Nissan launches new facelifted Micra at a price of Rs 4.8 lakh to Rs 7.14 lakh

Nissan Motor Company has launched a facelifted version of its premium hatchback Micra at a very aggressive price of Rs 4.8 lakh to Rs 7.14 lakh ex-showroom New Delhi.

Along with the new Micra, the company has also introduced value pack base range called Active at Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.71 lakh with four variants, through this the number of variants are extended to 11.

Micra Active and New Micra were launched at a starting price of Rs. 3.50 lakh and Rs. 4.79 lakh (petrol) respectively.

NEW MICRA

The car maker also said it is planning to come out with a refreshed model of Evalia to stimulate demand for its multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) segment.

The Japanese auto major had launched Evalia, its first MPV, in last October and it has sold only 1,567 units so far.

"We are in serious discussions...we are not too far (from a refreshed version)," Nissan India president and CEO Kenichiro Yomura told reporters in Mumbai.

He was responding to a question as to what Nissan is doing to revive the Evalia, which has seen low sales. To another question, Mr Yomura said approaching the fleet owners could also be one of the options to enhance volumes of the Evalia.

On the two Micra variants, he said the company has set sales target of 2,500 units a month for the new models. "Our total sales target for this fiscal is 1 lakh units," he said.

Nissan posted 11 per cent growth in sales at 36,975 units in FY13 with Evalia clocking just 1,396 units. Mr Yomura said the company is eyeing 10 per cent share by 2016 in India's fast-growing auto market and 10 models by then. As of June, the carmaker's market share stood at a negligible 1.5 per cent.

According to the company, Micra Active (petrol) is a spacious hatchback offering quality and functionality at a competitive price. It is based on the popular fourth generation city car with redesigned exteriors, refreshed premium interiors and gives a mileage of 19.49 kmpl.

Nissan launched Mirca in India in July 2010 and has since sold 43,000 units. Globally, the model is known as March and it has clocked sales of over 6.5 million.

"Micra is a significant model for Nissan in this market. We expect the new models to serve wider range of customers," Mr Yomura said.

The Etios Sedan is launched in Hyderabad

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) will increase the localisation of Etios, the B segment sedan which it launched in Hyderabad on Wednesday, once its engine plant in Bangalore gets ready in 2012. As of now, the vehicle is 70 per cent localised and this will go up to 90 per cent in two years.

Also, it will increase its dealer network from seven to ten in Andhra Pradesh in view of the new launch.

Speaking to the media on the launch, TKM executive managing coordinator (sales) Koji Nagata said the sedan would be available in four variants priced between Rs 4.95 lakh and Rs 6.88 lakh ex-showroom Hyderabad.

The company would soon launch a diesel variant of the sedan, he said, adding that there have been 8,000 bookings of the new vehicle which was launched nationally last week. It would take about four or five months to deliver them.

The company also unveiled its hatchback, Etios Liva, which would be launched in April 2011. "This is the small car for us. There are no immediate plans for smaller car than Liva,'' he said.

TKM general manager (sales) Sailesh Shetty said the company was now working out the price hike on its models as the input costs, particularly of steel, have gone up. Inflation and strengthening of the rupee too are factors, he said.

Etios will be made at the second TKM plant in Bangalore, which has an annual production capacity of 70,000 vehicles.

Music maestro AR Rahman has been roped as the brand ambassador for Etios.

Toyota to launch hatchback 'Etios Liva'

Japanese auto major Toyota will launch compact car 'Etios Liva' by April 2011 to strengthen position in India, where it is a fringe player in the car segment as against its leadership position globally. The company, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group, said the pricing of the hatchback based on the same platform as its new Etios sedan will be decided after the Union Budget.

It has priced the entry level sedan Etios between Rs 4.96 lakh and Rs 6.86 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). "The launch of Etios sedan will be followed by the hatchback model called Etios Liva. By the end of March next year or April beginning we will launch the car and deliveries will start from April," TKM Deputy Managing Director Marketing Sandeep Singh told reporters here. On the pricing of Etios Liva, he said, "We will take a call after the Budget."

