03 Jan 2009;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW YORK: Oil prices ended higher on the first day of 2009 trading as investors focused on commodities amid tensions over Israel's onslaught on
Gaza, and a Russia-Ukraine gas row. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February, rose $1.74 from its closing price on Wednesday to end at $46.34 on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February advanced $1.32 to settle at $46.91 a barrel on the InterContinental Exchange.
Traders said prices were extremely volatile in a reflection of thin market turnover as many investors remained in a New Year holiday mood ahead of the weekend.
"The volatility is amazing," said independent analyst Ellis Eckland, noting that investors were refocusing on commodities after experiencing their "worst quarter."
"Some people are putting money into the commodities. Some institutions look and say, 'Wow, commodities have had the worst quarter they've ever had,'" Eckland said.
The market experienced a tumultuous 2008, soaring to record highs above $147 a barrel in July before a sharp global economic downturn slashed demand for energy and pulled prices sharply lower, dropping below $35 in December.
"Prices have performed so poorly that people believe it won't get much worse," said Adam Siemisnki of Deutsche Bank.
"So I would say a combination of the stock market, some news on OPEC compliance, the gas issue, and the troubles in Israel," he said, summing up the market volatility Friday.
02 Jan 2009:business-standard.com:New Delhi: Two-wheeler maker Yamaha today reported a nearly three-fold increase in its domestic sales during December last year at 16,000 units, compared to 5,524 units in the same month in 2007.
The company witnessed a growth of 13.32 per cent in 2008, at 1,36,468 units as against 1,20,428 units in the previous year, the company said in a statement.
"The year 2008 has been a turnaround year for Yamaha. We have made efforts to replicate Yamaha's global brand image by launching two new models — YZF-R15 and FZ16," Yamaha Motor (India) Managing Director CEO Yukimine Tsuji said.
These two models received good response from experts and helped the company to achieve higher sales as against last year, he added.
"We are aware that these are challenging times for the industry as the economy passes through a slowdown," Tsuji said, adding the company was confident to do well with its current range of products.
The losers
December sales for Hero Honda Motors, India’s biggest motorcycle maker, fell 10 per cent. Hero Honda sold 215,931 motorcycles and scooters last month, compared to 240,532 a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
Other two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto also reported 33 per cent decline in two-wheeler sales during December last year at 119,215 units against 177,249 units in the same month previous year. The company said its motorcycle sales also declined by 33 per cent at 118,510 units against 176,441 units in December 2007.
Three-wheeler sales during the month grew by three per cent at 22,948 units against 22,221 units in the same month of the previous year.
The sharp reduction in two-wheeler primary sales reflects the continuing effort to reduce dealer inventories, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said in a statement.
"In keeping with its objective to stimulate demand through a major product offensive, Bajaj will, in January 2009, launch an all-new motorcycle," he added.
The first of several models to be introduced in 2009, the new bike will target 'Sport Commuter' segment and is intended to further Bajaj's leadership in the 125 cc+ segment, he said.
For the April-December 2008 period, total motorcycle sales were down eight per cent at 1,534,149 units against 1,660,182 units in the corresponding period previous year.
02 Jan 2009;business-standard.com:New Delhi: Car makers Maruti Suzuki and GM India today reported a drop in sales in December, compared to the corresponding period last year.
The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, reported 9.95 per cent decline in sales during December last year at 56,293 units against 62,515 units in the same month of 2007.
The domestic sales stood at 52,029 units, compared to 58,401 units in the same month a year ago, down by 10.91 per cent, the company said in a statement.
General Motors India reported a 35.95 per cent decline in its domestic sales at 4,041 units in December last year, against 6,309 units in the same month in 2007.
The sales comprised 509 units of multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera, 867 units of sedan and hatchback Chevrolet Aveo and Aveo U-VA, 248 units of the luxury sedan Chevrolet Optra, 2,382 units of its small car Chevrolet Spark and 35 units of Chevrolet Captiva, the company said in a statement.
For Maruti, exports, however, grew by 3.65 per cent at 4,264 units against 4,114 units in the corresponding month the previous year.
