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India Auto News Tuesday, 08 Dec. 2009 |
National - GM India enters 50:50 JV with China's SAIC- Volkswagen India launches New Beetle, Touareg - Maruti to showcase new small car at Delhi Auto Expo - Mitsubishi sells its stake in Eicher Motors to EML's Indian promoters - John Deere expects 7 per cent growth in tractor sales - Delhi auto-rikshaws may soon be replaced by small cars - Hyundai workers decide not to go on strike after govt. initiates reconciliatory measures - World Bank Chief Robert Zoellick showers praise on Nano - Daimler India to sell Mitsubishi Fuso trucks from 2010 |
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GM India enters 50:50 JV with China's SAIC
US-based General Motors (GM) and China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) announced a joint venture last week to manufacture and sell vehicles in India. The 50:50 JV - GM SAIC Investments Limited - will have its headquarters in Hong Kong, and will sell light commercial vehicles and small cars. GM India Vice President (Corporate Strategy), Mr P Balendran, told mediapersons that both partners would initially invest $50 million each into the venture. The company's first model will be launched in 2011.
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Volkswagen India launches New Beetle, Touareg
Volkswagen India launched the 'New Beetle' last week, priced at Rs 20.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The car comes with a 2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine, and six-speed automatic transmission. VW India Board Member and Director, Mr Neeraj Garg, told reporters that the company was excited to bring the iconic Beetle to India after its success all over the world. VW also launched the Touareg in India, which was earlier available in the country only on order.
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Maruti to showcase new small car at Delhi Auto Expo
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) will be showcasing a new small car at the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2010. The company will start producing the car commercially after gauging customers' response to its concept model at the Auto Expo. MSIL is currently developing two compact
cars - a new version of the WagonR, codenamed YR8, and another small car to fit into the Maruti 800 segment, codenamed YE3. Both the cars will be powered by Maruti's BS IV compliant KB series engines.
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Mitsubishi sells its stake in Eicher Motors to EML's Indian promoters
Japanese auto company Mitsubishi sold its entire 3.2 per cent stake in Eicher Motors Limited (EML) to EML's Indian promoters last week. The value of the 847,430 shares sold by the Japanese company is estimated to be approximately Rs 50.4 crore. The off-market transaction has increased the stake of the Indian founders of Eicher from 52.75 per cent to 55.92 per cent. Mitsubishi Motors and Eicher had entered a JV in 1982 to manufacture light commercial vehicles. Since 1994, however, Mitsubishi had been only a shareholder in the company, and not a technology partner.
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John Deere expects 7 per cent growth in tractor sales
Farm equipment manufacturer John Deere said last week that it expected its tractor sales in the Indian market to increase by 7 per cent in 2009-10. The company sold 25,000 tractors in FY 2008-09, up from 15,000 units in the previous year, in spite of a bad monsoon. John Deere Director of Sales and Marketing, Mr Ravi Menon, said that demand for tractors in India has been growing consistently, partly because of government initiatives to protect farmers. Exports, however, have suffered a setback because of the global economic downturn.
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Delhi auto-rikshaws may soon be replaced by small cars
Delhi's transport department is readying a plan to replace the city's auto-rikshaws with a safer vehicle, possibly a small car. Officials at the department say that while auto-rikshaws will continue to ply in residential colonies and congested areas, they will be not be allowed to run on arterial and radial roads. The transport minister has already held a series of meetings with auto drivers and small car manufacturers to finalise the plan.
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Hyundai workers decide not to go on strike after govt. initiates reconciliatory measures
Workers at Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) decided not to go on strike last week, after the Tamil Nadu labour department initiated reconciliatory measures. The main demand of the company's Employees Union is that the management reinstate the 60 workers whom it had suspended after a strike in July this year. Mr A Soundarajan, General Secretary of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in Tamil Nadu, said that the workers had received a reconciliatory letter from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Labour, and that a decision on the strike would be taken after a meeting with the management.
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World Bank Chief Robert Zoellick showers praise on Nano
The Tata Nano has won itself yet another admirer in the World Bank group president, Robert Zoellick. Zoellick encountered the mini car during his recent 4-day trip to India, and said that he was amazed at its frugal manufacturing. "It's a very well-engineered product and that's a sign of something", he said. With its low-end variant priced at $2,000, the Nano is the cheapest car in the world. Zoellick said that not many people in the auto industry would ever have imagined that such a car was a possibility.
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Daimler India to sell Mitsubishi Fuso trucks from 2010
Daimler AG announced last week that it was planning to launch Mitsubishi Fuso trucks in India by 2010. Germany-based Daimler already sells Mercedes-Benz's commercial vehicles in India. It owns an 85 per cent stake in Japan's Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, and will introduce the Fuso Canter in India in 2010, as part of its expansion plan in the country. According to media reports, Daimler is also in talks with two-wheeler companies Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors for a JV to sell commercial vehicles in the country.
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NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES - Auto News Roundup, 03-December-2009 - Auto News Roundup, 01-December-2009 |
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