Volkswagen to increase market share to 20% by 2018
27 Oct 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:CHANDIGARH: Volkswagen is eyeing to capture 20 per cent share of the Indian automobile market by 2018, rolling out five million cars, a company official said Wednesday. "Our current market share in India is 2.6 per cent and we are looking up to increase it to at least 20 per cent by 2018. According to our company estimations we have plans to roll out five million cars in India by 2018," said Dietmar Hildebrandt , director (group service), National Sales Corporation, Volkswagen India Private Limited , here. Dietmar was here to sign a memorandum of understanding with a Punjab-based educational group. "We are very serious about Indian market and so far the response from here is quite encouraging. We have many more plans that we will execute in the coming years. We are intending to produce those variants and models that our Indian customers are looking for. Punjab is also a very good market for high-end cars for us," said Dietmar. About the sales of the newly launched Polo car, Dietmar said: "I am not very sure about the exact figures but on the basis of recent reports over 15,000 polo cars were sold." He said the company wants to establish a strong dealer-network. "Currently we have 150 dealerships across the country. In the next eight years, we have plans to increase this number to 1,000. Our business in India is growing at good pace and we will hire around 3000 more technicians in our plants in the next five years." Volkswagen India, headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, is represented by three brands in India: Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.
27 Oct 2010;deccanherald.com:New York: Ford Motor Company said it has reported a 69 per cent jump in third quarter net income to $1.68 billion driven growth in North American operations. The entity had a net income of $997 million in July-September quarter of 2009, Ford said. Ford attributed its robust quarter numbers to better products, momentum in North America. The firm has reported a revenue of US$29 billion in the third quarter of 2010, a decline of US$1.3 billion from the year-earlier.
'Freeing diesel prices now will push up inflation'
27 Oct 2010;hindustantimes.com:New Delhi: The government is not considering freeing diesel prices yet, as the move will lead to rise in retail prices that will push up the already high inflation rate, Oil Secretary S Sundareshan said today. "Diesel price deregulation will mean an increase in prices, which is not fair (under present circumstances)," he said at the Economic Editors Conference here. The Government had, on June 25, freed petrol price from its control resulting in a hike of Rs 3.50 per litre. Rates have subsequently been raised twice by almost a rupee, in step with rise in international rates. Petrol currently costs Rs 52.55 a litre in Delhi. Diesel prices were raised by Rs 2 per litre on June 25, and it was stated then that they will be gradually freed. A move to deregulate the rates now would mean a further increase in the price of the fuel by Rs 2.87 a litre. Diesel currently costs Rs 37.71 a litre in Delhi. "The June decision was taken when crude oil price was at $73-74 a barrel. Sine then it has risen to $82-83 a barrel and it will be unfair to think that diesel price will be market determined at these levels," Sundareshan said. Diesel price deregulation is "not possible with the current prices ... diesel deregulation at this juncture will lead to price increase and it is unreasonable to expect it at this juncture," he said. In June, the government had also raised domestic LPG price by Rs 35 per 14.2-kg cylinder and kerosene rates by Rs 3 per litre. Despite these hikes, state fuel retailers lose Rs 16 on sale of every litre of kerosene, and Rs 188 per LPG cylinder. Sundareshan said IOC, BPCL and HPCL lost Rs 31,367 crore in revenues during the April-September quarter on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. This includes Rs 2,227 crore oil firms lost on selling petrol below cost till June 25. Of this revenue loss, upstream oil firms, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), GAIL India and Oil India will chip in Rs 10,456 crore and about Rs 10,000 crore would come from the government by way of cash compensation.
26 Oct 2010;business-standard.com:New Delhi: The government on Monday fixed Coal India’s (CIL’s) initial public offer (IPO) price at Rs 245 per share, the upper end of the range. The government will fetch Rs 15,100 crore by selling 631.6 million shares, or 10 per cent stake, at Rs 245 per share. It will offer retail investors a discount of five per cent. “The issue price has been fixed at Rs 245 per share. The government will raise over Rs 15,000 crore,” Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said after a meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. “It was a grand success,” Jaiswal added. Besides Jaiswal and Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Sigh Ahluwalia were also present at the EGoM. The company is expected to list on stock exchanges on November 4, a day before Diwali. CIL’s IPO, which closed on October 21, was subscribed 15.17 times, and mopped up Rs 2.35 lakh crore. Marketmen said the stock would open at a fairly good premium. “CIL deserves to trade at a premium to global coal peers, given much lower volatility in earnings and a large headroom to raise prices in a supply-deficit environment,” brokerage house CLSA said. CIL is one of the largest companies in the world, based on coal reserves of 64,786 million tonnes in April. “Going by the significant asset size, the quality and the life of the reserves and the dominance in domestic market, we believe CIL has very good prospects in the long term,” Elara Securities analyst Ravindra Deshpande said. Analysts said the huge response to the issue would boost the government’s disinvestment plans and speed up the upcoming stake-sale projects.
