India Automobile (Kereta Dan Motorsikal India)

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Proton test-drives Saga, Persona on local roads




Sindhu Bhattacharya/ DNA MONEY  | Tuesday, 05 August , 2008, 16:20



Malaysian carmaker Proton may still be firming up its India strategy but it has already started testing some of its cars on Indian roads, a source familiar with the development said.

On Monday morning, the 1.3 litre 'Saga' and the 1.6 litre 'Persona' were being driven on the Greater Noida Expressway here, lending credence to the persistent buzz that Proton could be looking for a manufacturing and even design alliance Argentum Motors, whose facilities are situated at Surajpur near here.

Proton officials declined to comment. Argentum promoter B V R Subbu categorically denied talks with the Malaysian company.

Sources said a top-level team from Proton is currently in India for conducting feasibility studies and are holding discussions with Subbu.

Proton has maintained a now on, now off interest in India and has held unsuccessful talks with several players, including International Cars & Motors (Sonalika Group) and Hindustan Motors.

Thus it is logical to expect the Malaysian state-owned carmaker to look for an established partner in India.

The source said Proton has been talking to Argentum for getting its vehicles contract-manufactured and talks have also touched upon Argentum designing India-specific cars.

Argentum has the facilities for making complete vehicles as well as powertrains at Surajpur and has also acquired capabilities to design complete vehicle solutions.

Proton's thinking here may well be to get vehicles manufactured to its specification without having to invest significant amounts of money in putting up a manufacturing facility all by itself.

Proton has also sounded out Mahindra & Mahindra and the Hero Group for a separate alliance to market distribute its cars.

Though its vehicles are considered high-end, Proton cars have often faced quality and finishing issues.

Not only has the company been losing sales at home, it is also plagued by very high cost per car since there are no economies of scale.

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Proton got access to some of the latest auto technologies after acquiring British marque Lotus Technologies a few years back.

Some of its popular models include 'Saga' and 'Wira' sedans, 'Satria' or the Proton Compact and 'Putra' sporty coupe.


- DNA Money -

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Daimler Hero jt venture to set up plant in Chennai.




Daimler Hero Commercial Vehicles (DHCV), the joint venture between Germany's Daimler and the Munjals-promoted Hero Group, on Monday said it would set up its manufacturing unit in Chennai as part of its Euro 700 million investment plan over the next five years.

“The Indo-German joint venture will soon begin the construction of a new factory in Chennai, where it will produce commercial vehicles under a new brand name for the Indian volume market and exports,'' DHCV said in a statement.

The plant, which would be functional in 2010, would produce up to 70,000 trucks in its initial phase of operation. The company said it plans to export from the plant to markets whose product requirements are similar to those of the Indian market. The i nvestment plan is valued at about Rs 4,500 crore. The company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up the plant.

DHCV is aiming to achieve a localisation rate of up to 80 per cent in order to optimally utilise cost advantages, it said. The proximity of the Chennai plant to the local supplier industry will greatly help utilise these cost advantages and also help th e local industry and community.


- PTI -

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M&M ploughing its way to world No 1




Updated On: Tuesday , August 19, 2008 at 00:37 hrs


Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Ltd is inching closer to becoming the largest tractor manufacturer globally, overtaking John Deere of the US. Talking to the media on the occasion of announcing a joint venture (JV) with China third largest tractor maker Jiangsu Yueda Yancheng Tractor Manufacturing Company Ltd, Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group, said, For a long time, the Mahindra Group has been aspiring to become number one in the world. And with this, we will be able to achieve that in a much better fashion. While Mahindra does not want to be over-optimistic about the numero uno position, figures reveal that the company is not far from the largest player now, John Deere, which sold around 1,60,000 tractors last year. If you take the total sales of M&M, Punjab Tractors and Yancheng Tractors together, which stands at around 1,70,000 units, we would have already reached there next year, said Bharat Doshi, chief financial officer, Mahindra Group.

M&M will hold 51% (approximately $26 miilion) stake in the Chinese JV through its subsidiary, Mahindra Overseas Investment Company (Mauritius) Ltd. The tractor related assets and current liabilities of Yancheng Tractors will be transferred to the JV. The value of the net assets transferred to the JV will be around $50 million (RMB 335 million). Mumbai-based Kotak Investment Banking was the financial advisors for this deal. This is the second tractor venture of Mahindra in China, in addition to Mahindra current tractor business namely, Mahindra China Tractor Company Ltd (MCTCL). Indicating that China is the fastest growing tractor market, Anjanikumar Choudhari, president, farm equipment sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said, We have a long term plan for the Chinese market which is growing at a rate of 40% y-o-y. On the synergies between the two companies, Chouhdari said that the research and development capabilities will be shared between M&M in India and the new JV. The company will also consider the use of M&M fuel efficient engines over Yancheng Tractors.

We will have a product range starting from 16 HP to 125HP. We will also have a large manufacturing base which will be used to not only produce for the domestic market but also for low cost manufacture for exports, he said.


