited volume.]

Improved Traction With Grip Control Another technological lead, exclusive in the segment, is Grip Control. This equipment, at a very accessible price, noticeably improves traction due to its sophisticated management of wheel grip. Using a dial on

Two options supplement the high level of safety already offered by the Peugeot Expert (Reinforced structure, safe handling, up to six airbags, speed limiter / cruise control): The tyre under-inflation detection, which is carried out by means of sensors placed in the tyres. Secondly, the speed governor on the van, which can be configured to one of four pre-set speeds as requested by the customer.

The Peugeot Expert Tepee Goes Upmarket The Combi version is designed for passenger travel. It is equally suited to families wanting to have space inside the vehicle and also to passenger transport professionals looking for a comfortable and high quality vehicle.

Available in two lengths, the Expert Tepee can transport up to nine people. The modularity of the seats offers numerous possibilities for the layout of the interior of the vehicle. The space for the luggage is generous, even when travelling with numerous passengers. In fact, the capacity of the boot, in the long version, can reach 1,239 dm3 (VDA standard) under the roof with three rows of seats on board, with space for nine passenger places.

With a great deal of care given to temperature control and noise, and a considerable glazed surface area (5.84 m²), all the occupants travel in comfort. This point is strengthened by the availability of an automatic gearbox on the two-litre HDi 163 BHP engine.

Expert Versions Two lengths and two heights defi ne the three body types of the Expert compact van: L1H1, L2H1 and L2H2. According to the version, the loading volume is five, six or seven m3 and the payload is 1,000 or 1,200 kg. This extensive range fulfi ls the varied needs of professional customers. In order to fulfi l the most specific expectations, a pre-equipped platform cab version is available to serve as a base for coachbuilder conversions. A van with a crew cab, equipped with a fi xed bench seat in row two is also offered for professionals wishing to transport up to six people while retaining a large loading volume. Owners of the new Expert van will have access to considerable and varied useful capabilities in a vehicle offering the comfort and handling of a private vehicle.

Auto Monitor

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30 APRIL 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Nissan prototype wings European wet test programme

T

he experimental Nissan Delt aW i ng pr ototype sportscar kicked off its European testing programme in England at Snetterton, in Norfolk, with Scotsman Marino Franchitti and German Michael Krumm getting the opportunity to sample the car in wet conditions recently. Steady rain throughout the morning enabled the team to undertake wet weather development with tyre partner, Michelin, with the hugely innovative 1.6-litre Nissan DIG-T turbo-powered car.

At half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodymamic drag of a traditional Le Mans sportscar, the Nissan DeltaWing features front tyres that are only four inches wide.

With the famous Le Mans 24 Hours just two months away, the Nissan DeltaWing team gained valuable information about the ground-breaking car’s performance in typical European track conditions, having conducted all of its development work so far in America.

General Manager Nissan in Europe, Darren Cox, said, “The whole Nissan DeltaWing team

is still on a massive learning curve. Testing in the States was a stable, predictable way of doing the initial groundwork but this exciting car is going to be racing in the French countryside.

On the test day, the whole team got a taste of the conditions they may well face on June 16-17, so it may not have been much fun in the Norfolk rain, but it’s about the best thing that could have happened for a project and a car that will face an enormous challenge just to make the end of the race.”

Franchitti conducted most of the morning running in conditions that ranged from damp to extremely wet weather—gathering valuable data as to how the car performs. Having only previously conducted some brief wet track running on an artificially damp track at Sebring, with the help of a water truck, the on-track action was an important step in the development of the wet tyres for the car.

Michael Krumm climbed aboard for much of the afternoon running—enjoying drier conditions as the team worked on suspension adjustments, braking and gearbox improvements.

The Nissan DeltaWing will make its debut at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. Nissan’s involvement in the programme was announced in March, with the manufacturer not only providing the engine, but additional technical resources for the car’s debut.

Designed by Ben Bowlby, the DeltaWing partnership brings together some of the biggest names in North American motorsport, including project managing partner and American Le Mans Series founder, Don Panoz; racing legend and Nissan DeltaWing constructor, Dan

Gurney’s All American Racers organisation along with Le Mans entrant, Duncan Dayton’s Highcroft Racing.

The Nissa n DeltaWing has been reported to have continued its testing programme with a two-day test scheduled recently.

Marino Franchitti “Mother nature really did us a favour, because it was great to get another run in the wet. I basically got monsoon conditions and Michael got to try the car on a drying track. It was a very good

test for the car and the tyres. The day allowed us to try the wet tyres in a real world situation— it was a proper wet, rainy day.”

He added, “The day has really given us some important data and provided Michelin with some clear direction for future development. The engine and gearbox were really strong—it was a proper testing day when we were really able to get down to business doing damper work, brake work—all in all, it was a very positive test and we’re now very much looking forward to the next run.”

Record European sales for Hyundai in Q1

H

y undai registered a record number of new cars in Europe between January and March 2012—114,571 units— resulting in a European market share high for the fi rst quarter of 3.3 percent.

According to figures released recently by European industry body ACEA, Hyundai’s sales during the fi rst three months of 2011 represented an increase of 12.5 percent compared to the same period 12 months ago. In contrast, the overall European new car market declined by 7.3 percent.

Hyundai recorded 50,131 new car registrations across Europe

in March—another new record and an increase of 13.8 percent over 2011. The overall European new-car market declined by 6.6 percent during the same month.

Hyundai has now outperformed the European market trend for 39 consecutive months since January 2009.

Sales of i30, ix35 and ix20— the three models built at Hyundai’s plant in Nošovice, Czech Republic—represented over 50 percent of Hyundai’s European sales during the fi rst quarter.

Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, Allan Rushforth commented, “Hyundai cars are designed,

engineered and manufactured ufactured in Europe for Europeans— ans— our performance in quarterr one demonstrates how well this strategy is working. Another European opean car, the New Generation i30, 0, has just gone on sale and we expect xpect this new model to drive uss towards our market share goal of 3.5 percent by the end of 2012.” .”

The New Generation on i30 is available with Five-Year ar Triple Care, Hyundai’s award-winard-winning customer care package that includes a fi ve-year ear warranty with no mileage ge limit, fi ve years of roadside assistance and five years of vehicle health checks.

Ford invests $600 million in China Our Bureau New Delhi

F

F

ord Motor Co is jointly investing $600 million in its southwest China factory to raise annual production by over 50 percent to help meet its goal of selling eight million cars a year by 2015, Reuters reported recently. This investment will increase American car maker’s total investment in China to approximately $4.1 billion.

According to the company the investment with joint venture partner Changan Ford Mazda Automobile would raise annual production to 950,000 at the Chongqing plant which is Ford’s biggest factory outside south-west Michigan.

The new investment comes as Changan Ford Mazda—a joint venture among Ford, Mazda Motor and Chongqing Changan Automobile—is set to recall over 62,000 cars to fi x faulty anti-lock

Fiat records lowest CO2 emissions in Europe again

braking systems. Ford recently said that it will post a “small loss” in Asia in the fi rst quarter even though it raised its US sales forecast for the year.

The loss was attributed to major new investment in new products such as the mid-sized pickup truck Ford Ranger in Asia and Africa, the launch of the Ford Focus in China, and the expense of an expanded Chongqing plant, according to the reports of Reuters.

Ford said recently, that a bigger Chongqing plant, which will

have a new assembly line, body and paint shop, would help the automaker meet its 2015 goal of raising global sales by nearly 50 percent to about eight million cars a year. Ford is a relatively latestarter in China, where General Motors and Volkswagen AG have a sizeable lead.

To narrow the gap, Ford plans to bring 15 new vehicles to China by 2015, starting with the new Focus model that is set to hit Chinese showrooms in the second quarter.

or the fi fth year running, Fiat Automobiles has recorded the lowest level of CO2 emissions by vehicles sold in Europe in 2011, with an average measurement of 118.2 g/km (4.9 g/km less than the 2010 average). Fiat also ranked fi rst as a group, with 123.3 g/km, an improvement of 2.6 g/km on last year. The record is certified by Jato Dynamics, the world’s leading automotive consultancy and research fi rm.

This is an important achievement and a continuing improvement. Over the last five years Fiat Automobiles has reduced its average emissions by 14 percent, from 137.3 to 118.2 g/km of CO2, significantly lower than the target set out by the European Union for 2015, which has been fi xed at 130 g/km.This result shows Fiat’s commitment to protecting the environment through the devel-

opment of simple and ingenious solutions such as the TwinAir engine, the world’s most ‘ecological’ turbo petrol engine, the use of alternative fuels such as methane/ LPG, a sector in which the brand is European leader, and the development of innovative technology such as ecoDrive, an application that encourages a more responsible and eco-compatible driving style, and which has allowed a large number of the drivers who use it regularly to achieve emissions that are even lower than the type-approval levels.

