10 August 2011;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: Passenger car exports from India have grown 40.83 per cent in July this year due to increase in demand from non-European nations in recent months, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said. Car makers sold 48,091 units in overseas markets last month compared to 34,149 units in the corresponding period last year. Hyundai Motor India despatched 24,025 units during last month, up 11.23 per cent. Maruti Suzuki India’s sales in the overseas markets, however, declined by 17.50 per cent to 8,741 units. Ford’s exports soared by over four-fold to 3,202 units on account of selling its small car Figo in various new markets. SIAM said total two-wheeler exports also witnessed robust growth of 29.42 per cent at 1,75,970 units in July as against 1,35,973 units in the year-ago period. Motorcycle exports during the month also went up by 27.97 per cent to 1,66,546 units from 1,30,148 units in the same period last year, it added. Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto sold 1,15,769 motorcycles in the overseas markets in July 2011, up 32.09 per cent. Exports of TVS Motor increased by 28.64 per cent at 22,079 units. However, Hero MotoCorp (formerly Hero Honda) saw its bike exports falling by 15.85 per cent, down at 9,952 units.
10 August 2011;deccanherald.com:Bangalore: The Chevrolet Beat diesel, the company claims is India’s most fuel efficient car with a mileage of 24 km. It is fitted with fuel efficient CRDi (common rail direct injection) one litre XSDE SMARTECH engine developed specifically for India by GM Technical Centre in Bangalore in collaboration with GM Power-train Europe. “We are confident that with its best-in-segment design, performance, unparalleled fuel efficiency and safety, Beat diesel will set a new industry benchmark and be a winner with local car buyers,” Slym said. Though Beat diesel externally looks the same as Beat with petrol engine, the real change is under bonnet where the company has fitted a three cylinders, 936 cc DOHC engine that features state-of-the-art CRDi technology for outstanding emission performance and fuel economy. Slym said the engine’s Fixed Geometry Turbocharger (FGT) with vacuum operated wastegate ensures efficient operation. The engine’s Advanced Insta-Torque Boost (AIB), provides added torque when overtaking. Maximum power of diesel Beat is 58.5ps @4000 rpm and maximum torque is 150Nm@1750 rpm. The car will be available in four variants and ex-showroom price will start at Rs 4.35 lakh rising to Rs 5.53 lakh for fully loaded version. GM India Vice President P Balendran, said “we are confident that Beat Diesel will prove to be a game changer for its segment.”
Oil PSUs stop ATF supply to AI, resume after hectic parleys
10 August 2011;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: State-owned oil firms today stopped jet fuel supplies to cash-strapped Air India for non- payment of dues but resumed it immediately thereafter, as officials of the Civil Aviation and Petroleum ministries put their heads together to resolve the issue. Flight operations of the ailing national carrier were not affected as the oil companies stopped supplies from 1600 hours at some stations including major ones like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, but resumed within an hour. "Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have from 1600 hours stopped aviation turbine fuel (or jet fuel) supplies to AI," a senior industry official said. Soon thereafter, another official said the matter has been resolved and jet fuel supplies restored after hectic parleys between officials of the two Ministries and Air India. Air India was put on cash-and-carry mode of debit from December last year on account of non-payment of Rs 2,200 crore dues to the three state-run oil companies. Under cash-and- carry, supplies are made only when cash is paid. The oil companies are understood to have been informed that the airline would be paying its daily dues from tomorrow. Severe cash crunch has led Air India to previously default on payments, affecting its flight schedules. The officials said that the oil companies had together decided to curtail supplies by 20 units, which would have hit flights from the major metros. Air India officials heaved a sigh of relief after the supplies were restored within an hour. However, oil industry officials maintained that the issue of non-payment of dues was "still not resolved". They said cheques issued by Air India for its daily purchases, which total to about Rs 16.5 crore, bounced, prompting the oil firms to take such action. Air India's cheque of Rs 3.4 crore to Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Rs 2.7 crore to Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) had bounced. AI also defaulted on payment of about Rs 10 crore to Indian Oil Corporation, they said. Air India has to pay Rs. 16.5 crore to oil companies daily as per the agreement between the companies and the national carrier. It gets around 225 kilo litre of aviation turbine fuel daily to meet its requirements. In June, the oil firms had been directed by the government to meet the carrier's requirements for three months to allow it to carry out its daily operations after Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi met Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy to sort out the issue. Due to the fuel-supply restrictions, the airline was then being forced to combine and even curtail between 10 and 15 per cent of its flights on a daily basis. It runs an average of 320 flights daily. Air India was awaiting release of funds sanctioned by the government as well as some banks, sources said.
