Auto companies may go on expansion drive in Uttarakhand
Thursday, 06 May 2010
06 May 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:DEHRA DUN: Auto companies in the state are likely to go on an expansion drive buoyed by better-than anticipated sales over the past few quarters. Tata Motors, Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, which have set up their manufacturing units here, are in talks with the state government in this regard, industry sources said. The government, on its part, is collecting information on free land that could be given to companies that want to expand. "We have got information that most of the auto companies are expanding their units in the state," said Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who is keen to develop the state into a hub for automobiles manufacturing. Several large companies, including Tatas, Hero Honda and Ashok Leyland, have set up units in the state drawn by its investor-friendly investment policy that offered excise exemptions. Though the excise waiver came to an end in March this year, certain other benefits like income tax rebate and capital subsidy continue to make the state a lucrative destination for investors, officials said.
Focus on 30km/l mileage, low cost of ownership for ULC, says Bajaj
Thursday, 06 May 2010
06 May 2010;dailypioneer.com:Rakesh Bihari Jha:New Delhi: Bajaj Auto, which is developing ultra low cost car (ULC) with Renault-Nissan, said on Wednesday that USP of the car would be its mileage of 30 km per litre and low cost of ownership. “The price of the car is secondary. We have been focussing to develop a car, where monthly cost of ownership is low enough to motivate two- wheeler buyers to upgrade into a car. Our aim is to deliver a mileage of 30 km per litre,” said Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj. He went on to add that his experience with motorcycles was that unless there was 50 per cent increase in mileage, it is not considered good by customers. “Our intention is to do a path-breaking job with that kind of fuel economy,” Bajaj added. He also said that aim of the company is to deliver an eco-friendly product that could have the least carbon dioxide emission and replicate what it has been able to achieve in motorcycles. Automobile contributes about 7 per cent of the total pollution of the world. “Though the greenest of car in India emit 1.20 grams of Co2 per km, our effort will be to reduce that down to double digit,” said Bajaj. “Indian motorcycles, be it those made by Hero Honda, TVS or Bajaj, they are the greenest in the world. I think the excellent technology that we have in two-wheelers should be brought to four-wheelers,” he added. Bajaj said the company has harmonised the plans to develop a light commercial vehicle with the development of ULC, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2012. The company on Wednesday launched two new variants of its RE range of three-wheelers — RE205D and RE205M, in both CNG and LPG mode of fuel.
06 May 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday agreed to give an additional Rs 14,000 crore to oil retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and HPCL to make up for most of the losses they incurred on selling cooking fuel below cost. The three retailers lost Rs 31,621 crore on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost in 2009-10 fiscal. Of this, the finance ministry had previously released Rs 12,000 crore in cash and they agreed to give an additional Rs 14,000 crore. "We had sought Rs 19,620 crore in compensation but they (finance ministry) has agreed to give Rs 14,000 crore," oil minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday. Oil secretary S Sundareshan met expenditure secretary Sushma Nath on Wednesday morning seeking Rs 19,620.9 crore to fully compensate oil marketing companies' revenue loss on PDS kerosene and domestic LPG in 2009-10. The three firms lost Rs 46,051 crore on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene below imported cost in 2009-10. He told Nath that upstream firms Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd are meeting the entire Rs 14,430 crore loss on petrol and diesel. Sources said upstream firms, which are meeting 32% of the total revenue loss, cannot contribute anything beyond this. The ministry reminded of the finance ministry's commitment to meet the entire deficit on LPG and kerosene. Deora said the finance ministry giving Rs 14,000 crore would help retailers but did not say how the balance Rs 5,621 crore may be met. "Upstream firms have done all they could and we cannot ask them to foot an additional Rs 5,621 crore," a ministry official said. "Perhaps this may have to be borne largely by the retailers with upstream firms chipping in some." Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum currently lose Rs 272.5 crore per day on selling fuel below cost and may end the current fiscal with a Rs 90,150 crore revenue loss. They currently sell petrol at a loss of Rs 6.6 a litre while the loss is Rs 6.2 per litre on diesel, Rs 19.7 per litre on PDS kerosene and Rs 254.3 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder. An EGoM headed by FM Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet next week to look freeing auto fuel prices and ways of meeting the balance revenue loss. Besides Mukherjee and Deora, the group also comprises agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, railways minister Mamata Banerjee, fertiliser minister M K Alagiri, road transport minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
