05 June 2009;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:MUMBAI: There is no slowdown in India for Audi, the German luxury car-maker. After tripling the number of cars it sold within two years of its entry into the country, and setting up a car assembly plant in Auranagabad, Maharashtra, the company is now on course to start rolling out Q5, its global best-selling compact SUV model from the same plant. On Thursday, the German car maker launched Q5 in India, which, for the time being, will be imported. The petrol version is priced at Rs 38.3 lakh, while the diesel version is priced at Rs 44.2 lakh. Currently, A4 and A6 models are assembled at Audi's India plant. From next year its Q5 compact SUV model will join the two luxury sedans, a top company official said. As of now, Audi imports the two models in completely knocked-down (CKD) units and assembles at its Aurangabad facility, its second facility outside of Europe. Speaking to TOI, Benoit Tiers, MD, Audi India, said that the company expects to sell 1,500 units in 2009, up from 1,050 last year. "We are already ahead of our targets,'' Tiers said. The company is also in negotiations with a number of auto ancillary manufacturers and going forward it might try to procure some of the parts from Indian suppliers. "As of now no parts (of Audi cars assembled in India) are localised,'' Tiers said.
Fuel economy standards for cars get PMO green signal
03 June 2009;economictimes.indiatimes.com:Nitin Sethi:NEW DELHI: The government has finally decided to implement auto fuel economy standards. After a year of wrangling between the heavy industries , surface transport and power ministries, the PMO has decided that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) will formulate the norms and notify them under the Energy Conservation Act while the surface transport ministry will ensure its implementation. The norms will be developed on the basis of mileage that petrol and diesel vehicles give, sources in the road transport and highway ministry told TOI. With the top office in the government deciding a compromise, BEE is now expected to move fast to implement labelling of vehicles in the first phase which will then be converted into mandatory standards, pushing up the mileage of cars over years just as is done in the case of appliances for energy efficiency. But despite the top office trying to settle the debate, bickering continues at the ministerial level. Despite clear directions from PMO that BEE, under the power ministry, would formulate and notify the standards , the road transport ministry held a meeting of its emissions committee to discuss the issue again. In the meeting, sources told TOI, while the ministry talked of the implementation part, some representatives of the auto sector continued to harp on the use of carbon dioxide as the basis of deciding the norms and demanded that it be legally put on the list of ‘local pollutants’ . Climate experts in the government have previously warned that besides turning the norms too obscure for consumers to understand, using carbon dioxide as a measure would also jeopardise India’s stand at international climate meet.
03 June 2009;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:Pankaj Doval: NEW DELHI: It may have entered bankruptcy protection in the US, but General Motors still has ambitious plans for India. The auto major is planning to develop a small car which will be its cheapest globally, at a possible price tag of under Rs 2 lakh. Nick Reilly, GM Group V-P, told TOI that the company was looking at developing a car from India that would be positioned below the ‘Spark' mini car. "I would say we are studying that... and (we) do think there is an opportunity for something below the current mini car offering Spark," Reilly said in a conference call from Shanghai. However, it would "not be a Tata Nano equivalent", he added. While there is no independent confirmation, it is believed that the company is targeting a price tag below Rs 2 lakh for this car and apart from India, it could well be positioned in similar foreign markets like Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and even possibly China. Asked whether India would be the lead market for the R&D of the new car, he said "Yes, it is". Karl Slym, President of GM's Indian subsidiary, confirmed that any new car positioned below the Spark (costing Rs 2.66 lakh ex-showroom) would be the cheapest car for GM globally. "It (Spark) is currently the cheapest car for us globally," he said. As it works its way out of bankruptcy in the US, GM has reiterated that markets like India and China would be key to its revival, especially when numbers remain depressed in home market US. Reilly also said small cars would be the key to growth in the future and GM would focus more on their development. Significantly, he said India can be a "very important source" for catering to small car demand from markets across the world, especially as it is primarily a mini car market itself. While components can be procured at "good value" and cheaply, GM's own upcoming engine plant could make the price attractive to serve other markets. "Therefore, a global growth in demand for small cars will give India an opportunity," Reilly said. The company plans to increase local content on its India-made cars to make them more competitive on the price front. Reilly added that news of the parent going bankrupt had impacted GM's sales in India while also making it difficult to raise money from financial institutions to fund its expansion plans. "We have seen some decline (in sales) in the Indian market in the last few months, obviously the market is weak. But mainly, I think, it was because of customers' response due to the widespread coverage on what was happening in the US."
