Nano overseas production site to be finalised soon
Thursday, 21 April 2011
21 April 2011;business-standard.com:New Delhi: Tata Motors is "at a very high stage" in finalising a production site for its small car Nano at an overseas location, which could be either in Latin America, South East Asia or Africa. A senior Tata group official said that the automobile major was exploring various options at different places and looking at uninterrupted supply chain for the components. "The work is at a very high stage," Tata Industries Managing Director Kishor Chaukar told PTI when asked about a time-line to produce Nano in any of the overseas locations. Tata Industries is one of the investment arms of the Tata Group. He said Tata Motors is looking at various regions such as Latin America, South East Asia and Africa. "They are looking at any of these possibilities." While declining to specify details, Chaukar said: "They (Tata Motors) are looking at the best options in terms of country locations or a geographic location." Apart from considering land building facilities availability, Tata Motors will look at supply chain availability and at the accessibilities of markets, he added. "...Most importantly they will also be looking at the supply chain. Because component usage in a single automobile runs into thousands and if you go in a large production, supply of these components of desired quality has to be highly reliable," Chaukar said. Nano, touted as the world's cheapest car, is now produced only at Sanand in Gujarat for the Indian market. In 2009, Tata Motors unveiled the European version of Nano -- Nano Europa -- at the 79th Geneva Motor Show. The company was expected to launch the car in Europe by 2011. The version in Europe is said to have airbags, central locking and would be Euro V emission norms compliant. Although Tata Motors did not reveal any price tag for the Nano Europa, British media had predicted a price of over $6,000. The Indian edition of the car hit the roads in 2009 for about $2,500. Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata had said that the European version of the Nano would come with airbags and other high-end features, "but it will still be a low-cost car".
21 April 2011;deccanherald.com:New York: On the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP Plc sued Transocean, seeking at least $40 billion in damages and other costs from the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig. London-based BP also sued Cameron International Corp for negligence, saying a blowout preventer made by Cameron failed to avert the catastrophe. Both complaints were filed Wednesday in federal court in New Orleans. Eleven people died when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. About 4.9 million barrels, or more than 200 million gallons, of oil later flowed out of a subsurface BP well. BP has incurred tens of billions of dollars of liabilities from the disaster. BP accused Transocean of negligence, saying it caused the drilling rig to be "unseaworthy." "The simple fact is that on April 20, 2010, every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon failed, resulting in the casualty," BP said. Transocean called the lawsuit a "desperate bid" by BP to renege on a contract to assume full responsibility for pollution and environmental costs. "This suit is specious and unconscionable," it said in a statement. In a separate lawsuit, BP asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who oversees national litigation over the spill, to order Houston-based Cameron to reimburse it for "all or a part" of its damages. "The blowout preventer failed to work and perform the function it was designed and manufactured to perform -- i.e., to secure the well," BP said. "The blowout preventer was flawed in design, and alternative designs existed that did not have these flaws." BP said it took a $40.9 billion pre-tax charge in 2010 related to the spill, and by year end had incurred $17.7 billion of costs.
Parts shortage will affect China output, says Honda
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
19 April 2011;business-standard.com:Shanghai: Honda Motor Co's production in China will be affected by Japan's part supply shortage, its China head Seiji Kuraishi said on Tuesday. Honda said the parts shortage due to Japan's quake would only start to affect China customers by around late June or early July, thanks to current inventories. "We expect to be able to produce in China without stopping the lines until the end of May," Kuraishi told a small group of reporters at the Shanghai auto show.
Vedanta buys shares in Cairn India in market deals - source
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
19 April 2011;deccanherald.com:Mumbai: India-focused miner Vedanta Plc has bought shares in Cairn India through block market deals, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Cairn Energy agreed in August to sell a majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta, but the deal has been delayed due to a dispute over royalty payments by Cairn India's partner, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. One television channel said that Vedanta had bought 7.5 percent stake in Cairn India through the block deals, while another said the London-listed firm has taken an 11 percent stake through the market transaction. Cairn India saw 283 million shares, or 14.9 percent of the share capital, changing hands in block share market deals on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday, and TV channels said Malaysia's national oil corporation Petronas was the seller.
18 April 2011;deccanherald.com:Bangalore:International automotive supplier and world’s fourth largest tyre manufacturer Continental has signed an agreement with Modi Rubber Ltd (MRL), for acquisition of 100 shareholding in Modi Tyres Company Limited (MTCL), a subsidiary of MRL. The deal depends on fulfillment of several conditions. Once through, MTCL will become fully owned subsidiary of Continental Corporation. The company will focus on local production and distribution of bias and radial truck/bus tyres as well as radial passenger car tyres for the Indian market.
17 April 2011;hindustantimes.com:Mumbai: With a less than 5% marketshare and in the face of stiff competition from Ford and Volkswagen, General Motors India is set to play the alternative fuel game. GM’s upcoming half a dozen joint venture products with China’s SAIC will have 14 variants. Apart from the conventional diesel and petrol varian ts, they will have LPG and CNG versions, said Sumit Sawhney, vice-president, sales and marketing, GM India. GM India, a 50:50 joint venture between GM and SAIC, had earlier announced its plans to launch six new vehicles by 2012, including three mini vans and two cars. GM has already stepped into the alternative fuels space. It already offers LPG variants of its small cars Chevrolet Spark and Beat. Maruti Suzuki has the widest gas-run car portfolio with CNG-run Alto, Wagon R, Eeco, Estilo and SX4. The higher purchasing cost of gas-run vehicles is more than compensated by their lower environmental cost and better mileage. It is anticipated that by 2015-16, one fifth of cars in India will run on gas. GM sees virtue in turning green and wants to do it fast as competition is hotting up among emerging players. Riding on the back of its successful small car Figo, Ford has edged past GM to occupy the fourth slot. In 2010-11, Ford’s market share rose to 4.81% while GM’s slipped to 4.4%. VW is also catching up fast with a 2.6% marketshare.
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