- Financial Express -

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M&M is working on electric car bigger than Reva




Updated On: Tuesday , August 19, 2008 at 01:31 hrs


Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is working on an electric car that will be bigger than the Reva brand, said a senior company official. The four-seater, under development, will hit the market by 2010.

Reva sells at a base price of Rs 3.5 lakh in Bangalore and Rs 2.9 lakh onwards in New Delhi. In the European market, the car sells for 12,000 to 13,000 euros. The M&M electric car would costlier. It will run on lead acid battery initially and on nickel metal hydride later, sources said.

M&M plans to launch the product in India and then take it abroad. This is contrary to the plans of Tata Motors, which is working on an electric car project for Norway and plans to launch the product there by the end of this fiscal and then make it available in other markets.

He plan to launch the product in the country first and mature in the segment before venturing into foreign markets. We want to be prepared for the market and dont want to be caught unawares, said the official.

Once a technology is developed, it can be used across platforms, he said. Currently, M&M has an electric three-wheeler called Bijlee, and is working on an electric version on its three-wheeler Alfa.

Recently, at the M&M annual general meeting, Keshub Mahindra, group chairman, said that the company has shered in the three-wheeler electric vehicles and is currently developing electric options for several other models.

When quizzed on the same, Pawan Goenka, president, automotive sector, M&M Ltd, had said, There is better pay-back on three-wheelers. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of using the technology in other products.

However, in a country with a huge shortage of power, the success of such vehicles is questionable. Electric cars are not as economical as compared to CNG vehicles, since the latter is readily available at gas stations now. The way out is to develop low-carbon electricity technology, for which the auto companies are looking at tying up with energy companies, said an analyst from Datamonitor.

Cross-subsidy from various state governments will help in the creation of infrastructure such as charging stations and will generate more interest among buyers, said Reva Electric Car Company chairman, Chetan Kumaar Maini, recently. The company, which has sold around 2,600 units till now, expects to reach its target of 6,000 units this year.

Lithium-ion batteries can make electric vehicles more attractive. These batteries have high...




- Financial Express -

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Tatas to go for aggressive expansion of Land Rover in India




Updated On: Monday , August 25, 2008 at 20:17 hrs


Tata Motors on Monday said it is charting out an aggressive network expansion for Land Rover in India over the next one year, besides exploring possibilities for bringing Jaguar to the country.

Land Rover is already present in India in Mumbai in a small way. What we understand from our colleagues in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) that they are looking at expanding Land Rovers footprint in the Indian market in a fairly aggressive manner in the near future, Tata Motors President Passenger Cars Rajiv Dube told reporters in New Delhi.

Tata Motors had acquired Britain premium auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this year for over 2 billion dollars.

Within the next one year, you could possibly see their footprint expanding, he added.

Recently, Land Rover had opened a dealership in Gurgaon also, but that is not a pan-India expansion, Dube said.

Asked by when the Jaguar brand would be brought to India, he said: SLR has made a statement, they are looking at the Indian market... Recently, Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant had told analysts that the company was exploring ways to bring the two brands into India.

He had said like Russia and China, JLR would explore the Indian market also and a team would be coming to the country to study the market.

Kant, however, had said the company was not expecting big numbers from the two brands in India considering that these were high-priced products.

The company today launched the second-generation compact car Indica Vista here, priced between Rs 3.49 lakh and Rs 4.88 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
        


- Financial Express -

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2009 Tata Nano (European Edition)




2009 Geneva Motor Show

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Proton Team To Visit India To Finalise Joint Venture With Hero



October 10, 2009 18:02 PM


By P. Vijian



NEW DELHI, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- A delegation from Proton Holdings Bhd is expected to arrive here later this month to finalise plans to form a joint venture with Hero Group.

The Economic Times in today's front-page "Hero chases small car dream with Proton" said that Proton and Hero Group were in the final stage of negotiations.

Hero Group's top executives, according to the newspaper, had visited Proton's Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim plants and its car design subsidiary, Lotus in the United Kingdom.

Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Corporate Service Ltd, told the newspaper: "Proton came and met us earlier and there's nothing more to add."

The tie-up would enable Hero Group, a family owned company that started off producing bicycle components in early 1940s, to enter the robust Indian passenger car market, which sold 1.5 million vehicles last year.

Proton had been critically exploring the Indian motor vehicle sector for some years and had talks with leading Indian players like Mahindra and Mahindra, Ambassador, Hindustan Motors, Sonalika's International Car and Motors Ltd and Argentum Motors.

More interaction between both parties is in the pipeline when International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed visit India later this month.

The US$4 billion Hero Group is owned by Delhi-based Munjal family.

In the past, the Indian company had also explored joint venture possibilities with French carmaker Peugeot-Citroen and Germany's Volkswagen, to manufacture cars for the Indian market, said the paper.



