Toyota Prius, the world&rsquo;s best-known and highest-selling hybrid car, sold over two million units worldwide in the last 15 years but only 150 vehicles in India last fiscal. So far this financial year, not a single Prius has been driven out of a Toyota showroom in the country.

Still waiting for an electric start

Business Standard

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (HSCI) chairman Siddharth Shriram was kept in the dark about the prospect of the joint venture car company having to declare itself a potentially sick unit under the Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA). Such a financial condition had impelled the management to expedite a board resolution for fresh infusion of equity capital through a rights issue.

Honda Siel on brink of turning sick, chairman told via board circular

Breaking the near monopoly of Chinese bicycle manufacturers, the Pankaj Munjal-promoted Hero Cycles has clinched an agreement with Walmart, the world's largest retailer, to supply bicycles across the world. It will supply bicycles priced at $200 (roughly Rs 10,000) apiece.

Walmart to sell Hero bicycles worldwide

With the curtains finally set to go up on the results of the Assembly elections across five states tomorrow, news channels are lining up an array of special programmes to hook viewers on the D-day.

TV channels line up special programmes for counting

Pankaj Munjal is the world&rsquo;s largest maker of cycles and supplies gearboxes for BMW bikes. Bhupesh Bhandari &amp; Sharmistha Mukherjee meet the lesser known Munjal.

The cycle king

Driven by the robust demand for diesel vehicles in the Indian market, the US-based auto major, General Motors, is working on developing diesel engines for the range of vehicles lined up for launch in the country. The capability for which will then find its way to other diesel-intensive markets globally.

GM to utilise Indian diesel facility globally

Japanese auto major Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) plans to join compatriots Nissan Motor Limited and Suzuki Motor Corporation in setting up a global hub for manufacturing small cars in the country.

Mitsubishi plans global small car hub in India

The committee to review spectrum usage charges has recommended FM radio frequencies be auctioned by the department of telecommunications (DoT) after being delinked from the broadcast licence of the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB).

Delink FM Radio licences, spectrum: Review panel

US-based auto major General Motors (GM) is set to lock horns with Japanese rivals Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) and Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) with the launch of its first entry-level sedan in the country later this year.

GM set to launch sedan to take on DZire, Etios

The committee of &lsquo;Review of Spectrum Usage Charges&rsquo; has recommended that FM radio frequencies may be auctioned by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) after being delinked from the broadcast license of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

Panel for delinking licence and spectrum in FM Radio

Your plans to bring home a dream vehicle may just have become a little more distant, with automobile manufacturers considering price increases to offset the impact of higher excise duty levied in the Union Budget tabled on Friday.

Higher excise duty may put brakes on car buy plans

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India&rsquo;s (TRAI) proposal last week to halve ad duration on pay television channels has stirred up a hornet&rsquo;s nest in the media industry.

Ad brake for pay TV channels

In a country that has a history of being partial to the small car, it is Nissan&rsquo;s mid-sized sedan, the Sunny, and not its hatchback, Micra that is being driven out of showrooms in droves, and in turn establishing Japan&rsquo;s second largest carmaker as a force to be reckoned with in India&rsquo;s cutthroat passenger vehicle market.

Sunny days for Nissan in India

To meet the increased demand for diesel vehicles in the domestic market, the country&rsquo;s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), is looking at limiting vehicle assembly operations at its unit in Gurgaon to make space for expanding engine manufacturing facilities. However, this will not happen in the next three years.

Maruti redoes production line calculation mix

Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha has initiated dialogue with the Tamil Nadu government to set up its third plant in India. According to market sources, the new facility is expected to attract investment of Rs 100 crore.

Yamaha in talks with TN govt for setting up third facility

An acrimonious battle seems imminent between Japanese automobile giant Honda Motor Company (HMC) and its 17-year-old Indian joint venture partner, Shriram Industrial Enterprises Ltd (Siel), promoted by Siddharth Shriram, over the valuation of the latter&rsquo;s five per cent stake that it wants to sell.

Valuation battle hots up as Shriram looks to exit Honda JV

Skoda&rsquo;s stint in the Indian car market has been unmarked by aggressive forays in the small car market, which accounts for 70 per cent of sales in the country. Now, as holding company Volkswagen AG gears up to tap in on growing demand for vehicles in the emerging markets of India and China to topple Toyota as the world&rsquo;s largest car maker by 2018, Skoda India has an important role to play in sealing the group&rsquo;s ambitions on the global scale.

BS People: Sudhir Rao

Korean auto major Hyundai Motor is set to shift gears in the Indian auto mart, with a change of guards at its Indian arm. The car maker recently appointed Bo Shin Seo as MD for the sub-continent. Seo, who takes over from H W Park, was executive director (production) in India for two years.

BS People: Bo Shin Seo

Ravi Rishi&rsquo;s Vectra Group is the largest shareholder in Tatra Holdings, which owns Czech truck manufacturer Tatra, accused of supplying trucks at exorbitant prices to the Indian Army. The Vectra Group did not respond to an emailed questionnaire sent by Business Standard, though it has stated elsewhere about being &ldquo;deeply concerned and anguished by the false and unfounded allegations of attempted offers to bribe, levied by Gen V K Singh&rdquo;.

Who is Ravi Rishi?

Japanese auto maker Honda Motor Corporation (HMC) is considering consolidating its various holdings and merging its automotive entities in India into one company, according to sources.

Honda considers merging its two entities in India

The war has escalated between Honda Motor Corporation (HMC) and the Siddharth Shriram-promoted Usha International Ltd (UIL), its 17-year-old joint venture partner. UIL has alleged serious corporate governance lapses and oppression of minority shareholders by the board in the joint venture, Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI).

Sharmistha Mukherjee

Sharmistha Mukherjee

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