Sales of its M800 dipped by 59.57 per cent at 2,907 units against 7,190 units in 2007.
The A2 segment (comprising A-Star, Alto, Zen Estilo, Swift and WagonR) sales stood at 36,831 units against 39,575 units a year ago, registering a decline of 6.93 per cent. The company, however, managed to post a robust growth of 98.24 per cent in the A3 segment (consisting of SX4, Swift DZire and Esteem) at 6,524 units against 3,291 units last year.
Continuing with southward trend, Maruti's total passenger car sales dipped by 11.15 per cent to 51,612 units in December 2008, against 58,090 units in the previous year.
For the last calendar year, GM India posted 9.44 per cent growth in sales at 65,702 units, compared with 60,032 units in 2007.
"Since the market has slowed down completely, we could not meet our target although we have registered a marginal growth this year," GM India Vice-President P Balendran said. The company expected the market to improve in the coming months because of the various measures taken by the government to stimulate the economy, he added.
01 January 2009:business-standard.com:New Delhi: As part of the voluntary labelling programme for vehicle mileage spearheaded by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest manufacturer of passenger vehicles, has for the first time revealed the fuel efficiency of all its 12 brands of cars, multi-utility vehicles (MUV) and sports utility vehicles (SUV) sold in the country.
While the popular selling Maruti 800 delivers 16.1 km to a litre, its 5th world strategic model A Star notches 19 km/ litre. While the Swift diesel achieves an impressive 21 km, the petrol variant runs for 16 kms. Similar mileage efficiency has been informally disclosed by Hyundai for its bestselling " i10" models that sport the new-age Kappa engine.
These mileage disclosures for the Maruti vehicles have been tested and certified by accredited automobile testing bodies in the country such as Automotive Research Association of India at Pune, Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) at Ahmednagar and International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT) located at Manesar.
From January 1, automobile majors in the country will voluntarily disclose mileage obtained from each of the new passenger vehicles they sell. "This is part of a broader initiative to educate customers on fuel conservation and its implications on the environment," says Dilip Chennoy, Director General, Siam. The mileage disclosures will have to be completed by March 31.
The fuel efficiency disclosures will first be limited to two-wheeler and passenger vehicle manufacturers. Commercial vehicles have been kept out of the pilot project for the time being. One industry executive said since the buyers of commercial vehicles, accounting for a small number, are versatile in determining the mileage of the buses and trucks they purchase. So this segment has been kept out of the project for the time being.
The aim of the labelling programme, according to an industry executive, is to ensure that the customer does not have to rely on word-of-mouth testimonials on the mileage of a particular brand of car or motorcycle he buys. Siam's fuel-efficiency labelling project also involves training vehicle owners in driving techniques to achieve greater fuel efficiency.
01 January 2009:business-standard.com:Shishir Prashant:Dehra Dun: People in the hilly town of Gopeshwar in Chamoli district were recently surprised to see the Nano, Tata Motors’ controversial Rs 1 lakh car, parked on a roadside.
The Nano had travelled all the way from Pantnagar, crossing the tough, serpentine roads of Uttarakhand, to reach picturesque Gopeshwar nestling in the Garhwal Himalayan region.
This was one of the Nano’s toughest tests, being conducted by engineers of Tata Motors in the rugged Himalayan region.
Significantly, the mileage of the small car is being projected at 17-20 km per litre in the hills.
“We have conducted the test drive of Nano in the hills of Uttarakhand and Pune. Initial reports are very encouraging,” an official of the Tata Motors plant at Pantnagar told Business Standard.
Now after a series of test drives, the car is set to be launched in the first quarter of the next financial year, the official said. The exact date of the launch of Nano would, however, be decided by Chairman Ratan Tata, the official added.
The company has already given a commitment to Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri that it would roll out the first Nano from the state.
For expansion, the company has been allotted 45 acres of extra land at Pantnagar by the state government. A decision in this regard was taken by a high-powered committee headed by Khanduri, which met here on December 22.
Tata Motors is currently manufacturing Ace trucks at the Pantnagar facility. The commercial launch of the car has already been postponed by at least two to three months, after it was forced to relocate from West Bengal following political protests there.
