Page 41 - Automobile Industry

Govt's battery swapping policy for EVs faces resistance from industry

Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman first talked about the battery-swapping plan in her budget speech in February 2022

Audi sales nearly double in H1 of CY2023 on surge in premium car demand

Pre-owned business grows 53% YoY; company starts initiative for EV owners that gves them acccess to multiple electric partners on a single app

M&M overall sales up 15% in June, SUV sales rise 22%; exports down by 10%

Three-wheeler sales were also up by 59% and reached 6,377 units in June 2023 from 4,008 units in June 2022

Tata Motors to hike prices of PVs from July 17 to offset input costs

Tata Motors on Monday said it will hike prices of its passenger vehicles with effect from July 17. The company will increase prices of its passenger vehicles (including EVs) by an average of 0.6 per cent across models and variants, Tata Motors said in a statement. The price increase is to offset the residual impact of past input costs, it added. The auto major noted that it will offer price protection to bookings made up to July 16, 2023 and deliveries up to July 31, 2023. Tata Motors sells a range of passenger vehicles including Punch, Nexon and Harrier.

Ashok Leyland June total sales up 5% at 15,221 units, CV sales jump 10%

Commercial vehicles maker Ashok Leyland on Monday reported a 5 per cent rise in total vehicle sales in June at 15,221 units. In the year-ago period, total vehicle sales of the company stood at 14,531 units. Total domestic sales were higher by 7 per cent at 14,363 units as against 13,469 units a year ago, the company said in a statement. Domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales were at 9,274 units as compared to 8,399 units in June last year, a growth of 10 per cent, it added. Sales of light commercial vehicles in the domestic market marginally increased to 5,089 units from 5,070 units in June 2022, the company said.

Maruti Suzuki reports 2% rise in retail sales at 159,418 units in June

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Saturday reported 2 per cent increase in total wholesales at 1,59,418 units in June. The company had dispatched 1,55,857 units to dealers in June 2022, MSI said in a statement. Last month, the company's domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 8 per cent to 1,33,027 units as against 1,22,685 units in the year-ago period, it added. Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, fell marginally to 14,054 units as compared with 14,442 units in the same month last year. Similarly, sales in the compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, slumped 17 per cent to 64,471 units as against 77,746 cars in June 2022. Sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz increased to 1,744 units as compared with 1,507 units in June last year. Utility vehicle sales, including Brezza, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, surged over two-fold to 43,404 units as compared with 18,860 vehicles in the year-ago month, MSI said. Exports dec

Hyundai Motor reports 5% rise in retail sales at 65,601 units in June

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Saturday said its total wholesales increased 5 per cent to 65,601 units in June 2023. The automaker had dispatched a total of 62,351 units to dealers in June 2022. Domestic sales rose 2 per cent to 50,001 units last month from 49,001 units in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. Exports in June rose 17 per cent to 15,600 units as compared with 13,350 units in the same month last year, it added. "There is a positive customer traction for all our products and Verna, Creta, and Tucson have attained leadership positions in their respective segments in the first half of CY23," HMIL COO Tarun Garg noted. The company is now looking forward to introducing Exter SUV in the market, he added.

Lexus to hike price of ES 300h by 2% from July to offset input costs rise

Luxury carmaker Lexus India on Friday said it will increase prices of ES 300h sedan range by up to 2 per cent from next month in order to offset rise in input costs. In a statement, Lexus India President Naveen Soni said the current circumstances require the automaker to raise prices of the model. "As a part of our commitment to excellence and despite our best efforts to mitigate the effects, the current circumstances require us to raise the prices for the Lexus ES 300h luxury sedan," he noted. Lexus India would like to assure its valued customers that the company is trying its best to minimise such hikes, against various cost pressures, Soni said. "This price adjustment is purely for the Lexus ES 300h and will be effective beginning July 1, 2023," he added. The ES 300h range starts from Rs 62 lakh (ex-showroom). In a separate statement, Lexus India said it has commenced deliveries of fifth-generation RX SUV in the country. The five-seater SUV was first showcased in India at the

Auto shares in fast lane; Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti Suzuki hit 52-week highs

M&M hit a record high of Rs 1,440.75, up 3 per cent on the BSE

Five-door Jimny to be launched in Australia with ADAS features as standard

This is because of the prevailing regulations in Australia that mandate all new cars to have Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) which is a feature counted as ADAS

Expect commercial vehicle industry to grow by 8-10%: Ashok Leyand

Ashok Leyland expects the domestic commercial vehicle industry to grow by 8-10 per cent this fiscal aided by record government spending on infrastructure projects and strong replacement demand emanating from core industries. In his address to shareholders in the company's Annual Report for 2022-23, Ashok Leyland Chairman Dheeraj G Hinduja said the commercial vehicle sales this fiscal were expected to exceed the previous peak attained in 2018-19. He noted that the Chennai-based commercial vehicle maker is fully prepared to take advantage of the anticipated opportunities without compromising on market share and profitability targets. "Moving on, it is reasonably expected that in FY24, the demand is expected to exceed pre-COVID levels of 2018-19," he noted. Government infrastructure spending, strong replacement demand and healthy traction from core industries like steel, cement and mining are expected to drive growth, Hinduja said. The company remains optimistic about its ability to b