Over the last 20 years all of Fiat’s eco-technological innovation has brought revolutionary solutions to the market, solutions that at the same time are simple and of low environmental impact; solutions that do not ask the customer to give up any of the driving pleasure which has always been so characteristic of Italian cars.

Auto Monitor

Dana, Ford win PACE Award

D

30 APRIL 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

24

ana Hold i ng Cor porat ion wa s recent ly honoured w it h t he 2012 Automotive News PACE Innovative Partnership Award for its collaboration with Ford in bringing to the marketplace its long active and passive warm-up technology–which improves fuel efficiency by up to four percent.

Dana partnered with Ford to introduce the technology on the 2012 Ford Edge and subsequently the 2013 Ford Taurus. “This recognition affi rms to us that we are creating market-driven, innovative technologies and truly partnering with our customers to deliver these breakthrough innovations to the marketplace,” said Dana President and Chief Executive Officer, Roger Wood.

“To have earned this award with an important customer such as Ford is a real honour. Dana and Ford have worked in close cooperation since the days of the Model T, and we are pleased to be collaborating on innovations nearly a century later.”

This Dana innovation also was a fi nalist for the 2012 Automotive News PACE Awards, which honour superior innovation, technologi-

cal advancement, and business performance among automotive suppliers. Dana’s innovative technology diverts wasted heat from the vehicle’s cooling and exhaust systems to transmission oils, which accelerates the process for achieving and maintaining optimal temperatures.

The results are increased efficiency, improved fuel economy, and reduced emissions.

The new technology combines the thermal bypass valve with the active warm-up unit to deliver an integrated system that reduces friction loss due to the oil’s viscosity at low temperatures. In cool temperatures, the unit transfers heat from the coolant to the oil, and in normal operating conditions, the unit functions like a traditional cooler by transferring heat from the oil to the coolant.

HCVT for construction equipment launched At Intermat 2012 held recently, Dana debuted the Spicer 318 Hydrostatic Continuously Variable Transmission (HCVT), which features a unique twomotor design that provides 20 percent fuel savings during duty cycles that require high travel

speeds, as well as increased tractive effort at low travel speeds.

By capitalising on the design of the larger, field-proven Spicer 319 HCVT, the Spicer 318 HCVT allows construction OEMs to collaborate with a single Tier I supplier that can offer a complete range of drivetrain solutions for compact front-end loaders and medium-sized telescopic boom handlers.

The Spicer 318 HCVT is designed for front end loaders with six- to nine-tonne operating weights and telescopic boom handlers with six-K to 10K lifting capacities.

Dana is a supplier of driveline, sealing and thermal-management technologies that improve the efficiency and performance of passenger, commercial, and off-highway vehicles with both, conventional and alternative-energy powertrains.

The company’s global network of engineering, manufacturing, and distribution facilities provides original equipment and aftermarket customers with local product and service support.

Based in Maumee, Ohio, Dana employs approx 24,500 people in 26 countries and has reported 2011 sales of $7.6 billion.

Bosch closes acquisition of Voltwerk Electronics

F

ollowing the approval of the anti-trust authorities, the Bosch Group has closed the acquisition of Voltwerk Electronics GmbH, a supplier of electronic components and software solutions for photovoltaic arrays.

The agreement to purchase was signed in December 2011. It has been agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed.

Voltwerk Electronics GmbH will become part of Bosch Power Tec GmbH by the end of 2012. The Bosch subsidiary, which is based in Böblingen, was founded at the start of 2011 and is pushing the Bosch Group’s inverter business forward. As a result of the acquisition, Bosch Power Tec now employs some 130 associates at locations in Bal Vilbel, Hamburg, and Böblingen.

“The purchase of Voltwerk Electronics is very significant for us. Not only have we gained additional associates with a high level of expertise and experience, the acquisition has enabled us to expand our product portfolio in the best possible manner,” said General Manager of Bosch Power

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Offers 4 weeks comprehensive course Batch 8 02 July to 28 July 2012

Tec, Dr Andreas Stratmann.

Volt werk Elect ronics is an established supplier of a broad range of string and central inverters and accessories.

From the second half of 2012, the company will also offer an innovative hybrid solution for existing inverters and battery storage. Moreover, Bosch Power Tec engineers are currently working on a new generation of string inverters. “We will now benefit from our combined strengths and want to grow in the photovoltaic markets in all the major global regions.”

Inverters Gain Importance Inverters are playing an increasingly important role, not only in the field of renewable energy, but also for e-mobility.

In electric vehicles, a conversion process is also needed so that the electric motor can use the direct current from the batter y. Furthermore, when recuperating brake energy and feeding it back into the battery, inverters and their sophisticated power electronics are needed once more.

Carmakers plan to speed resin substitute

A

group of automakers including Ford, Chrysler and GM, have agreed to a process to speed the use of alternative materials in place of a key resin that may soon be in short supply. Supply of the resin, PA-12 or nylon-12, was jeopardised after a late March explosion at an Evonik Industries AG chemical plant in Marl, Germany.

The resin is used by automakers in coatings and fuel & brake systems. The group, of six major automakers and 19 suppliers, has drafted a plan to hasten approval of alternatives to PA-12, according to the Automotive Industry Action Group. GM, meanwhile, said an industry-wide resin shortage may not affect production for a month, longer than was predicted. Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne told CNBC that there’s a more than 50 percent chance that the company will fi nd alternatives to the resin shortage. “I sincerely hope I have not jinxed the odds because I have said that it is a tough issue,” he said. “It would be a shame if we had to stop the production machine because we have to deal with this.” Ford declined to provide a timetable or outlook for the resin crunch.

VW China goes for seventh plant

V

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olkswagen will invest about 170 million euro ($225 million) to build a new plant in Urumqi, western China, capable of making 50,000 vehicles annually starting in 2015, the company said. Volkswagen currently operates six car and parts plants in the country.

VW’s two Chinese joint ventures are investing a total of Euro 14 billion by 2016, and the German carmaker has said in the past its annual production capacity in China would rise to three million cars as early as next year.

CEO, Martin Winterkorn said that Beijing had approached the carmaker, the fi rst to enter China, with the request to consider extending its substantial manufacturing footprint to the western part of the country. The relatively modest investment sum and production capacity reflect the risks.

Compared with the 50,000 cars that VW and local partner Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) intend to build in Urumqi, VW-SAIC plan to build six times as many in a new plant in Yizheng near Nanjing.

Volkswagen also said that it agreed to extend the joint venture formed in 1991 with FAW, its second Chinese local partner, by a further 25 years.

The two had announced in June 2010 they would invest about 520 million euros to build a plant near Guangzhou, VW’s fi rst in southern China, which can build as many as 300,000 vehicles. In a statement earlier this month, VW said its sales in China, the group’s single largest market, rose 15.6 percent to 633,900 in the fi rst quarter.

30 APRIL 2012

G L O B A L WAT C H

Auto Monitor

25

International auto round-up Coda Automotive, Great Wall Motors co-develop EV Coda Automotive has established a deal with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors to co-develop an affordable electric vehicle. Coda CEO, Phil Murtaugh, a former GM executive who headed GM China for a decade, said Coda plans to build an electric vehicle for the US market by mid-2014, and the fi rst vehicle will be based on an existing Great Wall vehicle. Coda said the fi rms will collaborate on developing the fi rst all-electric vehicle for worldwide distribution. The vehicle will be designed for the North American, Chinese and European markets.

Vehicles will be developed by employees of both companies in research facilities in Los Angeles and Baoding, China.

Vehicles will be sub-assembled in the Great Wall’s manufacturing facilities in Baoding. Final assembly of US-destined vehicles will take place in Coda’s facility in America.

The company said it has withdrawn its application with the Energy Department for low-cost retooling loans to build vehi-

cles in the US. The company is the latest in a series of start-ups and other automakers to abandon efforts to tap the $25 billion government loan fund; Coda had proposed to build vehicles in Ohio as part of its application. The energy department has taken a harder line in reviewing applications and hasn’t approved a new auto loan in more than a year.

The Coda sedan has been completed in Benicia, Calif, US, where a small number of workers drop electric powertrains into cars largely manufactured by the Hafei Motor Co.

