08 Jan 2012;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: Fearing that fresh US sanctions may block a six-month-old conduit used for paying for Iranian crude, India wants to pay its second largest oil supplier in rupees. The issue is likely to figure prominently when a multi- disciplinary team visits Tehran on January 16 to discuss uninterrupted supply, a top government official said here. India currently pays Iran about USD 1 billion every month through Turkey for the 370,000 barrels per day of crude oil it buys from the world's fourth-largest oil producer. "There are chances that Turkey may come under pressure after a fresh round of US sanctions imposed on Iran," an official said. Under the proposal, National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) will open a rupee account with Indian banks and can use the money to purchase non-strategic items like railway imports and buying commodities. It cannot, however, use the money to invest in India or buy shares or companies. A list of what Iran can do with the money and what it cannot is being prepared. The official said the Reserve Bank of India, which had in December, 2010, discontinued a long-standing mechanism of payment through central banks, had previously opposed payments for the Iranian oil in rupee. India had in February last year started making euro payments through an Iranian bank based in Germany. But under US pressure, Germany soon stopped accepting money from India for onward transfer to Hamburg-based EIH Bank, sending India to the doorstep of Turkey. Routing payments through Russia was discussed during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Moscow last month. However, Russia is not keen due to the "complexities" involved. US President Barack Obama signed a Bill into law late last month empowering US authorities to impose penalties on foreign banks dealing with the Central Bank of Iran to settle oil import payments. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Thursday chaired a meeting of officials from the ministries of finance, petroleum and external affairs and the Reserve Bank after indications from Turkey's state-run Halkbank that it would have to stop settling payments on behalf of Indian companies. The official said a preparatory meeting would be held in the Oil Ministry this week. New Delhi, however, sees no supply disruptions unless the Strait of Hormuz is closed. Iran has threatened to block oil deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed on the country's oil industry over its nuclear activities. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that the strait carries about 20 per cent of all oil traded worldwide. India gets about three-quarters of its crude needs through imports and Iran is its second-largest supplier after Saudi Arabia. The European Union has also agreed in-principle to ban imports of Iranian crude oil to the EU. The official said annual crude supplies of 94.82 million tonnes from six Middle East nations could be hampered if the Strait of Hormuz is closed. Six Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, supply 58 per cent of India's total annual consumption of 163.59 million tons of crude. The closure may also hinder the 7.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas that Qatar ships through tankers each year to India, he said. However, New Delhi believes Iran may not take actually block the Strait of Hormuz and it using it as a point of posturing against the US. India, however, sees oil prices rising if the tension between Iran and the West continues. "If that happens, it will be difficult for us to manage," he said, pointing to the Rs 135,000 crore revenue loss that state-owned oil firms estimate at current oil prices on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below the imported cost this year. "We are finding it difficult to meet even these under-recoveries (revenue loss)," the official said. The new sanctions against Iran come with a wide range of exemptions and a grace period of six months. The EU is also debating the number of months it would wait to implement the sanctions and if long-term supply deals should be allowed to be completed.
09 Jan 2012;business-standard.com:Sharmistha Mukherjee:New Delhi: After Toyota Motor Corporation, compatriot Nissan Motor Company has started to delve into the luxury side of the passenger vehicle business in India. The third-biggest Japanese car maker, which retails its premium vehicles under the Infiniti brand, has undertaken a study to introduce the marquee brand in the country. Gilles Normand, corporate vice-president (Africa, the Middle East and India), Infiniti and light commercial vehicle business unit, Nissan, said, “The Infiniti will come to India. We are doing a study to determine how and when we will bring the brand to India.” The Infiniti portfolio for India could include the G series saloon (to take on the Mercedes C class, BMW 3 series and Audi A4), M series saloon (to take on the Mercedes E class, BMW 5 series, Audi A6 and Jag XF), EX series mini sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, (to take on the Audi Q5 and BMW X3), SUVs FX and QX series SUVs. Nissan introduced the Infiniti marquee in the US in 1989. Later, it expanded its presence in West Asia, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the UK. The marketing network for the Infiniti branded vehicles includes 230 dealers across 15 countries. In November last year, Toyota had announced its decision to launch the Lexus brand in India by 2013. It is working out the launch date, the product portfolio and the dealer network for retailing the Lexus cars in India. The vehicles would be marketed through an exclusive distribution network in line with the company’s global policy. The cars will be imported as completely built units from Japan. There has been no decision on assembling these cars in India.
09 Jan 2012;business-standard.com:Santosh Tiwari:New Delhi:The government is putting in place a mechanism to handle the possible impact on oil supply to the country because of international sanctions on Iran. A senior government official says the idea is to facilitate mutually beneficial ways to keep the supply going. Iran is the second largest supplier of oil to India after Saudi Arabia. National security adviser Shivshankar Menon held consultations with officials from the ministries of finance, petroleum and external affairs, and the Reserve Bank on Thursday. Hectic parleys took place subsequently in the finance ministry, involving officials from the department of economic affairs and the central bank. All this will be followed by a visit of a team of Indian officials to Iran in the middle of this month. Around 80 per cent of the country’s crude oil requirement is imported and about 12 per cent of it comes from Iran. Of the total imports of 163.59 million metric tonnes, Indian oil refining companies together imported 18.50 million metric tonnes of crude oil in 2010-11 from Iran. Though officials involved in the process were tight-lipped about the steps being envisaged due to the sensitivity of the issue, they indicated certain facilitating measures associated with foreign investment norms were expected to be put in place soon. India is also likely to ask for waivers on new US sanctions against Iran. Consultations in this regard have begun. Officials say the government is working in keeping with the framework outlined by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tackle energy security challenges in his New Year’s message to the nation. “We need assured access to imported energy supplies and also access to new energy-related technologies. This means we need policies that can promote economic partnerships with countries that have energy resources and technologies. We also need a pro-active foreign policy, protecting our access to such resources and to foreign technologies,” Singh had said. The officials stressed the efforts to maintain oil supply didn’t suggest India was endorsing Iran’s nuclear policy or would get into any other deal that could be construed as defence-related. US President Barack Obama last month signed into law new sanctions against financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank — the main channel for the country's oil revenues. The development has been followed by an increase in global crude oil prices and indications of cuts in oil imports from Iran by China, Japan and some European countries. India's crude oil basket closed at $112.03 a barrel on Thursday, higher by $1.63 from its earlier close. In the first week of January, it averaged $110.12 a barrel. In December, the average was $107.20 a barrel.
