After Ford & Hyundai, GM to Make India Export Hub

27/02/2009 ,The Financial Express

Taking a cue from Ford India, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, General Motors is planning to make India its hub for exporting engines, powertrains as well as cars to neighbouring countries, the US and Europe.

Despite the slowdown and funds crunch, GM India hopes to match last years growth of 10% even though the industry is expected to remain flat.

The company, in addition to the launch of the new sedan (above Optra) Chevrolet Cruze and a premium mini car (on the same lines of Spark), will launch a number of different fuel models of the existing platform in India during 2009, said Karl Slym, president and managing director, GM India.

Disclosing this in Chennai on Thursday on the sidelines of the launch of its new Captiva and Spark Music cars, he said, Given the cost advantage and other positive options, GM will look at exporting engines as well as cars out of India to global markets. We have been exporting cars to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in a small way. Once the market sentiment improves, the company will think of exporting in a big way.

According to Slym, the company has already invested in producing 2,25,000 cars per annum across its two plants in Halol of Gujarat and Talegaon, Pune. The company has also invested in manufacturing engines/power trains with various options (diesel, petrol and other alternate fuels) keeping in mind the long-term perspective. P Balendran, VP, GM India, said, We are looking at exporting engines as well as cars to the global markets. We will wait for the market to improve and accordingly start tapping the overseas markets. Exports is considered to be one of the key growth area for GM India over a period of time.

Porsche Panamera may hit Indian roads by Sep 2009

Panamera, the new car from Porsche is likely to roll out in India by Sep 2009, after making its European debut in late summer 2009. Sources say that that Precision Car India (its sole importer in the country) has already ordered 50 units of Panamera.

The new Porsche Panamera comes with a wide range of features quite unparalleled in the premium segment. Among all the characteristics typical of a genuine Porsche the extra-low and sleek coupe silhouette, that offers ample space inside for four passengers and variable loading space for luggage.

The Panamera also proudly boasts of power units offering a high standard of fuel efficiency and low exhaust emission without compromising on performance. All power units featured in the Panamera are modern V-engines with either six or eight cylinders covering a power range from 300 - 500 bhp and featuring Direct Fuel Injection. The new car will be priced above. Rs. 86 lakh for the Indian market.

Porsche India, which sold 168 units last year, has set a target of 250 units in the current year.

Source: http://news.infibeam.com/blog/news/2009/02/07/porsche_panamera_may_hit_indian_roads_by_sep_2009.html

Hyundai, GM, Mahindra Plan To Launch Gas Variants

5/12/2008 The Hindu Business Line
Greener fuels are gradually gaining ground in the automobile industry with manufacturers focusing on more gas variants.

General Motors India (GMI), for instance, is planning LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and CNG (compressed natural gas) options for all its models in India.

We are launching alternative fuel variants for all models soon, though it is difficult for me to say what would come first, LPG or CNG, Mr P. Balendran, Vice-President (Corporate Affairs), GMI, told Business Line. The CNG variant of the Chevrolet Optra is already being offered in Mumbai, Delhi and Vadodara, largely due to the fact that the fuel is available in these cities.

Hyundai, likewise, is coming out with CNG and LPG versions of the Getz early next year. The LPG variant will come first, official sources said. The company already has LPG/CNG versions of the Santro and a CNG version of Accent

Mahindra-Renault recently began despatching the CNG version of Logan for the taxi market, especially in Mumbai where they are part of the local Meru fleet. We sold around 1,200 units in last the few months, Mr Nalin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, said.

Cost analysis
CNG, which costs about one-third of petrol, and LPG, which is priced around Rs 15 less than petrol, are considered to be greener and more economical alternatives for conventional automotive fuels. The initial additional cost for the gas-run variants and the inadequacy in terms of the network of gas dispensing stations are cited as major deterrents to the commercial prospects of CNG and LPG-variants.

The gas variants of different car models will cost Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 more than the base variants. However, the substantial gains in operating cost, especially for those who drive more than 20-25 km daily, will compensate for the extra expenditure, according to experts.

According to the industry estimates, there are more than 5 lakh LPG-run vehicles on street, while the number of CNG-run vehicles would be more than 3.5 lakh

Hyundai extends Government employees scheme

Hyundai,Government employees scheme – 3000 units sold to Government employees in October

New Delhi, November 4, 2008: Hyundai Motor India Ltd, India’s largest passenger car exporter and the second largest car manufacturer, today announced that the special scheme for the state and central government employees which was launched during the month of October 2008, has been extended till November 2008 looking at the huge success of this scheme. HMIL sold 3000 units under the scheme, which is almost three times the normal month’s sale to government employees. Under the scheme, there are special pricing, attractive finance options etc to enable the government employees to own a Hyundai car.