02 June 2009;economictimes.indiatimes.com:SINGAPORE: Oil prices lingered above $68 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after doubling since March on investor expectations that a massive global fiscal stimulus could spark an economic recovery and inflation. Benchmark crude for July delivery was down 25 cents to $68.33 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract rose $2.27 to settle at $68.58. Investors have been buying commodities, traditionally seen as a hedge against inflation, on worries that this year's huge fiscal and monetary easing around the world could eventually send prices soaring. ``There's a lot of concern about inflation, even talk about hyper-inflation down the road,'' said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sale trading for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. ``Oil right now is a freight train barreling upward.'' Traders have also been investing in oil on signs the worst of a severe recession in the U.S. is over, and that growth may be picking up in China. ``It looks like the market expects the turnaround is just around the corner,'' Moltke-Leth said. ``But the economy is still deteriorating, just less than before.'' Investors will be watching for the weekly petroleum inventory data from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration on Wednesday for signs crude demand may be growing. Analysts expect a fall of 2 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Stocks dropped last week for a third straight week after rising for the previous 10 weeks. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for June delivery was steady at $1.92 a gallon and heating oil fell 1.15 cents to $1.77 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery slid 6.5 cents to $4.18 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent prices was down 6 cents to $67.91 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
02 June 2009;business-standard.com:New Delhi: State-run oil firms Indian Oil (IOC), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) are no longer making profit on diesel sales and for the first time in six months they are losing money on the sale of all auto and cooking fuels due to rising international oil rates. The firms were till last month selling diesel at a profit of 32 paise a litre, which helped them partly neutralise the losses on the sale of petrol, domestic LPG and kerosene. But from today, IOC, BPCL and HPCL are at breakeven on diesel while they lose Rs 3.68 a litre on petrol, Rs 69.49 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder and Rs 12.65 on every litre of kerosene, industry sources said. If auto prices are deregulated, as is being speculated, petrol prices will rise by Rs 3.68 a litre. Since November, the three had been making profit on the sale of diesel — the margin being as high as Rs 6.19 a litre in the first fortnight of March. On petrol, they made profit till the second fortnight of March and losses thereafter. However, the rising global crude oil prices, which touched $68 a barrel last week, have eroded the margins and the three firms are now losing Rs 72 crore per day on fuel sales, sources said. For the 2009-10 fiscal, the three firms, which calculate desired retail end prices on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average of previous fortnight, are estimated to lose Rs 22,650 crore on fuel sales. Sources said IOC, BPCL and HPCL are currently losing about Rs 15 crore per day on sale of petrol, Rs 48 crore on kerosene and Rs 11 crore on domestic LPG. Till yesterday, the three firms were making a profit of 32 paise a litre on diesel. They, however, lost Rs 1.99 per litre on petrol, Rs 12.27 a litre on diesel and Rs 91.51 per domestic LPG cylinder. IOC, BPCL and HPCL take fortnightly averages of international oil rates to arrive at the desired retail prices of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene on the 1st and 16th of every month. With the global economic meltdown leading to a sharp drop in international crude oil prices from September, state-run fuel retailing companies have been making neat profits on petrol and diesel. In the second fortnight of December, the oil firms made Rs 11.48 a litre profit on petrol sales. Crude prices, which had dropped to below $40 a barrel from Rs 147 per barrel in July 2008, have since risen to $68 per barrel, a seven-month high.
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