Ford to suspend production at Fiesta plant Ford will suspend production at its plant in Cologne, Germany, for as many as eight days before the summer break starts in July because of falling sales in southern Europe. Ford will decide later on any additional days of production stoppages through October, said spokeswoman at the automaker’s European headquarters in Cologne, Ragah Kamel.

The plant, which makes the Fiesta subcompact car, is scheduled to build 345,000 vehicles

Fiat counts on Viaggio for a boost in China Fiat expects the new China-built Viaggio to be a strong competitor in the world’s largest market, where the Italian automaker has failed twice to gain a foothold. Fiat brand CEO, Olivier Francois told Automotive News Europe that he is confident that the Viaggio can help end Fiat’s struggle to gain a foothold in China because the compact car will enter “the largest segment in the world’s largest market, which equals to 6 million annual sales.”

Fiat plans to sell 20,000 Viaggio units before the end of 2012 and boost annual sales to 100,000 in 2013, said General Manager of Fiat’s joint venture with China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group, Jack Cheng. If the car is not a success, it will be nearly impossible for Fiat to achieve its goal of raising China sales to 300,000 by 2014 from fewer than 1,500 last year.

Fiat will start producing the Viaggio in China on June 28, ahead of a market launch in September.

It will be the fi rst model from Fiat and Guangzhou Auto’s joint venture and is also an important part of the Italian automaker’s plan to grow beyond Europe, where car sales are expected to decline for the fi fth consecutive year.

Fiat has not revealed the Viaggio’s starting price. The Viaggio (Italian word journey) is a reworked version of the Dodge Dart, which is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Fiat owns the Fiat and Alfa brands and has a 58.5 percent stake in Dodge parent Chrysler Group. The Viaggio is slightly longer than the 4670mm Dart and fits in between the Ford Focus sedan sold in central and eastern Europe, Russia and China and the Mondeo mid-sized sedan. The Viaggio and Dart share doors and most of their interior.

The Viaggio will be built in Fiat and Guangzhou Auto’s new factory in the Changsha Economic Zone in Hunan province. Fiat and Guangzhou Auto plan to invest 5 billion yuan (about 594 million euros) in their 50-50 JV. In China, the Viaggio will be powered by locally built normally aspirated and turbocharged versions of Fiat’s 1.4-liter gasoline engine. Fiat and Guangzhou’s joint venture powertrain plant, which is also in the Changsha Economic Zone, is forecast to have an initial volume of 220,000 engines a year.

Fiat also plans to launch a hatchback version of the Viaggio in China in 2013. That car could be exported to Europe to replace the slow-selling Bravo compact hatchback, company sources told Automotive News Europe. The automaker has been unsuccessful at gaining traction in China, whose market is expected to grow another eight percent in 2012 after exceeding 13 million passenger-car sales last year. Currently, Fiat’s few China sales come from models imported from Italy, such as the Bravo, Linea and Punto, and Mexico, such as the 500 and Freemont, which are built by Chrysler.

this year, roughly six percent fewer than in 2011. More than 85 percent of the Cologne plant’s production volume is exported and, “with an average utilisation of 85 percent, the plant is still relatively busy,” she said. No similar measures are planned at Ford’s other German manufacturing site in Saarlouis, she said. The cutbacks affect 4,000 of the roughly 17,500 employees at the factory.

Summer vacation at the plant is scheduled for July and August.

Ford will apply for German government assistance to make up for the curtailed hours and will pay additional compensation, the company said.

Ford passenger car sales in the 27-member EU states plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland fell eight percent to 131,410 in March in a total market down seven percent to a 14-year monthly low of 1.5 million, according to industry association, ACEA. Among national markets, the sales slide accelerated in much of southern Europe with sales down to 27 percent in Italy, 23 percent in France and 5 percent in Spain.

Austerity measures introduced by governments as a result of the

region’s sovereign-debt crisis has hurt consumer confidence, causing new-car sales to drop.

GM to build 2013 Cadillac XTS in China GM will begin building its all-new 2013 Cadillac XTS sedan in China this year and later will bring the ELR luxury electric coupe in the country. The production announcements mark a significant step in GM’s push for Cadillac to become a global brand. “Introducing the XTS is part of our strategy of adding one new model per year to our Cadillac line-up in China through 2016 to address the needs of luxury car buyers nationwide,” GM Chairman and CEO, Dan Akerson said in a statement.

ELR technolog y deta ils, production location and its Chinese introduction date will be announced at a later time,

according to a news release.

The XTS will be available in the fourth quarter in China and will be manufactured by Shanghai General Motors, a partnership between GM and SAIC Motor Corp.

GM wa s ex pected to announce at the auto show that it would build XTS in China later this year. The all-new Cadillac ATS, a compact luxury sedan, and the popular mid-size CTS sedan will eventually be built in China. GM will build its brand in China and then Europe to grow the brand over the next decade.

Currently, only the Cadillac SLS, an extended length luxury sedan, is built in China. Cadillac imports the CTS, SRX crossover and Escalade from plants in the United States and Mexico. GM began selling Cadillacs in China in 2004. Sales have grown from essentially zero at the end of 2007 and early 2008 to 30,000 last year. Its 2011 sales were up 72.8 percent from 2010.

Cadillac also expects to double its dealer network of about 50 in China in the next year or two, Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell had told The News.

Auto Monitor

30 APRIL 2012

S I A M D ATA

26

PRODUCTION AND SALES FLASH REPORT FOR MARCH 2012 Category Segment/Subsegment Manufacturer.