26 Oct 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:YOKOHAMA: Nissan is playing catchup with Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda in introducing its own hybrid car, the luxury Infiniti M, which delivers double the mileage of the gasoline-engine version. Nissan Motor Co. showed the new gas-electric hybrid, called Fuga in Japan, Tuesday at its headquarters in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. The hybrid goes on sale in Japan Nov. 2, starting at nearly 5.8 million yen ($72,000) _ more expensive than the regular gasoline version which starts at about 4.3 million yen ($53,000). It is planned for sale in the US early next year and also for Europe, although that date was not disclosed. Nissan is targeting sales of 200 vehicles a month in Japan. Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said sales will likely be bigger than 200 in the US, where the Infiniti is popular, but did not give a number or price tag. Mileage is estimated at 19 kilometers a liter (45 miles per gallon) under Japanese test-driving conditions, about double the comparable gas-engine vehicle. Mileage for the US is still undecided, according to Nissan. The car boasts the same stylish design, fancy interior and expensive sound system that are the trademark of the Infiniti luxury brand. But as a hybrid, it switches between a gasoline engine and an electric motor to deliver a more efficient drive, reducing emissions and boosting mileage. ``This premium car delivers both the highest quality mileage and the highest quality drive,'' Shiga told reporters. The Nissan hybrid is packed with a lithium-ion battery, a kind that is more commonly found in gadgets like laptops. Nissan works with Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. on the batteries. Toyota Motor Corp.'s popular Prius hybrid uses nickel metal hydride batteries, although all automakers are experimenting with lithium-ion. Nissan has not had a mass-produced hybrid in its lineup, except for the hybrid Altima sedan, sold only in the US, but that used Toyota's hybrid system. Shiga said Nissan is working on other hybrid models, including smaller models, but declined to give details. The arrival of the hybrid highlights how Nissan is trying to catch up with Toyota, a world leader in the technology, offering hybrid versions of its luxury Lexus models, as well as Honda Motor Co., which offers the Insight, Fit and CR-Z hybrids in its lineup. In recent years, Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has stressed Nissan's priority is in zero-emissions, embodied in the Leaf electric vehicle, set for delivery in December. But he has also acknowledged that Nissan could not focus on some new technology when it was still struggling financially in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was more intent on turning its business around. Shiga brushed off reporters' questions about Nissan's foray into hybrids, and said the new car reflects continuous efforts to develop various green technologies and answer different customer needs. ``We hope the number of Nissan fans will grow around the world,'' he said.
26 Oct 2010;dailypioneer.com:Sanghita Roychoudhury:Mumbai: CMD of HPCL S Roychowdhury has confirmed that there is no major supply problem of LPG in western region. The press meet was called in view of the reports about shortage of LPG cylinders supply in some markets of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. A detailed review of the production at the industry supply sources indicated that though there was a minor shortfall in production at some of the refineries, the same is being compensated by Oil industry by arranging additional imports in Mumbai and Gujarat. Also the oil industry has taken steps to operate all the bottling plants on holidays and Sundays as well as extended hours during normal days to ensure availability of cylinders to the customers during the current financial year and enrolled approximately 7 lakh customers in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Nearly 3 lakh DBC s have been released by OMC during the current year. Roychowdhury has also confirmed that LPG growth is 10 per cent in this financial year which is an all time high. By 2015, the vision is to connect 75 per cent of our population through LPG network . The present backlog is only due to some temporary hurdles and OMCs operating in Maharashtra and MP are making efforts to ensure availability of LPG to domestic customers.
Petrolstop is a division of Car Fuel Info Solutions, LLC Petrolstop.com is a registered trademark owned by Car Fuel info Solutions, LLC Website Design by Onazari Technical Solutions