Auto Expo 2012: Fiat to supply diesel engines to Maruti Suzuki from February
Thursday, 05 January 2012
06 Jan 2012;economictimes.indiatimes.com:Ketan Thakkar:New Delhi: Italian car maker Fiat is likely to start supplying multijet diesel engines to the Indian market leader Maruti Suzuki by February, following a deal expected to be inked by the end of this month. This will allow Maruti to clear faster its backlog of about 150,000 bookings, nearly 100,000 of which are for diesel-powered cars, mainly the Swift hatchback and the Swift Dzire mid-sized sedan. The two companies were expected to sign the agreement for 100,000 engines annually by the end of last year, but Fiat needed a nod from its joint-venture partner Tata Motors to supply engines from their Ranjangaon plant. Auto Expo 2012: Full Coverage A person familiar with the matter has told ET that Fiat has received the go-ahead from Tata Motors and it is likely to start by supplying 7,000 to 10,000 engines next month. "We are at the final stages of signing the deal," S Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki told ET. "We are currently negotiating the prices and hopefully by the end of the month, we will be through with the agreement."
Honda aims to challenge market leader Hero MotoCorp with China made models
Thursday, 05 January 2012
06 Jan 2012;economictimes.indiatimes.com:Chanchal Pal Chauhan & Lijee Philip:NEW DELHI: A year after they parted ways, the world's largest two-wheeler maker, Honda, has thrown down the gauntlet at its former partner of 27 years, the Hero Group, with a plan to launch motorcycles at game-changing prices. Hero MotoCorp, the new avatar of Hero Honda, which accounts for 46% of all bikes sold in India, dominates the market with models like the 100cc CD Dawn, Splendor, Passion and the 125cc Super Splendor. The Japanese giant, which operates in India through wholly-owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), hopes to sell 125cc made-in-China models with an ex-showroom price in Delhi of a little over Rs 30,000 - almost Rs 4,000 cheaper than the CD Dawn and Rs 17,000-18,000 cheaper than the Super Splendor. Honda currently sells such models in African markets like Nigeria. Tatsuhiro Oyama, senior managing officer & director motorcycle operations at the Japanese giant, told ET: "We are working out plans to gain leadership in the Indian two-wheeler market." Honda has just launched a 110cc bike, Dream Yuga, to compete in the mass market. "Going forward we are conducting a feasibility study for our low-cost bike that is currently made in China and could be manufactured in India," added Oyama. RAMPING UP CAPACITY TO MATCH HERO Along with cost-competitive models, Honda is also busy ramping up capacity to match that of the Munjals-owned Hero MotoCorp. Oyama told ET the company plans to set up a fourth plant in India with an initial capacity of 1.2 million units, entailing an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The fourth plant will take its cumulative capacity to 5.2 million, not far behind the Munjals, whose current capacity stands at 6.15 million per year. "We are aiming to sell 10 million two-wheelers in India by 2020 and target a 30% market share to achieve leadership in India. We are market leader in scooters and now the focus is to replicate the same in bikes," said Oyama.
Maruti to develop global products with parent Suzuki
Thursday, 05 January 2012
06 Jan 2012;business-standard.com:Sharmistha Mukherjee:New Delhi: Suzuki Motor Corporation’s Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), is going to play an increasingly important role in designing and developing global vehicles for the Japanese auto company in the coming years. MSIL, which on Thursday unveiled a compact sport utility vehicle, XA Alpha, is likely to roll out two to three global products in collaboration with its parent company over the next two years. A senior MSIL executive said, “Our research and development (R&D) team is increasingly collaborating in developing products with Suzuki, which would be sold not only in India but also in markets overseas.” The multi-purpose Ertiga, to be launched globally at the Auto Expo, is one such product. Maruti Suzuki has 1,080 engineers at its R&D centre. It has acquired 700 acres in Rohtak and is setting up, what is says is a world-class R&D centre. It’ll begin exporting a completely knocked down (CKD) kits to Southeast Asian markets with the Ertiga. The Ertiga comes equipped with 1.4-litre petrol engine and 1.3-litre diesel engine. The sub-four metre Swift Dzire, to be launched next month, will follow Ertiga abroad. Suzuki is focusing on boosting exports volume in emerging markets such as Indonesia. Unlike in India, a fully imported car attracts a duty of 26 per cent in Indonesia, while CKD units are taxed at just 10 per cent. The CKD route works out as much more viable for car makers aiming to sell in Indonesia, rather than setting up a plant there. Going ahead, Suzuki Motor Corporation plans to export more cars under the Suzuki badge from India. Maruti Suzuki reported a drop of 16.6 per cent in sales at 773,361 units between April and December. It is expected to export 125,000 vehicles this financial year, compared to the 147,000 units sold abroad last year. Maruti Suzuki is developing newer markets for exports to offset the slowdown in car sales in Europe.
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