Production For the month of March 2011

2012

Cumulative April-March 10-11

11-12

Source: SIAM

Domestic Sales For the month of March 2011

I Passenger Vehicles (PVs) A : Passengers Cars - Upto 5 Seats Micro: Seats Upto-4, Length Normally <3200 mm, Body Style-Hatchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 0.8 Litre Regular: Tata Motors Ltd (Nano) 9,317 11,011 67,963 77,828 8,707 Total 9,317 11,011 67,963 77,828 8,707 Micro: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally <3600 mm, Body Style-Hatchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 1.0 Litre Regular: General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Spark) 3,673 1,592 35,017 23,318 3,289 Hyundai Motors India Ltd(Santro) 13,180 17,318 121,202 164,668 8,026 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (M800, Alto,Wagon R,A-Star) 69,927 59,361 695,361 602,005 58,799 Total 86,780 78,271 851,580 789,991 70,114 Compact: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 3600-4000 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 1.4 Litre Regular: Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd (Palio, Grande Punto) 1,234 1,080 12,862 11,592 764 Ford india Pvt Ltd (Figo ) 10,650 9,781 90,633 95,643 8,926 General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Beat, U-VA) 4,046 5,682 40,034 52,632 3,003 Honda Siel Cars India ltd (Jazz) 240 6,912 3,510 14,041 152 Hyundai Motors India Ltd(Getz, i10, i20) 40,984 33,435 416,249 380,815 21,870 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Swift, Ritz, Estilo) 25,103 30,847 277,002 248,507 22,576 Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd (Micra) 10,277 4,591 74,512 99,306 2,060 Renault India Pvt Ltd (Pulse) 0 454 0 2,226 0 SkodaAuto india p.ltd ( Fabia ) 1,800 524 10,933 15,201 1,753 Tata Motors Ltd (Indica,Indica Vista, Indigo CS) 13,244 6,504 170,844 167,775 10,764 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Liva) 26 4,511 26 32,613 0 Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Polo) 3,919 3,471 29,168 39,838 3,881 Specialty: Fiat India Automobilies Pvt Ltd (Fiat 500) 0 0 0 0 0 Total 111,523 107,792 1,125,773 1,160,189 75,749 Super Compact: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 4000-4250 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 1.6 Litre Regular: Hyundai Motors India Ltd (Accent) 4,235 3,473 37,300 33,478 1,293 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Verito) 1,005 1,630 11,702 17,849 1,018 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Dzire) 10,397 17,362 109,049 111,504 10,278 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Etios-Sedan) 3,561 5,116 8,549 50,244 3,257 Total 19,198 27,581 166,600 213,075 15,846 Super Compact: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 4000-4250 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 1.6 Litre Specialty: Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Beetle) 0 0 0 0 21 Total 0 0 0 0 21 Mid-Size: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 4250-4500 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 1.6 Litre Regular: Ford India Pvt Ltd (Ford ikon,Fiesta Classic) 1,567 2,172 18,835 21,624 1,228 General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Aveo) 146 121 4,071 1,306 198 Hindustan Motors Ltd (Lancer) 60 20 518 340 60 Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (City) 5,805 3,763 49,898 31,968 2,773 Hyundai Motors India Ltd (Verna) 575 4,309 19,631 50,041 489 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (SX4) 3,576 1,692 23,625 19,094 3,632 Nissan Motor India pvt Ltd (Sunny) 0 9,183 0 29,374 0 Skoda Auto India pvt Ltd (Rapid) 6 2,935 6 9,439 0 Tata Motors Ltd (Indigo, Manza) 4,367 1,227 39,580 20,789 3,370 Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Vento) 4,066 2,390 19,684 35,225 3,973 Specialty: Hindustan Motors Ltd (Ambassador) 713 212 6,516 2,528 771 Total 20,881 28,024 182,364 221,728 16,494 Executive: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 4500-4700 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 2.0 Litre Regular: Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd (Linea) 777 506 9,034 4,443 1,101 General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Optra, Cruze) 942 595 11,910 10,772 1,104 Hindustan Motors Ltd (Cedia sports) 13 29 149 97 14 Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (Civic) 420 0 4,692 2,220 379 Hyundai Motors India Ltd (Elantra) 0 0 0 0 0 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Kizashi) 0 0 0 0 103 Renault India Pvt Ltd (Renault FLUENCE) 0 111 0 2,056 0 Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd (Laura) 725 566 6,859 5,966 591 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Corolla ) 951 936 10,702 8,961 953 Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Jetta) 0 296 3,035 2,613 205 Specialty: BMW india pvt Ltd ( 3 Series) NA NA 1,065 1,172 NA Hindustan Motors Ltd (EVO X) 1 0 2 4 1 Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd (C-Class) NA NA 1,229 1,835 NA Volkswagen - Audi (A4) NA NA 0 0 NA Total 3,829 3,039 48,677 40,139 4,451 Premium: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally 4700-5000 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 3.0 Litre Regular: Honda Siel Cars India Ltd ( Accord ) 300 0 2,384 1,230 216 Hyundai Motors India Ltd ( Sonata ) 18 110 219 256 23 Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd (Teana) 0 93 0 246 11 Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd (Superb) 468 346 4,159 3,603 390 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Camry ) 0 0 0 0 59 Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Passat) 181 218 770 1,818 0 Specialty: BMW india pvt Ltd (Gran Turismo, 5 Series) NA NA 1,273 1,976 NA Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd (E-Class) NA NA 1,015 1,633 NA Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Prius ) 0 0 0 0 8 Volkswagen - Audi (A6, A7) NA NA 0 0 NA Total 967 767 9,820 10,762 707 Luxury: Seats Upto-5, Length Normally Over 5000 mm, Body Style-Sedan/Estate/Hatch/Notchback, Engine Displacement Normally upto 5.0 Litre Regular: BMW india pvt Ltd (7 Series ) NA NA 0 0 NA Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd ( S-Class) NA NA 320 278 NA Volkswagen - Audi (A8) NA NA 0 0 NA Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Phaeton) 0 0 0 0 15 Total 0 0 320 278 15 Coupe: Roadster - 2 Doors; 2/4 seater, retractable/firm roof Regular: BMW india pvt Ltd (6 Series, Z4) NA NA 0 0 NA Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd (E-Coupe, E-Cabrio, CLS, SLK) NA NA 0 0 NA Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd (370Z) 0 0 0 0 1 Volkswagen - Audi (R8, RS5) NA NA 0 0 NA Total 0 0 0 0 1 Exotics: Upto 5 Seats, Price >Rs. 1 Crore Mercedes-Benz India pvt. Ltd (SLS AMG) NA NA 0 0 NA Total 0 0 0 0 0 Total Passenger Car 252,495 256,485 2,453,097 2,513,990 192,105 B: Utility Vehicles (Uvs) B: Utility Vehicles / Sports Utillty Vehicles; 2x4 or 4x4 offroad capability; Generally ladder on frame; 2 box ; 5 seats or more but upto 10 Seats UV1: Length<4400 mm, Price Upto Rs. 15 Lakh Force Motors Ltd (Trax) 54 21 420 336 48 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Bolero, ST) 7,597 8,682 77,155 92,654 7,523 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Gypsy) 1,179 2,813 5,015 7,304 606 Tata Motors Ltd (Sumo,) 2,013 3,973 17,371 25,666 1,984 Total 10,843 15,489 99,961 125,960 10,161 UV2: Length<4400 - 4700 mm, Price Upto Rs. 15 Lakh General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Tavera) 1,378 2,069 18,423 22,216 1,395 International Cars & Motors Ltd (Rhino) 17 38 582 478 20 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Scorpio, Bolero, ST, Xylo) 8,713 13,759 94,374 116,257 8,779 Tata Motors Ltd (Sumo Grande, Safari) 2,646 2,132 22,715 18,282 2,503 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Innova) 4,395 6,834 52,488 57,723 4,418 Total 17,149 24,832 188,582 214,956 17,115 UV3: Length>4700 mm, Price Upto Rs. 15 Lakh Force Motors Ltd (Trax) 367 666 3,052 4,896 400 Tata Motors Ltd (Aria, Xenon) 223 460 1,887 4,320 103 Total 590 1,126 4,939 9,216 503 UV4: Price Between Rs. 15 to 25Lakh BMW india Pvt Ltd (X1) NA NA 0 2,443 NA Ford India Pvt Ltd (Endeavour) 380 20 3,147 2,173 331 General Motors India Pvt Ltd (Captiva) 0 0 0 0 220 Hindustan Motors Ltd (Pajero, Outlander) 208 202 2,512 1,888 205 Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (CRV) 0 0 0 0 56 Hyundai Motors India Ltd (Santa Fe) 144 80 477 1,457 121 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Vitara) 0 0 0 0 14 Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd (X-Trail) 0 0 0 0 29 Renault India Pvt Ltd (Koleos) 0 93 0 487 0 Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd (Yeti) 375 130 1,469 2,129 275 Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (Fortuner) 953 1,378 11,988 11,584 980 Total 2,060 1,903 19,593 22,161 2,231 UV5: Price > Rs. 25Lakh BMW india Pvt Ltd (X3, X5, X6) NA NA 0 271 NA Hindustan Motors Ltd (Mentero) 14 11 67 84 14 Mercedes-Benz India pvt. Ltd (ML Class, GL Class, R Class, G class) NA NA 0 0 NA Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (LC,Prado) 0 0 0 0 51 Volkswagen - Audi (Q5,Q7) NA NA 0 0 NA Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (Touareg) 0 0 0 0 0 Total 14 11 67 355 65 Total Utillity Vehicles (Uvs) 30,656 43,361 313,142 372,648 30,075 C: Vans; Generally 1 or 1.5 box; seats upto 5 to 10 V1: Hard tops mainly used for personal transport, Price Upto Rs. 10 Lakh Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Omini,Ecco) 14,734 12,546 163,279 145,521 14,416 Tata Motors Ltd (Venture) 448 1,125 1,300 8,104 247 Total 15,182 13,671 164,579 153,625 14,663 V2: Soft tops mainly used as Maxi Cabs, Price Upto Rs. 10 Lakh Force Motors Ltd (Trip) 51 0 327 100 33 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Gio, Maxximo Mini Van) 869 2,402 1,968 26,165 579 Tata Motors Ltd (Magic, lris) 4,346 4,331 49,659 57,000 4,783 Total 5,266 6,733 51,954 83,265 5,395 Total Vans 20,448 20,404 216,533 236,890 20,058 Total Passenger Vehicles (PVs) 303,599 320,250 2,982,772 3,123,528 242,238 II Commercial Vehicles (CVs) M&HCVs A: Passenger Carriers A1: Max. Mass exceeding 7-5 tonnes but not exceeding 12 tonnes (M3(B1)) (b): No. of seats including driver exceeding 13 (M3(B2)) Ashok Leyland Ltd 147 323 1,551 2,234 219 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 0 0 0 0 0 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 2 20 362 153 4 SML Isuzu Ltd 280 429 3,390 3,345 538 Tata Motors Ltd 368 579 5,341 5,301 652 VE CVs - Eicher 245 470 2,196 3,291 259 Total A1 1,042 1,821 12,840 14,324 1,672 A2: Max. Mass exceeding 12 but no exceeding 16.2 tonnes (M3(C)) (b): No. of seats including driver exceeding 13 (M3(C2)) Ashok Leyland Ltd 1,884 2,964 23,244 23,431 2,093 JCBL Ltd 0 0 0 1 0 SML Isuzu Ltd 7 14 75 90 19 Tata Motors Ltd 1,244 680 17,421 13,802 1,506 VE CVs - Eicher 38 126 240 992 27 Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd 34 45 279 289 35 Total A2 3,207 3,829 41,259 38,605 3,680 A3: No. of seats including exceeding 13 and max. mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes (M3(D)) Passenger Carrier (D) Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd 38 22 291 411 37 Total A3 38 22 291 411 37 Total M&HCVs(passenger carriers) 4,287 5,672 54,390 53,340 5,389 M&HCVs B: Goods Carriers (c) Max Mass exceeding 7.5 tonnes but not exceeding 10 tons Ashok Leyland Ltd 69 79 498 954 61 SML Isuzu Ltd 335 391 3,043 3,482 321 Tata Motors Ltd 709 330 6,860 6,976 1,107 VE CVs - Eicher 978 968 10,965 11,934 1,124 Total 2,091 1,768 21,366 23,346 2,613 (d) Max. Mass Exceeding 10 tons but not exceeding 12 tons Ashok Leyland Ltd 300 513 2,515 4,057 365 SML Isuzu Ltd 233 200 1,790 1,800 264