In view of the fact that government employees are due to receive the arrears of their salaries after revision in the Sixth Pay Commission, the arrears can be utilised as down payment for purchase of the car and the revised salary increment will help them to accommodate their monthly EMI’s.

Hyundai has tie-ups with State Bank of India, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank to provide with attractive finance schemes for the government employees for their vehicle purchase. The promotional activities and State Bank of India’s active participation proved vital for the scheme’s success.

On the success of the scheme, Arvind Saxena, Sr. Vice-President for Marketing & Sales, HMIL, said: "We are pleased with the tremendous response that we have received from the Government Employees who undoubtedly feel that this is a good value for money option. We have extended the scheme as we feel that there are many people who fall under the scheme but have not been able to avail of this within the limited period of time”

Model wise discount on ex-showroom price: Santro Non AC Rs.17,000
Santro GL/GLS Rs.22,000
i10 Rs.10,000
Getz 1.1 Rs.22,000
Getz 1.3 Rs.27,000
Accent Executive Rs.12,000
Verna
(Petrol & Diesel) Rs.31,000


About HMIL
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India. HMIL presently markets 34 variants of passenger cars across segments. The Santro in the B segment, the Getz Prime and the i10 in the B+ segment, the Accent and the Verna in the C segment, the Sonata Embera in the E segment and the Tucson in the SUV segment.

Hyundai Motor India, continuing its tradition of being the fastest growing passenger car manufacturer, registering total sales of 327,160 vehicles in the calendar year (CY) 2007, an increase of 9.2 percent over CY 2006. In the domestic market it clocked a growth of 7.6 percent as compared to 2006 with 200,412 units, while overseas sales grew by 11.8 percent, with exports of 126,748 units.

HMIL’s fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai boasts of the most advanced production, quality and testing capabilities in the country. In continuation of its commitment to provide the Indian customer with global technology, HMIL has set up its second plant, which produces an additional 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL’s total production capacity to 600,000 units per annum.

HMIL is investing to expand capacity in line with its positioning as HMC’s global export hub for compact cars. Apart from expansion of production capacity, HMIL plans to expand its dealer network, which will be increased from 232 to 260 this year.

The year 2007 has been a significant year for Hyundai Motor India. It achieved a significant milestone by rolling out the fastest 400,000th export car. Hyundai exports to over 90 countries globally; even as it plans to continue its thrust in existing export markets, it is gearing up to step up its foray into new markets. The year just ended also saw Hyundai Motor India attaining other milestones with the launch of the i10 and yet another path-breaking record in its young journey by rolling out the fastest 1,500,000th car.

Hyundai’s new model i10 which made its global debut here in India in October, 2007 made a clean sweep of all the ‘Car of the Year 2008’ awards from the leading automotive magazines and TV channels like BS Motoring, CNBC-TV18 AutoCar, NDTV Profit Car & Bike India and Overdrive magazine. The i10 is also the choice of the discerning automotive media of the country as they conferred the prestigious ‘Indian Car of the Year’ (ICOTY) award to the i10 as well. The i10 bagged these awards on the basis of excellence in build quality, handling, driver comfort, safety and ride quality.

The Santro and the Accent also received the ‘TNS Voice of the Customer - 2008’ award for the Premium Compact Car (Santro) and the Entry Mid size Car (Accent). In March 2008 it achieved yet another milestone by rolling out the fastest 500,000th export car.

Last year, the Hyundai Verna bagged some of the most prestigious awards starting with the title of "Car of the Year 2007" by India`s leading automotive publication – Overdrive, the “Best Mid-size Car of the Year” award by the NDTV Profit Car & Bike India Awards 2007, the “Best Value for Money Car” by the CNBC Autocar Auto awards and ‘Performance Car of the Year 2007’ from Business Standard Motoring.

Hyundai cars have been a favorite at all awards ceremonies and have always been winning awards. Our models like Sonata Embera won the ‘Executive Car of The Year 2006’ award from Business Standard Motoring Magazine and NDTV Profit Car & Bike India declared the Tucson as the ‘SUV of The Year 2006’. Not only this, HMIL has also been awarded the benchmark ISO 14001 certification for its sustainable environment management practices.