04 May 2010;business-standard.com:Swaraj Baggonkar:German car maker Volkswagen (VW) is looking to dislodge Honda’s dominance in the premium mid-size segment in India, with the launch of a new executive sedan in the second half of this year. To be known as Vento, it is targeted primarily at the Honda City, which has been the segment’s best-seller since its launch in September 2008, clocking average sales of around 4,000 units monthly. The new sedan is built on the same platform as the Polo, a premium hatchback launched by VW in February. The company will play the same strategy for the Vento as it has for the Polo, by positioning it in the premium category, in line with VW’s higher brand value in the country. Pricing of the sedan is being kept under wraps by the company. However, industry sources say the Vento will be priced at Rs 9-10 lakh. Prices of the Honda City start at Rs 8.59 lakh for the base variant, with the fully loaded automatic variant costing Rs 11.04 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai). “Volkswagen has clearly targeted the City segment as there is least competition there, with the Honda car managing to gain the maximum from this void. The drive, handling, interiors and exteriors of the Vento have been developed keeping in mind the City,” said the source. The area where the VW sedan is expected to score over the Japanese counterpart is the diesel engine option to be offered on the Vento. Honda does not offer a diesel option on any of its cars. The Vento will be available in both diesel and petrol models, with the Polo’s 1.6-litre petrol engine due to be seen in the sedan, too. Neeraj Garg, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India, said: “The way we were competitive when we launched the hatchback (Polo), similarly, we will be competitive in terms of value proposition and impact segment with the sedan. We are a premium brand with premium products and do not intend to be in the price-sensitive segment.” This sedan from the German company, now among the top three car producing companies in the world, will be produced at VW’s new factory at Chakan, near Pune. This plant currently makes the Polo and Skoda’s Fabia. While the Polo, with its limited localisation capabilities is available at Rs 4.45 lakh (higher than Maruti Swift and Ritz), the Vento, too, will be handicapped for similar reasons, as the engine and transmission, generally 35-40 per cent of a car’s cost, will have to be imported. Honda Siel (HSCI), meanwhile, does not have anything planned for the City sedan this year in terms of refurbishments, as the company had added a new trim level to it just last year. HSCI had launched the 1.5V (in manual and automatic transmission). This new version got five-spoke alloy wheels, front fog lamps and beige fabric seats, among other features. Other cars in the premium mid-size category include the Mitsubishi Lancer and Cedia, Chevrolet Optra Magnum and the Toyota Corolla Altis
04 May 2010;deccanchronicle.com:Singapore: Oil prices extended gains above $86 a barrel on Monday as traders eyed whether a massive crude spill in the Gulf of Mexico would slow imports to the US. By early afternoon in Europe, the benchmark crude for June delivery was up 32 cents to $86.5 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 98 cents to settle at $86.15 on Friday. Some analysts expect the 30-mile (48-kilometer) oil slick caused by as much as 210,000 gallons (795,000 litres) of crude gushing into the Gulf each day could undermine imports to key Louisiana terminals, helping to lower crude inventories and boost prices. The US authorities have said imports have not yet been affected. “The potential disruption of oil tanker traffic in the Gulf of Mexico is already having an impact on oil prices.” Goldman Sachs said in a report. “Traffic of oil service boats and oil tankers through the Gulf will likely be slowed.” Oil is near an 18-month high of $87, last touched in early April. Investors are also mulling a recent jump of the US crude supplies, a sign demand hasn't rebounded along with the overall economic recovery. “The past two weeks have brought weak the US oil inventory data that puts into question the much stronger macroeconomic data,” Goldman said. It also expects prices to touch $94.50 a barrel in three months and to $99 a year from now. Oil prices rose on Monday despite a stronger dollar — which makes oil costlier for investors in other currencies — and weaker in the equity markets, factors which usually tend to push crude lower. “Due to the market’s selective perception of events, factors supporting prices are drawing more attention than adverse news for prices, especially as the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is providing further support,” said a report from Commerzbank.
04 May 2010;deccanchronicle.com:New Delhi: Around 95 lakh people are set to lose their multiple LPG connections. This follows a parliamentary panel’s directive to oil marketing firms to implement new LPG rules stringently to reduce the waiting list for new connections. According to a last year’s amendment in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Order, a single household can have only one LPG connection. Ear-lier, it was allowed to have more than one connection. In its directive, the Parlia-mentary standing committee on petroleum and natural gas said that the disconnection of the multiple-connections will help the government to reduce the huge waiting list for the LPG connections in the country. There are 11.22 crore LPG connections in the country. Till now, the oil firms have disconnected 15 lakh such connections. Despite issuing 60 lakh new gas connections in 2009, people seeking new connections have to face a waiting list of two lakh. In order to reduce the waiting list, the oil firms have been aggressively buying new gas cylinders. For 2010-11, Indian Oil is planning to buy 1.05 crore LPG cylinders and Hindustan Petroleum will buy 35 lakh cylinders.The committee noted that despite oil firms asking their distributors to deliver refilled LPG cylinder within 48 hours of booking, the delivery takes much longer time. “We desire the oil firms to see that these instructions are followed by distributors,” the panel said.
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