2012

Exports Cumulative April-March

For the month of March

Cumulative April-March

10-11

11-12

2011

2012

10-11

11-12

10,475 10,475

70,432 70,432

74,527 74,527

0 0

469 469

1 1

3,462 3,462

1,877 17,859 52,826 72,562

34,603 82,971 573,238 690,812

23,183 127,437 491,389 642,009

3 5,098 9,399 14,500

2 318 11,788 12,108

77 39,427 121,873 161,377

83 30,763 112,635 143,481

954 7,073 5,661 6,890 16,392 27,913 1,674 746 770 17,326 4,034 3,940

11,759 78,116 37,218 4,862 240,567 261,799 12,315 0 11,078 147,102 0 28,904

11,732 70,052 51,596 14,635 201,137 235,754 18,639 1,993 14,936 163,780 31,761 39,465

92 1,478 23 2 15,494 1,956 13,457 0 0 272 0 0

5 2,990 19 19 16,767 1,250 5,176 0 0 353 622 0

1,200 11,017 188 17 170,793 13,456 46,135 0 0 5,710 0 0

1,103 24,797 229 43 182,090 12,071 86,675 0 0 3,270 622 0

0 93,373

1 833,721

0 855,480

0 32,774

0 27,201

0 248,516

0 310,900

525 1,763 16,451 5,104 23,843

15,404 10,009 107,955 8,101 141,469

8,839 17,839 110,132 50,157 186,967

3,138 0 25 0 3,163

3,022 0 32 193 3,247

22,849 1,904 646 0 25,399

24,682 0 401 193 25,276

0 0

398 398

59 59

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

1,937 63 22 3,920 4,132 1,520 4,151 2,882 2,389 3,908

17,279 3,586 519 46,631 19,695 23,317 0 0 38,170 18,380

20,371 1,325 341 35,906 49,557 17,997 14,162 8,852 19,659 34,067

100 0 0 6 0 3 0 0 17 0

132 2 0 8 0 5 6,118 0 52 124

1,138 129 0 60 0 51 0 0 1,362 0

819 100 0 27 0 587 14,234 0 556 124

418 25,342

6,500 174,077

2,506 204,743

0 126

0 6,441

0 2,740

4 16,451

461 845 20 104 0 48 227 597 917 336

9,352 11,512 184 5,012 2 138 0 6,598 10,707 3,221

4,341 10,743 92 2,296 0 458 1,604 5,466 8,904 3,106

30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

164 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0

322 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NA 0 NA NA 3,555

1,372 2 1,278 707 50,085

1,299 10 1,473 1,310 41,102

NA 0 NA NA 30

NA 0 NA NA 17

0 0 0 0 172

0 0 0 0 348

101 92 31 349 0 142

2,446 265 242 4,017 298 662

1,271 198 171 3,080 140 1,564

1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

9 0 0 0 0 0

4 0 0 0 0 0

NA NA 0 NA 715

1,431 1,078 119 488 11,046

1,905 1,351 7 754 10,441

NA 0 NA NA 1

NA 0 NA NA 0

0 0 0 0 9

0 0 0 0 4

NA NA NA 0 0

307 272 5 42 626

203 195 189 14 601

NA NA NA 0 0

NA NA NA 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

NA NA 1 NA 1

61 103 10 5 179

35 74 6 66 181

NA NA 0 NA 0

NA NA 0 NA 0

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

NA 0 229,866

0 0 1,972,845

5 5 2,016,115

NA 0 50,594

NA 0 49,483

0 0 438,214

0 0 499,922

22 8,780 1,526 3,485 13,813

383 76,760 5,570 17,178 99,891

333 92,268 6,498 25,705 124,804

0 13 27 21 61

0 0 15 44 59

30 272 226 485 1,013

1 176 162 430 769

2,073 41 12,418 1,942 6,765 23,239

18,335 652 92,445 21,873 52,588 185,893

22,076 488 109,949 18,071 57,543 208,127

0 0 241 17 0 258

2 6 440 8 0 456

5 0 2,447 281 0 2,733

76 6 4,049 113 0 4,244

659 389 1,048

3,047 2,623 5,670

4,754 3,999 8,753

0 0 0

0 68 68

0 0 0

0 176 176

NA 16 44 216 1 122 4 18 32 224 1,379 2,056

0 3,142 1,732 2,500 512 462 96 460 0 1,278 11,996 22,178

2,016 2,242 1,125 1,891 319 1,611 27 290 367 1,755 11,538 23,181

NA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NA 11 NA 21 NA 0 32 40,188

256 69 197 279 687 3 1,491 315,123

437 86 403 153 1,062 6 2,147 367,012

NA 0 NA 0 NA 0 0 319

NA 0 NA 0 NA 0 0 583

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,746

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5,189

12,436 978 13,414

160,626 704 161,330

144,061 7,643 151,704

118 1 119

138 0 138

2,014 1 2,015

1,516 1 1,517

7 2,383 6,260 8,650 22,064 292,118

237 956 51,051 52,244 213,574 2,501,542

147 25,644 57,450 83,241 234,945 2,618,072

0 0 32 32 151 51,064

0 20 246 266 404 50,470

0 0 351 351 2,366 444,326

0 41 649 690 2,207 507,318

340 0 1 521 828 471 2,161

1,588 0 422 3,276 5,684 2,318 13,288

2,373 0 8 3,303 6,066 3,091 14,841

51 0 0 1 58 19 129

2 0 0 0 87 15 104

258 5 0 5 590 136 994

225 0 0 5 679 148 1,057

2,478 0 35 1,362 113 44 4,032

18,837 0 76 15,012 157 283 34,365

18,265 1 95 14,650 856 278 34,145

365 0 0 381 3 0 749

704 0 0 228 1 0 933

4,543 0 0 4,572 64 2 9,181

4,982 0 0 3,148 120 0 8,250

22 22 6,215

285 285 47,938

406 406 49,392

0 0 878

0 0 1,037

4 4 10,179

5 5 9,312

74 315 856 1,201 2,446

442 2,869 8,666 11,101 23,078

471 3,055 9,521 11,676 24,723

3 0 70 16 89

48 30 78 20 176

140 131 699 421 1,391

134 363 594 223 1,314

493 237

2,368 1,660

3,699 1,771

10 0

32 0

181 47

259 3

30 APRIL 2012

S I A M D ATA

Category Segment/Subsegment Manufacturer.

