The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on January 30, 2024, issued the Draft End-of-Life Vehicles (Management) Rules, 2024. The following provisions have been stated: Responsibilities
Tata Motors, GM, Ford, Toyota Among Firms Hiring Auto Designers from IITs, NID Pramugdha Mamgain NEW DELHI
Incentives from the Thai government to encourage automakers to produce fuel-efficient
Tata AutoComp GY Batteries (TGY), a 50:50 joint venture between Tata AutoComp Systems (Taco) and GS Yuasa International (GYIN) of Japan, is planning to set up separate production line for two-wheeler
Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company, at the launch of new 'Flame' bike in Chennai on Monday. TVS Motor Company on Monday launched its 125cc motorcycle
The lines are shut at the second plant of Hyundai Motor India (hmil) near Chennai and hundreds of unfinished i 10s are sitting on the brand new assembly line as journalists tour the new facility that the South Korean carmaker has established at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore.
General Motors and Ford said Monday they would cut North American vehicle production in response to weakening demand, especially for big sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks. Five of the six biggest carmakers reported a drop in February car and light truck sales in spite of more generous discounts and other incentives. Even demand for Toyota's Prius petrol-electric hybrid hatchback slipped 10 per cent. General Motors announced a 12.9 per cent fall in light vehicle sales compared with February 2007. Toyota, which overtook Ford last year as the number-two carmaker in the US, saw a 2.7 per cent drop. Ford's sales were 6.9 per cent lower. Chrysler and Nissan also reported declines. The exception was Honda, which gained 4.9 per cent. There were was one more selling day last month than in February 2007. According to Autodata, a market research firm, total light vehicle sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.4 million units in February from 16.6 million a year earlier. Mark LaNeve, GM's vice-president for North American sales, said: "Traffic was soft, business was tough all month.' He added that tightening credit conditions were affecting sales "on the margin'. Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up, GM's top-selling vehicle, slumped 28 per cent. The pick-up market has been especially vulnerable to the slump in housebuilding. Edmunds.com, an online pricing service, estimated that carmakers raised incentives by an average 8.4 per cent last month compared to a year earlier. Toyota raised its incentives 40 per cent to more than $1,000 a vehicle. The company shrugged off the drop in Prius sales, ascribing it to record demand last February at the start of a special promotion. GM's incentives, totalling $3,315, were almost a quarter higher, diluting its drive over the past two years to wean itself from these promotions. Jim Farley, Ford's marketing chief, said: "The industry as a whole will be under more pricing pressure.' GM said it planned to cut second-quarter production 5 per cent. Ford announced a 10 per cent reduction. Honda's performance underlined a move towards small cars and crossover vehicles, which look like SUVs but are built on car platforms. Edmunds.com, said Honda spent more on incentives than Toyota last month, a rare event. Separately, GM announced the promotion of Fritz Henderson, chief financial officer, to president and chief operating officer. Ray Young, vice-president of finance and head of GM Brazil, succeeds Henderson as chief financial officer.
Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Motors, today said he would consider the option of giving out the Nano design to other carmakers for licensed manufacturing, though there are no such plans as of now. If his company couldn't meet the demand on its own, he was willing to consider allowing others for a licence fee, Tata said during an interaction with the Indian media in Geneva at the 78th annual international motor show. Nano, along with other new products from Tata Motors, including the new Indica, is on display at the motor show. Tata's comment on the subject of licensed manufacturing comes at a time when other global manufacturers such as Renault are keen to make low-priced cars to address markets like India. India's largest automobile company, Tata Motors, had unveiled the world's cheapest car, Nano, in January at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. Managing Director Ravi Kant added that consumers could expect innovations in the area of financing for Nano buyers, given the shortage of funds for the two-wheeler finance market in India. He, however, refused to divulge the details. Due to rising defaults in the two-wheeler finance market, large retail bankers such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have in recent months shrunk their exposure by as much as 20 per cent. Rising interest cost has also been a cause of concern for buyers. Tata further said Nano would be made available in developed markets like Europe later. The positioning in Europe would be that of a totally compliant vehicle (emission and safety) at a price that had not been arrived at, he said. Without fixing any deadline, Tata said his company would play a very significant role for vehicles run on alternative fuels such as electric and hybrid versions. This, he said, could be done by buying technology and systems, suggesting that there would not be any attempt at reinventing existing technologies. He also added that the company was pursuing the idea of distributed manufacturing for Nano, where kits could be sold to entrepreneurs for assembling and sale. This, he said, would not be in lieu of existing distribution system, but over and above that. (The correspondent's trip to Geneva was sponsored by Tata Motors.) Tata misses his morning coffee...well, almost! Without intending any pun, Ratan Tata said he could not drink his morning coffee after seeing the reports of a double-digit fall in sales in the US market. "It was so depressing that I almost could not drink my coffee,' he said. The fall in sales in the US market, which is the world's largest car market with nearly 25 per cent share, comes at a time when Indian vehicle makers such as Mahindra & Mahindra have serious plans to enter the US. Starting 2009, M&M's popular utility vehicle, Scorpio, will be sold in the US.
Two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, Japan, plans to launch a new motorcycle during the first half of FY09. The new motorcycle would be launched to suit the conditions in cities, N K Rattan, divisional head, HMSI, said while unveiling its new scooter Aviator. He declined to elaborate on the new model. During 2007-08, the launch of revamped versions of Shine and Unicorn boosted motorcycle sales. HMSI is targeting sales volumes of 8.8 lakh units. Of this, motorcycles will account for about 2.7 lakh units while the scooter segment will contribute the rest. The company sold 7.15 lakh units in 2006-07. Rattan said access to credit was not difficult for HMSI customers. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Centurion Bank, Cholamandalam and SBI were willing to provide credit for purchasing HMSI vehicles, he added. He said 2008-09 would be a significant year for HMSI as the company would target to sell 10 lakh units during the year. With the launch of Aviator, the company hopes to strengthen its leadership position in the automatic scooter segment. The model, expected to sell 1 lakh units during FY09, could take the total sales volumes of HMSI's scooter segment to 7 lakh units by the end of March 2009. He said the automatic scooter segment was the second largest after the motorcycle segment in the two-wheeler industry, which is expected to reach 82 lakh units by March-end. The automatic scooter segment has grown from 3 per cent in 1998 to 13 per cent in 2007. HMSI was the market leader in India with 54 per cent share in the automatic scooter segment, which was expected to reach 16 lakh units by 2010-11 from 10 lakh units on the back of changing customer preferences, Rattan said.
The spectacular growth of vehicle use in India and growing environmental concerns have thrown the spotlight on Suzuki Motor.