- Bernama -

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Proton may partner Hero to make cars in India




By Zuraimi Abdullah


Published: 2009/10/15




PROTON Holdings Bhd (5304) may start producing cars in India next year with the Hero Group being a possible strategic partner, its chief said.

Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said besides Hero, the national carmaker was also talking to several other Indian carmakers on a strategic collaboration.

"We are finalising the business model (with the interested parties). It could end up as a joint venture or the supply of cars to our strategic partner.

"There is a few options. If it is a joint venture, our partner will have a 51 per cent stake, while we will hold 49 per cent," Syed Zainal said after speaking at a session of Frost & Sullivan's 2009 Growth, Innovation and Leadership (GIL) congress in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Hero recently confirmed reports that it was in talks with Proton on forming a strategic pact. Such a collaboration will help Proton optimise production capacity of its Tanjung Malim plant and subsequently boost its export volume.

The Hero group has wide business interest but is more well-known as one of the world's largest motorcycle producers.

Its collaboration with Honda Motor Co Ltd since the early 1980s has built more than 20 million motorcycles for the Indian market.

The conglomerate, formed about 50 years ago, had a revenue of US$3.2 billion (RM10.78 billion) in 2006. It claimed to have registered a compounded annual growth rate of 24 per cent over the past eight years to 2006.

Last April, Hero scrapped a US$1.1 billion (RM3.70 billion) joint venture alliance with Germany's Daimler AG to make and sell trucks in India because of the economic slowdown.

Earlier, Syed Zainal told GIL participants that Proton already has local assembly operations in Iran and China, and that India could join the list next year.

He said Proton had been doing a research in India for the past two years to understand the market's needs there.

Some of the findings showed that there is no real need to have power windows for front passengers and that the rear headroom must be high to accommodate local people who are quite tall.

The Exora multi-purpose vehicle was a result of such massive information input from the market Proton wanted to go, Syed Zainal said.

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2010 DC Design Nano

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Tata opens dedicated plant to cope with Nano demand


In a move that will help clear backlog, Tata Motors has opened a new plant that will build the “ world’s cheapest car ” in the western Indian state of Gujerat. The Sanand factory will initially produce 250,000 units of the Tata Nano per year, with plans to eventually ramp up annual production to 350,000.

After the hype surrounding the Nano’s launch, demand was high and Tata collected 206,703 orders during the initial sales period last April. From this, 100,000 customers were chosen by a lottery. Deliveries of the cars began in July, and up till April 2010, 33,875 units have been accounted for.

The original dedicated Nano plant in Singur, West Bengal, was delayed after the automaker halted construction due to violent protests by farmers who originally worked on the land. Tata abandoned the near-complete facility in October 2008 and began building the Sanand facility on a 445-hectare plot.

One of the possible reasons Tata cannot take its own sweet time is that the ultra-cheap Nano will have some rivals soon. The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Bajaj Auto are teaming up for a $3,000 car that is projected to hit showrooms in 2012. They have earmarked a plant in Maharastra that will have a production capacity of 400,000 vehicles a year. Bajaj is a huge company that produces motorcycles and auto rickshaws.

The basic Nano, with one wiper, no radio or air conditioning costs $2,615 in New Delhi. A better equipped version will go on sale in Europe late 2011.


- Paul Tan -

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Proton boardroom changes, prepares to enter India



Proton saw a list of Bursa Malaysia announcements last week pertaining the boardroom and audit committee. Two members have resigned – Non-Executive Director Haji Abdul Kadir Bin Md Kassim and Non-Executive Director Oh Kim Sun. In addition to the resignations, ex-Hyundai India man BVR Subbu has been appointed to the Audit Committee, which now consists of BVR Subbu, Dato’ Michael Lim and Datuk Zalekha Binti Hassan.

Other than our local Malaysian market, Proton will be focusing on exports markets with four main key markets identified – India, China, ASEAN and the Middle East. It already has something running in China in a partnership with the Youngman Group, which rebadges Proton cars under the Europestar Lotus brand. Europestar recently launched a new car in China called the Youngman Lotus L5 with a longer wheelbase compared to the GEN2 and Persona, something not available in Malaysia.

Proton is already in the Middle East and in ASEAN so the remaining ‘ key market ’ that it has yet to set foot in is India, which would explain the hiring of BVR Subbu and now appointing him as member of the Audit Committee.

According to an email interview with India’s Business Standard publication, a small car based on the Proton EMAS will be adopted for the four key markets including India. The EMAS Concept’s length of 3,550mm makes it suitable for sale in India as it would help it be priced competitively, as the length falls into a tax bracket (vehicle length based) that is low.

The EMAS Concept should be able to be priced well if the vehicle’s actual production costs are low since tax will not be a hindrance, unlike Mahindra and Renault’s attempt at selling the Logan in India which was a disaster due to uncompetitive pricing thanks to the Logan’s length of over 4 meters.


Sources : http://www.cartradeindia.com/

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