27

Production For the month of March 2011

2012

Domestic Sales Cumulative April-March 10-11

Tata Motors Ltd 1,370 900 13,418 VE CVs - Eicher 1,266 1,515 11,541 Total 3,169 3,128 29,264 Total B 5,260 4,896 50,630 B2: Max Mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes (N3(A)) (a) Max. mass exceeding 12 tonnes but not exceeding 16.2 tonnes (N3(A1)) Ashok Leyland Ltd 2,374 2,280 20,820 SML Isuzu Ltd 11 14 14 Tata Motors Ltd 5,937 5,780 52,062 VE CVs - Eicher 600 448 4,172 Total B2 8,922 8,522 77,068 B3: Max Mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes-Rigid Vehicles (N3(B1)) (a) Max. mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes but not exceeding 25 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 2,024 1,779 24,060 Asia Motor Works Ltd 647 689 5,601 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 65 135 666 Tata Motors Ltd 5,478 4,029 56,809 VE CVs - Eicher 97 155 792 VE CVs - Volvo 0 0 1 Total 8,311 6,787 87,929 (b) Max. mass exceeding 25 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 2,471 2,599 12,216 Asia Motor Works Ltd 49 38 232 Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd NA 0 188 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 71 420 818 Tata Motors Ltd 6,482 4,492 48,561 VE CVs - Eicher 58 321 685 VE CVs - Volvo 71 22 890 Total 9,202 7,892 63,590 Total B3 17,513 14,679 151,519 B4: Max. Mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes-Haulage Tractor (Tractor-Semi Traller/Traller)(N3(B2)) (a) Max. Mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes but not exceeding 26.4 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 (b) Max. mass exceeding 26.4 tonnes but not exceeding 35.2 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 783 526 4,458 Tata Motors Ltd 0 652 791 Total 783 1,178 5,249 (c) Mass exceeding 35.2 tonnes but not exceeding 40 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 0 0 2 Asia Motor Works Ltd 63 0 554 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 23 108 61 Total 86 108 617 (d) Max. mass exceeding 40 tonnes but not exceeding 49 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 333 342 2,708 Asia Motor Works Ltd 15 63 191 Tata Motors Ltd 41 750 866 VE CVs - Eicher 29 16 139 Total 418 1,171 3,904 (e) Max. mass exceeding 49 tonnes and Above Ashok Leyland Ltd 496 293 2,258 VE CVs - Volvo 45 10 183 Total 541 303 2,441 Total B4 1,828 2,760 12,211 Total M&HCVs (Goods Carriers) 33,523 30,857 291,428 Total M&HCVs 37,810 36,529 345,818 LCVs A: Passenger Carriers A1: Max. Mass upto 5 tonnes (a): No. of seats including driver exceeding 13 (M2(A2)) Force Motors Ltd 846 1,071 8,302 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 0 0 0 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 238 75 2,918 Tata Motors Ltd 349 309 3,748 Total 1,433 1,455 14,968 A2: Max. Mass exceeding 5 tonnes but not exceeding 7-5 tonnes (M3(A)) (b): No. of seats including driver exceeding 13 (M3(A2)) Ashok Leyland Ltd 134 168 983 Force Motors Ltd 7 0 160 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 0 0 0 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 157 451 1,564 SML Isuzu Ltd 428 317 2,875 Tata Motors Ltd 1,198 1,205 14,212 VE CVs - Eicher 439 581 2,929 Total A2 2,363 2,722 22,723 B2: Max. Mass upto 5 tonnes (b): No. of seats including driver not exceeding 13 (M2(A1)) Force Motors Ltd 744 523 5,273 Hindustan Motors Ltd 0 0 0 Tata Motors Ltd 47 35 1,831 Total B2 791 558 7,104 Total LCVs (Passenger Carriers) 4,587 4,735 44,795 LCVs B: Goods Carriers (a) Max. Mass not exceeding 2 tons-Mini Truck Segment Force Motors Ltd 50 0 1,228 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 5,307 5,886 43,843 Piaggio Vehicles Pvt.Ltd 653 445 9,140 Tata Motors Ltd 17,100 7,632 163,276 Total 23,110 13,963 217,487 (b) Max. Mass not exceeding 2 but no exceeding 3.5 tons-Pick Ups Ashok Leyland Ltd 0 2,226 0 Force Motors Ltd 760 460 6,158 Hindustan Motors Ltd 8 28 327 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 7,299 9,682 72,866 Tata Motors Ltd 2,085 740 22,253 Total 10,152 13,136 101,604 (a) Max Mass exceeding 3.5 tons but not exceeding 6 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 0 0 0 Force Motors Ltd 167 178 1,478 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 0 0 0 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 375 483 5,440 SML Isuzu Ltd 0 4 23 Tata Motors Ltd 3,073 2,700 28,391 VE CVs - Eicher 670 80 1,572 Total 4,285 3,445 36,904 (b) Max Mass exceeding 6 tons but not exceeding 7.5 tonnes Ashok Leyland Ltd 0 0 24 Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd 2 104 265 SML Isuzu Ltd 183 135 1,681 Tata Motors Ltd 1,295 396 6,681 VE CVs - Eicher 83 598 5,476 Total 1,563 1,233 14,127 Total LCVs (Goods Carriers) 39,110 31,777 370,122 Total LCVs 43,697 36,512 414,917 Total Commercial Vehicles 81,507 73,041 760,735 IV Two Wheelers A: Scooter/Scooterettee : Wheel size less than or equal to 12” A1: Engine Capacity less than 75cc Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd 131 0 11,460 TVS Motor Company Ltd 1,752 151 19,063 Total 1,883 151 30,523 A2: Engine Capacity 75cc and above but less than 125cc Bajaj Auto Ltd 0 0 0 Hero Honda Motors Ltd 37,559 47,664 360,819 Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt) Ltd 79,786 139,440 906,324 Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd 13,413 10,301 161,675 Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd 21,653 31,426 230,718 TVS Motor Company Ltd 47,435 34,332 444,526 Total 199,846 263,163 2,104,062 Total Scooter/Scooterettee 201,729 263,314 2,134,585 B: Motor cycles/Step-Throughs : Big Wheel size more than 12” B2: Engine Capacity 75cc and above but less than 125cc Bajaj Auto Ltd 171,924 168,810 1,831,942 Hero Honda Motors Ltd 443,033 470,830 4,692,924 Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt) Ltd 16,337 2,256 191,945 India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd 5,138 7,009 69,920 TVS Motor Company Ltd 51,856 47,666 598,159 Total 688,288 696,571 7,384,890 B3: Engine Capacity 125cc and above but less than 250cc Bajaj Auto Ltd 135,081 149,234 1,572,161 Hero Honda Motors Ltd 34,853 31,378 352,047 Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt) Ltd 48,636 77,805 552,878 India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd 30,366 30,681 292,425 Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd 6,056 3,039 51,648 TVS Motor Company Ltd 21,865 19,315 246,776 Total 276,857 311,452 3,067,935 B4: Engine capacity 250cc and above Bajaj Auto Ltd 0 0 0 H-D Motor Company India pvt Ltd 0 104 0 Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt) Ltd 0 702 13 India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd 0 0 0 Royal Enfield (Unit of Eicher Ltd) 6,277 9,004 57,351 Total 6,277 9,810 57,364 Total Motor Cycles/Step-Throughs 971,422 1,017,833 10,510,189 C: Mopeds: Engine capacity less than 75cc & with fixed transmission, big wheelsize>12” Engine Capacity<75cc Mopeds TVS Motor Company Ltd 65,443 73,192 704,575 Total 65,443 73,192 704,575 Total Mopeds 65,443 73,192 704,575 Total Two Wheelers 1,238,594 1,354,339 13,349,349 III Three Wheelers A: Passenger Carriers A1:No. of seats including driver not exceeding 4 & Max.Mass not exceeding 1 tonnes Atul Auto Limited 898 1,427 10,456 Bajaj Auto Ltd 40,533 37,392 435,721 Force Motors Ltd 0 0 0 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 4,498 3,216 45,007 Piaggio Vehicles Pvt.Ltd 13,233 11,807 157,370 Scooters india Ltd 503 386 4,168 TVS Motor Company Ltd 4,427 2,293 40,112 Total 64,092 56,521 692,834 A2: No.of seats including Driver exceeding 4 but not exceeding 7 & Max.Mass exceeding 1.5 tonnes Force Motors Ltd 192 98 293 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 0 0 908 Scooters india Ltd 336 441 2,949 Total 528 539 4,150 Total Passenger Carrier 64,620 57,060 696,984 B: Goods Carriers B1: Max.mass not exceeding 1 tonnes Atul Auto Limited 1,065 1,477 8,865 Bajaj Auto Ltd 602 670 4,679 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 1,369 1,994 12,281 Piaggio Vehicles Pvt.Ltd 5,837 4,705 62,292 Scooters india Ltd 563 494 4,809 Total 9,436 9,340 92,926 B2: Others Force Motors Ltd 0 0 15 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 610 356 7,007 Piaggio Vehicles Pvt.Ltd 19 6 166 Scooters india Ltd 336 413 2,455 Total 965 775 9,643 Total Goods Carrier 10,401 10,115 102,569 Total Three Wheelers 75,021 67,175 799,553 Grand Total of all Categories 1,698,721 1,814,805 17,892,409