Although, the mother unit of the car will be set up in Gujarat, where the company has recently been allotted 1,100 acres, the firm is also planning to set up a permanent manufacturing facility for Nano at Pantnagar.
In addition to 45 acres, the chief minister has also assured company officials that their other demands would also be considered.
The state government has been trying to lure Tata Motors to set up a permanent plant for the Nano at Pantnagar, stating that the company must benefits from the incentives available in the state in the wake of the Special Industrial Package, 2003, which offers a range of tax incentives.
01 January 2009:economictimes.indiatimes.com:MOSCOW: Russia said it would cut off gas supplies to its pro-Western neighbour Ukraine on Thursday after a talks aimed at ending a standoff that
could disrupt European supplies collapsed without result. Russian energy giant Gazprom said the deliveries would halt at 0700 GMT on Thursday after talks in Moscow on a new contract for 2009 failed to reach an agreement amid differences over new prices and Ukraine's debts.
"From 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on January 1, 2009, Gazprom will fully, 100 percent, stop deliveries of gas to Ukraine," Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said. "All responsibility lies with the Ukrainian side," told reporters after the talks with officials from Ukrainian gas firm Naftogaz.
"We have the impression that in Ukraine there are political forces that are very interested in there being a gas conflct between the two countries," said Miller. "Given the absence of a signed contract Gazprom has no judicial basis to deliver gas across its border."
Naftogaz spokesman Valentin Zemlyansky confirmed that the negotiations were over. "The delegation is coming back to Kiev this evening," he said.
In a dramatic move ahead of a midnight deadline, Gazprom earlier produced a letter which it said contained a warning from Naftogaz that Kiev could disrupt the transit of Russian gas being delivered to Europe.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said any violation of supplies of Russian gas to Europe would constitute "a completely different matter with very severe consequences for the transit country."
"Not only in its relations with Russia, as the exporter, but also with consumers in EU countries," he added in a televised meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev.
He also ridiculed Ukraine's leaders, who are seeking EU and NATO membership, for their "inter-clan fighting". The economy there was in a "pre-default situation," Putin added.
Miller, for his part, insisted that Gazprom would continue deliveries to consumers in Europe. The Naftogaz spokesman said it would "of course" assure the security of transit to Europe.
EU countries are heavily reliant on Russia for their natural gas supplies, around one quarter comes from Russia, which possesses the world's largest known reserves. A similar dispute in early 2006 affected gas supplies to Europe.
The authenticity of the letter alleged by Gazprom to have been sent by Naftogaz could not be independently verified. Ukraine's political leaders and Naftogaz officials have made no such threat in public.
They did not however deny Wednesday the contents of the Naftogaz letter. Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said earlier the threat to cut supplies to Europe "cannot be called anything but blackmail."
The announcement of the cut were the latest twists in a saga of dizzying complexity, which only Wednesday morning appeared to be heading towards a peaceful resolution after Ukraine partially paid off its debts.
Putin added that Russia had also offered Kiev a price for gas next year, 250 dollars (179 euros) per 1,000 cubic metres, below European prices on account of the economic crisis in Ukraine.
But the office of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed the offer as "unacceptable," as long as the charges for the transit of Russian gas across Ukraine were not lifted. "To the offer by Russia of discounted conditions for the supply of gas to Ukraine for 2009 we got a negative answer," said Miller.
Analysts say the situation differs from a New Year gas conflict between Ukraine and Russia two years ago that briefly disrupted supplies to the European Union, as both Ukraine and the EU have large gas reserves in store.
But a European Commission spokeswoman confirmed that EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs had been in talks with both sides "encouraging them to find a negotiated solution."
Gazprom says Ukraine owes 1.6 billion dollars for gas it imported in November and December. Ukraine never disputed those arrears, yet late Tuesday transferred just 1.5 billion to an account for payment to Gazprom.
Naftogaz did not explain the 100 million-dollar shortfall. Gazprom has also demanded payment of 450 million dollars in penalties for late payment of the November-December shipments.
"The debt for earlier deliveries wasn't settled. Despite oral statements from Kiev, Gazprom hasn't seen the money in its accounts," said Miller.