Landmark Cars hits record high; up 11% in 2 days on institutional buying

TPG Growth II SF Pte Ltd, on Friday, sold 4.46 million shares for Rs 293 crore through an open market transaction

K'taka invites Tesla to invest, says ready to provide necessary facilities

The Karnataka government on Friday invited Tesla Inc, the world's largest electric car maker, to invest in the state, saying it is the ideal destination for the company's expansion into India, and that the authorities here are ready to support the company and its ventures and provide the necessary facilities. Tesla said earlier this week that it is looking to make a significant investment in India. After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US, Tesla chief Elon Musk said he saw India as holding more promise than any other large country around the globe. He said he plans to pay a visit to the country in 2024. "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and we will do so it as soon as humanly possible," Musk told reporters after the meeting. "We don't want to jump the gun on an announcement, but I think it's quite likely that it will be a significant investment, a relationship with India." India, the world's third-largest energy consumer, is pitching as an alternate ...

Punjab announces Rs 300 cr incentive to promote use of electric vehicles

Punjab's transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar has said the state government will provide incentives worth around Rs 300 crore in the next three years to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and reduce pollution. These incentives will be provided on electric two-wheelers, e-cycles, e-rickshaws, e-autos and electric light commercial vehicles. He directed the officials of the transport department to write a letter to the finance department for creating a dedicated EV fund to facilitate initiatives for the adoption of the EVs in the state. He was presiding over a meeting of the state level EV committee, which has been set up for the implementation of the Electric Vehicle Policy-2023, here on Wednesday. According to an official statement, Bhullar took details of the responsibilities entrusted to various departments concerning the implementation of the EV policy and asked officials to ensure speedy implementation. Bhullar instructed the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd a

HPCL to open vehicle service centres in India with Saudi Arabia's Petromin

HPCL's co-branded service centres will be located at its select retail outlets in metros and other major cities across India

Renault India reaches 1 mn production milestone at Tamil Nadu plant

France-based automaker Renault has reached a milestone by producing 10 lakh vehicles at its Tamil Nadu plant, a top official said here on Wednesday. Renault India Pvt Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of Renault S.A.S France and has a manufacturing facility in association with Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd at Oragadam, located around 45 kilometres from here. Renault has a production capacity of about 4.80 lakh units per year. "We have nine lakh customers totally across India... Yesterday, we reached a key milestone. We rolled out the one millionth vehicles at the plant...," Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Venkatram Mamillapalle told reporters. A red colour KIGER marked the 10,00,000th rollout from the assembly line that was formally flagged off by senior company officials including Mamillapalle at the facility. The company has made substantial investments in manufacturing, technology, and talent, creating a robust production infrastructure ensuring the .

EVs to play significant role in closing on record sales this year: Volvo MD

Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Cars expects electric cars to play a significant role in its bid to close in on record sales in India this year, a senior company official said on Wednesday. The company unveiled its all-electric SUV C40 Recharge in India, which will be launched in August and deliveries to start September onwards. The vehicle will be the company's second electric offering in India after its fully-electric XC40 Recharge launched last year. "2023 has started on a very promising note and we believe that we will do much better this year as compared to the last few years. Since the pandemic I think the market was a bit slow and then we had supply issues. "Supply issue is still around us but I believe that we should go back close to the 2018 number which was our peak," Volvo Car India Managing Director Jyoti Malhotra told PTI here. In 2018, Volvo Car India had sold 2,600 units. Last year it sold around 1,800 units in the domestic market. Asked if the company could cross re

Commercial vehicle industry to record moderate 8-10% volume growth: Report

The commercial vehicle (CV) industry is likely to record moderate volume growth of around 8-10 per cent this fiscal, with the pent-up demand levelling off, a report said on Tuesday. The growth will come amid increased government thrust on infrastructure spending despite expected muted exports on account of the uncertain global environment amid inflationary concerns, Care Edge Ratings said in its report. This growth is also expected to come on the back of the strong upcycle that the industry is witnessing despite the high base effect. Noting that the demand remains strong across all the segments, while the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) are expected to grow by 10-12 per cent in FY24, the light commercial vehicles (LCV) are likely to grow by 6-8 per cent aided by last-mile connectivity demand boosting e-commerce activities, it stated. "With tailwinds like healthy replacement demand, increased freight movement and increasing government infra spending and a continued boom

Hyundai to utilise $5.9 bn in overseas operations' money for EV investments

Hyundai Motor Group said on Monday it will utilise 7.8 trillion won ($5.9 billion) worth of reservation money held by its overseas operations to push forward planned investments in domestic EV plants

Rs 25,938-cr Auto PLI scheme: Centre considers paying incentive quarterly

Incentives for FY23 yet to be disbursed as OEMs yet to furnish requisite documents, say officials