* Exports of Ford indicate CKDs

Auto Monitor

For the month of March

Exports Cumulative April-March

2012

10-11

For the month of March

Cumulative April-March

11-12

2011

11-12

2011

2012

13,500 14,376 33,733 57,079

1,935 1,369 3,933 6,546

2,747 1,753 5,230 7,676

16,823 11,482 32,333 55,411

22,805 14,058 42,333 67,056

134 25 169 258

160 0 192 368

1,773 224 2,225 3,616

10-11

11-12 1,290 162 1,714 3,028

23,163 71 65,870 5,587 94,691

2,393 2 5,766 536 8,697

1,886 22 3,790 470 6,168

16,039 2 41,122 3,523 60,686

17,106 52 39,269 4,528 60,955

257 0 729 160 1,146

673 0 318 47 1,038

4,133 0 6,105 676 10,914

5,483 0 6,078 548 12,109

18,013 8,644 1,134 53,630 1,407 6 82,834

2,440 693 86 5,728 112 0 9,059

1,794 945 140 5,480 241 0 8,600

22,969 5,838 298 55,581 805 12 85,503

16,989 8,673 1,262 49,972 1,282 7 78,185

93 0 0 202 0 0 295

0 0 0 231 9 0 240

288 0 0 2,331 4 0 2,623

681 0 0 2,104 17 0 2,802

15,652 691 120 1,640 59,578 1,807 370 79,858 162,692

2,214 47 0 117 4,518 105 30 7,031 16,090

2,397 79 0 263 4,813 378 4 7,934 16,534

11,595 202 103 515 30,542 698 816 44,471 129,974

15,474 594 85 1,690 44,621 1,786 394 64,644 142,829

0 0 0 0 74 0 0 74 369

0 0 0 0 14 0 0 14 254

0 0 0 0 425 0 0 425 3,048

0 0 0 0 282 0 0 282 3,084

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

86 86

433 433

190 190

2,956 2,145 5,101

651 991 1,642

438 759 1,197

4,368 8,471 12,839

2,846 8,025 10,871

48 0 48

14 0 14

124 0 124

178 11 189

0 417 564 981

0 54 15 69

0 81 108 189

2 530 30 562

0 479 538 1,017

0 0 0 0

-2 0 0 -2

17 0 0 17

-2 0 0 -2

2,103 256 5,076 128 7,563

245 21 1,135 16 1,417

296 89 1,337 29 1,751

2,578 222 10,226 139 13,165

2,155 275 12,085 123 14,638

1 0 0 0 1

5 0 0 0 5

18 0 0 0 18

5 0 2 0 7

1,637 193 1,830 15,475 329,937 383,277

514 38 552 3,680 35,013 40,402

211 10 221 3,358 33,736 39,951

2,312 172 2,484 29,050 275,121 323,059

1,740 203 1,943 28,469 299,309 348,701

0 0 0 49 1,822 2,700

0 0 0 103 1,763 2,800

0 0 0 592 18,170 28,349

0 0 0 384 18,605 27,917

11,241 0 1,227 4,965 17,433

876 0 193 372 1,441

1,366 0 233 503 2,102

8,172 0 2,873 4,778 15,823

11,040 0 2,635 5,036 18,711

0 0 0 35 35

0 0 0 12 12

112 0 0 245 357

125 0 0 179 304

1,358 24 0 3,460 3,360 14,478 3,643 26,323

118 5 0 158 386 1,441 404 2,512

45 1 0 218 405 1,773 496 2,938

701 149 0 1,490 3,031 12,855 2,484 20,710

398 53 0 1,813 3,189 13,238 3,319 22,010

28 5 0 0 2 379 45 459

60 0 0 0 0 281 102 443

171 10 7 0 37 2,511 451 3,187

774 0 13 0 19 3,645 291 4,742

5,954 2 1,326 7,282 51,038

723 0 369 1,092 5,045

613 0 241 854 5,894

5,210 0 3,073 8,283 44,816

5,948 0 2,702 8,650 49,371

35 0 0 35 529

0 0 0 0 455

43 0 40 83 3,627

5 0 5 10 5,056

696 61,208 10,703 203,925 276,532

42 5,178 680 13,638 19,538

16 4,738 600 20,735 26,089

1,046 43,727 9,124 137,476 191,373

401 53,895 10,592 186,298 251,186

30 60 0 2,004 2,094

0 510 0 1,924 2,434

62 439 18 20,609 21,128

0 5,482 17 25,359 30,858

7,760 5,395 191 90,006 36,521 139,873

0 830 11 5,763 2,234 8,838

2,211 591 25 7,575 2,930 13,332

0 5,680 312 60,905 14,725 81,622

7,593 5,493 189 73,134 23,597 110,006

0 33 0 1,426 480 1,939

0 11 0 1,543 207 1,761

0 103 0 11,077 3,554 14,734

0 105 25 15,723 4,466 20,319

7 1,567 0 5,840 82 35,823 1,121 44,440

0 139 0 295 3 3,025 708 4,170

0 163 0 491 18 3,077 82 3,831

0 1,416 0 5,211 24 26,406 1,425 34,482

0 1,464 0 5,587 84 29,877 1,113 38,125

0 14 42 0 32 521 0 609

0 0 30 0 0 573 24 627

0 43 293 0 32 3,583 55 4,006

0 18 144 0 0 5,732 240 6,134

10 420 1,748 7,565 6,671 16,414 477,259 528,297 911,574

0 11 126 553 62 752 33,298 38,343 78,745

0 60 134 572 552 1,318 44,570 50,464 90,415

1 238 1,165 4,287 3,862 9,553 317,030 361,846 684,905

0 285 1,264 5,416 5,178 12,143 411,460 460,831 809,532

0 0 61 119 75 255 4,897 5,426 8,126

0 0 39 14 47 100 4,922 5,377 8,177

0 0 515 609 1,075 2,199 42,067 45,694 74,043

0 0 443 668 1,268 2,379 59,690 64,746 92,663

3,527 13,676 17,203

311 1,729 2,040

127 402 529

26,410 21,120 47,530

21,426 13,781 35,207

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

6 0 6

0 462,956 1,246,853 137,262 289,603 507,039 2,643,713 2,660,916

0 35,732 80,085 9,228 21,565 39,251 185,861 187,901

0 39,173 138,109 12,623 31,114 36,415 257,434 257,963

27 342,991 893,335 128,850 230,603 414,268 2,010,074 2,057,604

0 418,224 1,224,599 113,092 288,604 483,115 2,527,634 2,562,841

0 2,240 1,232 88 0 1,675 5,235 5,235

0 4,805 70 0 0 2,578 7,453 7,453

0 18,482 13,800 1,602 144 16,618 50,646 50,646

0 37,360 18,506 2,395 139 32,199 90,599 90,605

2,046,430 5,467,051 179,494 79,058 561,094 8,333,127

109,258 434,812 12,587 4,413 45,033 606,103

87,504 444,324 1,239 5,760 11,555 550,382

1,159,190 4,589,003 165,849 67,420 477,543 6,459,005

1,128,410 5,320,330 142,075 63,934 441,671 7,096,420

38,256 8,792 4,000 400 13,982 65,430

65,744 8,922 2,608 2,160 10,464 89,898

639,463 102,524 28,547 8,095 109,468 888,097

832,428 114,308 38,131 13,762 120,290 1,118,919

1,802,605 344,110 668,976 419,292 57,585 280,679 3,573,247

110,826 33,908 44,590 21,366 5,647 12,547 228,884

122,878 30,055 72,802 24,049 3,504 37,539 290,827

1,255,416 337,387 492,162 210,067 50,678 154,607 2,500,317

1,438,219 330,726 614,440 291,461 50,031 180,067 2,904,944

16,052 368 4,697 10,584 116 8,080 39,897

24,721 1,011 4,867 9,907 520 6,436 47,462

332,974 12,057 61,898 81,129 704 95,213 583,975

435,220 14,247 53,128 115,632 6,802 99,334 724,363

128 793 16,401 0 83,254 100,576 12,006,950

0 0 0 5 5,952 5,957 840,944

1 90 665 10 8,644 9,410 850,619

0 0 32 59 54,475 54,566 9,013,888

128 716 15,206 102 78,546 94,698 10,096,062

0 0 0 0 410 410 105,737

0 0 130 0 384 514 137,874

0 0 0 0 2,606 2,606 1,474,678

0 0 1,209 0 3,026 4,235 1,847,517

785,753 785,753 785,753 15,453,619

64,159 64,159 64,159 1,093,004

74,825 74,825 74,825 1,183,407

697,418 697,418 697,418 11,768,910

776,866 776,866 776,866 13,435,769

325 325 325 111,297

60 60 60 145,387

6,295 6,295 6,295 1,531,619

9,076 9,076 9,076 1,947,198

14,213 506,171 0 52,302 145,905 5,039 39,670 763,300

930 17,128 0 3,839 11,763 530 1,510 35,700

1,228 16,682 0 3,400 9,717 434 1,101 32,562

10,260 201,246 10 42,566 141,042 4,239 22,357 421,720

13,640 195,141 11 48,330 126,319 4,893 14,172 402,506

18 15,576 0 156 1,492 0 2,917 20,159

60 17,226 0 108 1,920 0 1,152 20,466

251 231,107 0 2,265 17,155 0 17,503 268,281

276 312,176 0 2,972 19,143 0 25,567 360,134

560 0 3,313 3,873 767,173

0 0 372 372 36,072

0 0 435 435 32,997

26 738 2,874 3,638 425,358

0 209 3,521 3,730 406,236

70 0 0 70 20,229

56 0 0 56 20,522

154 0 0 154 268,435

602 0 0 602 360,736

13,350 7,767 15,945 59,519 5,874 102,455

1,059 645 1,256 5,881 588 9,429

1,286 759 1,355 4,602 529 8,531

8,889 4,357 11,932 61,549 4,377 91,104

13,058 7,838 14,329 58,043 5,792 99,060

0 0 96 5 0 101

0 0 8 257 0 265

6 174 333 858 0 1,371

