Page 26 - Automobile Manufacturer

Kia India appoints Gwanggu Lee as MD and CEO, succeeds Tae Jin Park

Kia India on Tuesday said it has appointed Gwanggu Lee as the new Managing Director and CEO with immediate effect. Lee succeeds Tae Jin Park, who retires after a 36-year journey with Kia Corporation including a four year stint with Kia India, the automaker said in a statement. Lee has held leadership positions in various capacities in both developed and developing economies, including roles in the US, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Kia Headquarters in Central and South America, and Kia Europe Headquarters in Germany. His recent role as President at Kia Mexico played a pivotal role in the company's substantial growth and establishment as a production and export hub, the company said. With two segment-breaking updates -- the new Seltos and the new Sonet, and a host of more innovative products on the way, Kia India is surely on the right path to sustainable business growth, Lee stated. "My vision is to unlock the next phase of growth through inspiring Kia brand experiences thereby creating m

Consumers moved away from diesel vehicles in 2023; EV, hybrid sales rise

SUVs, on the other hand, are likely to grow up to 54-55 per cent from a current level of 48.7 per cent. It has already grown from 42 per cent in 2022 to nearly 49 per cent in 2023

Eicher Motors gets Rs 130 cr tax demand notices, company to challenge

Eicher Motors has been served demand notices of over Rs 130 crore from three different authorities over issues related to GST, according to a regulatory filing by the company. The company has received a demand order for an aggregate amount of Rs 129.79 crore, including a penalty of Rs 11.8 crore and applicable interest from the office of the Principal Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Chennai, Eicher Motors said in a regulatory filing. The officer has disallowed certain GST credit and raised GST demand, largely on account of the difference in GST credit mismatch between the company's GST availment and details reported by suppliers in their GST returns, it added. Besides, the turnover difference as declared in GSTR-3B with GSTR-1 return and non-reversal of input tax credit on material returned instead of output tax liability paid by the company have also been cited as reasons. Eicher Motors further said a demand order for Rs 70.9 lakh, including a penalty of Rs 3.2 lakh, has

PV sales touch record high in 2023 at 4.1 mn, SUVs continue strong growth

Passenger vehicle sales in India touched a record high of 41.08 lakh units in 2023, growing by 8.3 per cent over the previous year driven by SUVs, which accounted for almost half of the total dispatches from manufacturers to dealers. The record sales have been achieved despite an increase in the average price of vehicles to Rs 11.5 lakh last year as compared to Rs 10.58 lakh in 2022. Market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported their best-ever annual sales in 2023. "If you look at January to December 2023, wholesales crossed 41.08 lakh. This is the first time the industry has ever crossed the 4 million mark. That, I think is a huge milestone in the history of the Indian passenger vehicles (PV) industry," Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava told reporters in a call. He further said, "This is against wholesales of 37.92 lakh units for the calendar year 2022. Therefore, there is a .

Honda Cars India domestic sales rise 12% to 7,902 units in December

Honda Cars India Ltd on Monday reported a 12 per cent rise in domestic sales at 7,902 units in December as compared to 7,062 units units in the same month a year ago. Exports stood at 3,749 units last month as against 1,388 units in December 2022, Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) said in a statement. "The sales momentum in December has been extremely positive for us in both factory despatches and retail as our network maximised the deliveries for the new SUV Elevate to our customers," HCIL Director, Marketing and Sales, Yuichi Murata, said. He said the company is looking forward to 2024 "with tremendous positivity and optimism" with strong sales momentum and growing market potential, backed by a robust business plan.

Automobile major VECV sales grow over 11% to 8,026 units in Dec 2023

Eicher Motors Ltd on Monday said its arm VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd posted an 11.1 per cent growth in total sales at 8,026 units in December 2023. VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture of the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, had sold 7,221 units in December 2022, Eicher Motors said in a regulatory filing. December 2023 sales included 7,789 units of the Eicher brand and 237 units of the Volvo brand, it added. In the domestic commercial vehicles market, Eicher branded trucks and buses recorded sales of 7,468 units last month as compared to 6,671 units in December 2022. Exports of Eicher branded trucks and buses were down 3.3 per cent at 321 units as against 332 units in December 2022, it added.