Domestic car sales down 15.76 pc, bikes 10.51 pc up in July
10 August 2011;economictimes.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Domestic passenger car sales declined by 15.76 per cent to 1,33,747 units in July, 2011, from 1,58,767 units in the same month last year. According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, motorcycle sales in the country grew by 10.51 per cent during the month to 7,85,278 units from 7,10,621 units in the corresponding month last year. Total two-wheeler sales increased by 12.61 per cent to 10,56,906 units last month from 9,38,514 units in July, 2010. Sales of commercial vehicles jumped by 23.70 per cent to 64,241 units in the month under review from 51,934 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 8.99 per cent to 13,48,753 units in July, as against 12,37,521 units in the same month last year, it added.
10 August 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:Pankaj Doval:LONDON: Fresh from its split from its erstwhile Japanese partner Honda, the Indian two-wheeler major Hero - now known as Hero MotorCorp went in for a high-pitched blitzkreig on Tuesday to kickstart its solo journey. It lined up bollywood stars and western performers like Akon at London's O2 arena to unveil its new branding and future planning. "One world, One Hero" became the new campaign for the company which moved past its earlier slogan of 'desh ki dhadhkan'. "Let us unveil the new Hero... and lead the transition of the company into a global brand over the next few years," MD Pawan Munjal said while addressing the company's 1200-odd dealers as well as component suppliers. Trying to dispel the apprehensions that the brand would suffer after the split from Honda, Munjal said Hero was now on an expansion mode and planned to invest over Rs 4500 crore. On the card are two new bike plants - one in south India and the other in west - apart from a parts factory in Rajasthan. Also, the company will focus on alliances for technology, something it desperately needs after the split from Honda. Munjal said the company will tie-up with European firms to design and develop futuristic platforms. Also, it has already tied up with a Japanese firm to build new products. Apart from the entire Hero group clan led by patriarch BM Munjal, a host of celebrities - tennis legend Boris Becker, former British F1 driver David Coulthard and bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor- attended the brand function.
Maruti engineers to develop new 800cc vehicle in India
10 August 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki is aggressively working on an all-new car, as Maruti's engineers embark on an independent full-model change capability, something not attempted before, managing executive officer (engineering) IV Rao said. Rao, who declined to speak about the pricing of the new vehicle, said the idea was to develop a car that would co-exist with the Alto, the country's largest-selling car with monthly volumes averaging over 30,000 units. He shot down suggestions that the new car would be a renewed version, or fresh attempt, to revive the M800 model that has already made its way out of 13 top metros (due to stricter emission norms) and will be phased out gradually from the rest of the country in the coming years. "This will be an all-new car, though based on an existing platform. The idea is to do it in-house at Maruti, with minimal support from our Japanese parent, Suzuki," Rao said. Maruti engineers have done facelifts on some of the existing models previously while also assisting Suzuki during the development of some global models such as the Swift and the A-Star. The car will be meant primarily for the Indian market, he said, adding that the idea behind the model was to "constantly introduce new models while also developing the company's R&D capability to develop, design and engineer a model on its own." Also, the company wants to fill the gap created by the phase-out of the M800. "It will be no less than a milestone for us," Rao said. "It may co-exist with the Alto and we want to have a two-model strategy at the entry-end of the market, like we have on the upper segments where we have a multi-model approach with cars like Ritz, Swift and WagonR pitched around the same price bracket," sources said. "This will be an all-new car, though based on an existing platform. The idea is to do it in-house at Maruti, with minimal support from our Japanese parent, Suzuki," I V Rao, managing executive officer, said.
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