26 0 576 1,364 0 1,966

0 4,608 189 3,286 8,083 110,538 877,711 20,366,432

1 674 0 335 1,010 10,439 46,511 1,460,498

0 334 0 414 748 9,279 42,276 1,608,216

107 6,906 0 2,549 9,562 100,666 526,024 15,481,381

0 4,572 0 3,383 7,955 107,015 513,251 17,376,624

0 0 24 0 24 125 20,354 190,841

0 0 0 0 0 265 20,787 224,821

0 0 162 0 162 1,533 269,968 2,319,956

0 0 174 0 174 2,140 362,876 2,910,055

Auto Monitor

28

30 APRIL 2012

CLASSIFIEDS

Anticorrosive Equipment Pvt. Ltd. Foundry Division

Capabilities Machine Molding Sand Core Shooter Green Sand Molding No Bake Process 200kg/hr melting Mechanized Pouring 6ton/hr sand plant Mold Box - custom size Parts weight 2kg-135kg Fettling Facility Vibro Finish CNC Machining VMC Machining Pattern Making Carbon Silicon Analyzer Spectro Analysis

Materials Cast Iron S.G. Iron

Quality Sand Casting Parts

We specialize in manufacturing 2kg-135kg sand cast parts as per requirement. Our highly mechanized plant is best suited for low weight high quantity parts to meet growing need of Indian Auto Industry.

Anticorrosive Equipment Pvt. Ltd. Foundry Division 730/731, G.I.D.C. Phase II, Gundlav-396 035, Dist: Valsad, Gujarat, India.

Ph: +91 99099 19155 www.anticofoundry.co.in info@anticofoundry.co.in

The leading source for automotive parts, components & accessories.

30 APRIL 2012

Auto Monitor

CLASSIFIEDS

29

triveni RUBBER

Achieving Excellence Through Technical Innovation

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

ADVERTISERS’ LIST Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details

Pg No

ADEA

8

W: www.adea.in

Anticorrosive Equipment Pvt. Ltd

28

28

Ecocat India Pvt Ltd

29

11

E: sales@pujaseals.com

13

T: +1800-113-113

E: info@jyoti.co.in

E: suyash.srivastava@safexpress.com

Sellowrap Manufacturing Pvt Ltd

T: +91-22-28684221

T: +91-22-66750560

E: klipco@mtnl.net.in

E: contact@sellowrap.com

Tata Motors Ltd. T: +91-22-66561866

E: SM.Haridas@larsentoubro.com

E: charu.gulati@tatamotors.com

7

W: www.tatamotors.com

15

Tej Control Systems Pvt. Ltd.

T: +91-124-4590600

T: +91-22-25838191

E: legris.india@parker.com

E: tivs@tejcontrol.com

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W: www.tejivs.com

28

Triveni Rubber

T: +91-20-66300636

T: +91-22-25471084

E: sales@litelir.com

E: rohit.millns@trivenirubber.com

29

W: www.trivenirubber.com

3

Vel Tech University

T: +91-09991702453 E: s.narayanan@fiemindustries.com

T: +91-124-4763200

T: +91-44-26841622

E: corporate@mandmsprings.com

E: veltech@vsnl.com

W: www.fiemindustries.com

W: www.mandmsprings.com

W: www.vel-tech.org

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

23

W: www.sellowrap.com

FIC

T: +91-09967800456

M And M Auto Indus Ltd

6

W: www.safexpress.com

28

W: www.litelir.com

17

Safexpress Private Limited

T: +91-2827-287081

Litel Infrared Systems Pvt Ltd

29

W: www.pujaseals.com

BIC

W: www.parkerlegris.com

T: +91-120-4250511 E: sales@epochtel.com W: www.epochtel.com

Fiem Industries Ltd

E: imtma@imtma.in

W: www.larsentoubro.com

16

Puja Fluid Seals Pvt Ltd T: +91-20-27112016

Legris India Pvt Ltd

19

W: www.osramindia.com

10, 12, 24

T: +91-80-66246600

Larsen & Toubro Limited

T: +91-09819552270 E: engexpo@infomedia18.in W: www.engg-expo.com

Epoch Distribution Pvt Ltd

E: pankaj.pandey@osram.com

W: www.klipcococlips.com

T: +91-20-30435400 E: marketing@electronicahitech.com W: www.electronicahitech.com

Engineering Expo

E: info@igus.in

W: www.jyoti.co.in

21

Osram India Pvt Ltd. T: +91-09871474036

Klipco

Pg No 1, BC

W: www.acemicromatic.com

28

T: +91-80-39127800

Jyoti Cnc Automation Pvt. Ltd.

T: +91-129-4266500 E: alok@ecocatindia.com W: www.ecocat.com

Electronica Hitech Machines Pvt Ltd

E: mmtblr@acemicromatic.com

W: www.imtma.in

T: +91-79-27522437 E: clamp@chamundaequip.com W: www.chamundaequip.com

Micromatic Machine Tools T: +91-80-41492285

IMTMA 25

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details

E: sales@foxindia.net

W: www.igus.in

T: +91-20-66093800 E: tsd@bakergauges.com W: www.bakergauges.com

Chamunda Equipments

5

T: +91-253-6618100

Igus India Pvt Ltd

T: +91-22-25107461 E: ashfa91@hotmail.com W: www.ashfacorp.com

Baker Gauges India Ltd

Pg No

W: www.foxindia.net

T: +91-09909919155 E: info@anticofoundry.co.in W: www.anticofoundry.co.in

Ashfa Corporation

Advertiser’s Name & Contact Details Fox Solutions

9

Our consistent advertisers

Auto Monitor

30

Getting Personal with Lalit Choudary, Director, Infinity Cars Pvt Ltd

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

Probably still in the investment banking sector What car do you drive? What do you dream of driving?

An Aston Martin Rapide. I dream of driving the Aston Martin One 77 Your most recent indulgence…

The new showroom we established for Mini in India—it’s the stuff of dreams!

What are you currently reading?

Typically, international fi nancial press—magazines or newspapers. Not into fiction.

What is Mr Choudary doing when not talking auto?

Spending time with the family and kids Outdoor activity you would miss office for…

A run when the weather is pleasant Where did you go for your last holiday?

Dubai; was absolute paradise for the kids with the various attractions on offer You get angry when…

One misses deadlines for any reason or makes false commitments What is the one thing you would like to change about you?

Learn to enjoy the present moment and not think too far ahead!

Best thing to have happened to you…

My marriage to Pooja; she has been a true partner in everything we have done since, including in setting-up the business

Illustration: Sachin Pandit

30 APRIL 2012

THE OTHER SIDE

In Person Lalit Choudary is a young g business entrepreneur. He is a graduate off IIM Calcutta and worked as an Investment ent Banker at Lehman Brothers for eight years, ears, based in Hong Kong for the most part. t. He relocated to India in 2006 to establish ish the India operations of the bank.

Choudary saw the opportunity portunity for luxury cars and products in India and established Infi nity Cars in 2006 with the dealership of BMW W in Mumbai and subsequently in Madhya Pradesh. In late 2009, 9, Lalit Choudary initiated diaalogue with Aston Martin n with a view to bringing the brand to India.

An experience I won’t forget…

Waking up early on a freezing morning with the kids to catch a hot air balloon ride in Capadocia, Turkey. The landscape, often referred to as lunar, offers a unique and compelling environment as one rises in the balloon. The 50-70 other balloons in numerous colours rising against the backdrop of the sunrise make for a fantastic photo op. The chilly breeze blowing past transcends one into another world!

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:16th & 17th Fortnightly Issue. Date Of Publication: 13th of Every Month

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