Maruti saw biggest jump in average revenue earned per car in 2023 at 13%

In 2022, MSIL had experienced an 11.98 per cent Y-o-Y increase in average revenue per car

Year ender 2023: Top auto launches of the year and what to expect in 2024

In 2023, Maruti Suzuki launched the Baleno-based crossover, Fronx, Brezza's facelift, and an all-new Grand Vitara in the SUV space and grabbed more than 50% share of the segment

Chinese automaker BYD's first car factory in Europe planned in Hungary

Chinese automaker BYD said on Friday that it plans to build a new electric vehicle plant in Hungary, its first car factory in Europe, as part of its rapid global expansion. Hungary will be the centre for its European operations, BYD said in a notice on its Weibo social media account. BYD, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said it plans to create thousands of jobs in creating a local green ecosystem for manufacturing its electric vehicles. The factory will have an advanced production line and will be built in phases, it said without giving details on the amount of money to be invested. BYD is among EV manufacturers making fast inroads into Europe, to the extent that European regulators have begun a probe into Chinese government support for the industry. The company, whose name stands for Build Your Dreams, began direct EV sales in Hungary in October. The company says it plans to launch three new models in Europe within the coming year in addition to the five models it

Tata Curvv to Harrier EV: Here are cars Tata Motors will launch in 2024

Tata Motors will add two more electric cars to its portfolio, along with a facelift variant of Altroz

Tata Motors expects best sales in 2024 on back of fresh portfolio

Automaker plans to have 10 EV models by 2026 including the upcoming Harrier EV and Punch EV: MD Shailesh Chandra

Toyota's Daihatsu to halt all vehicle shipments, in widening safety scandal

Toyota Motor's Daihatsu unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles, Japan's biggest automaker said on Wednesday, after a safety scandal investigation found issues involving 64 models

Why Maruti remains big on small cars, even when India shifts to larger cars

MSIL, the quintessential maker of small cars, has not fallen short of taking a bet on small hatchbacks even when there seems to be a structural shift in the Indian market towards larger cars

US opens probe into over 450,000 Nissan vehicles on engine failure concerns

The Japanese automaker has looked to address main bearing and L-link damage or seizures on the engines by introducing multiple manufacturing process changes over time, the regulator said

Maruti Suzuki's 2024 launches: Know about new cars, prices, specs, and more

Maruti will also join the EV bandwagon with its first born-electric SUV, the eVX, which is slated to be launched in India towards the end of 2024

India's light vehicle market fastest growing among top 10 markets: S&P

Auto sales in India reached a record high of 3.8 million units in the FY23, surpassing the pre-Covid peak of 3.3 million units seen in FY19

Audi, ChargeZone inaugurate ultra-fast charging station in Mumbai

German luxury car manufacturer Audi on Thursday inaugurated an ultra-fast charging station, conceptualised and developed in collaboration with ChargeZone, in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) here. Claiming to be India's first ultra-fast charging station, it has a total capacity of 450 KW, which delivers 360 KW of power to an electric vehicle, Audi India said in a statement. Currently, Audi India has the luxury EV portfolio with six electric cars -- ?Q8 50 e-tron, Q8 55 e-tron, Q8 Sportback 50 e-tron, Q8 Sportback 55 e-tron, e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT -- in India. According to the company, this charger can charge Audi Q8 55 e-tron with a 114 KWH battery from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in just 26 minutes. "The inauguration of India's first, ultra-fast charging station by Audi India is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to develop a comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem for our valued customers," Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India, said. The company said its e-tron ...

40 years of Maruti 800: Jairam Ramesh recalls contribution of Indira, Rajiv

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday recalled the launch of people's car Maruti 800 40 years ago, and said Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi played a quiet but hugely effective role in the background. Former environment minister Ramesh also said that while celebrating Maruti-Suzuki and its multiple impacts, let us also pause and worry a bit from the inequality and climate change point of view that more than 50 per cent of car sales are now of SUVs. In a post on X, Ramesh said, "Today 40 years ago, the consumer revolution overtook India and its engineering industry got transformed. The Maruti 800, the people's car was launched and the nation recalls Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, who played a quiet but hugely effective role in the background." It is also important to recall O Suzuki and V Krishnamurthy who made the landmark Suzuki-Maruti joint venture possible, he noted. Krishnamurthy had earlier built BHEL and was to later turn around SAIL, Ramesh pointed out. "One of th

M&M, investors to put Rs 875 cr in Classic Legends over next 2-3 years

CLPL revived heritage brands like Yezdi and Jawa. However, it has been able to gain significant market share in the premium segment, which is still largely dominated by Eicher Motors' Royal Enfield

Manufacturing sector expected to reach $1 trn by 2025-26 led by Gujarat

The automobile, electronics, and textile sectors in India have witnessed surge in investment and will lead the manufacturing sector's growth in India, according to a report by Colliers