While the Etios sedan is powered by a 1.5 litre petrol engine, the Liva will have 1.2 litre petrol engine. Singh said both the sedan and hatchback put together, TKM plans to sell 70,000 cars in India in 2011. Recently, he said the company aims to sell 1.45 lakh units of all its models next year, from about 73,000 units expected in 2010. TKM sells models such as sedans Toyota Corolla Altis and Camry along with multi utility vehicle Innova.

TKM aims to capture 10 per cent of the Indian car market by 2015, mainly on the back of the Etios family. Overall, 15 lakh cars were sold in the country in 2009-10. Globally, Toyota was the world's largest carmaker in 2010 despite its consolidated sales declining by 4.4 per cent to 7.24 million units from the previous year.

Singh said the TKM could increase the output of Etios depending on customer demand from the current levels of 80,000 units a year. He said that for Etios sedan, TKM has received 3,077 orders within two days of the launch on Wednesday. The deliveries will start from January.

TKM Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa said about 70 per cent of the components of Etios are locally sourced. Only critical components like engines and transmissions are imported. "By 2012, we will shift the engine production to India followed by the transmission in 2013," he said, adding after that the localisation level would be 90 per cent.

Nissan Micra gets ready for booking!

Japanese carmaker Nissan said on Tuesday it will launch its Micra small car in the Indian market in July from a plant in the south co-owned with its French partner Renault.

"We will produce 80,000 units of Micra in the first 12 months beginning in May," Renault Nissan Automotive managing director Akira Sakurai said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The Micra was unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva auto show.

The Franco-Japanese carmaking alliance on Tuesday confirmed plans for another small car in the future, with its local partner, motorcycle and scooter manufacturer Bajaj Auto.

"We have room for another product, a small car, with Bajaj. This would be not just for Indian markets but for emerging markets too," Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault-Nissan, said.

"The Micra will be competitive in terms of price and features with other Indian cars," Ghosn told media at a press conference in Chennai, where the car will be manufactured.

"To compete in India one must manufacture and source components locally, and meet Indian consumer needs," Ghosn added.

Nissan sold between 200 and 300 cars in India last year, all imported.

India and its 1.2 billion-strong population is a huge draw because of the low number of car owners.

Several automakers including Ford, Toyota and Honda are in the race to launch small cars in India in the next two years, to rival the Tata group's Nano, dubbed the "world's cheapest car" at 100,000 rupees (2,200 dollars).

Just eight per 1,000 Indians own a car, compared with 550 per 1,000 in Germany and 495 in France.

The Indian auto market is forecast to triple over the next decade to six million cars a year from the current two million.

The cars to be put on display across showrooms in India from May 25, will also be available for bookings at the same time.

The car to be produced from India and exported to Europe, Middle East and Asia in designed in keeping in mind the discerning consumer needs of India.

Maruti Suzuki A-Star touches One-lakh mark

Maruti Suzuki successfully rolled out its 1,00,000th A-Star model on Tuesday from the Manesar plant. The Manesar plant which also manufactures Maruti Suzuki models like SX4, Swift and Swift DZire crossed manufacturing 5-lakh units since its establishment.

This milestone was achieved by Maruri Suzuki in less than two weeks after the car behemoth made a breakthrough of manufacturing more than 80 Lakh units of the car since 1983.

"A-Star is doing very well in the export market. We are planning to export over 75,000 units of the car by the end of this fiscal," Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said.

He also added that the Japanese car major Nissan had increased the order of the small car to 54,000 units for this fiscal from 30,000 units.

Nissan sells the A-Star under the brand name Pixo in the European market.

"At one stage Nissan was very hesitant to place order and they had reduced it from 50,000 units, which they were discussing with us. Now the total A-Star export will cross 1.3 lakh units in 2009-10," Bhargava added.

India number one car maker Maruti Suzuki has already exported over 50,000 units of A-Star to over 44 countries including Netherlands, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Angola, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, Libya, New Zealand and some Latin American nations. The making of this small car started in October, 2008.

Honda JAZZ

The journey of the first generation Jazz started in 2001 with its debut launch in Japan. The car is now being sold in more than 115 countries across the Globe. The first generation Jazz set a benchmark by achieving cumulative sales of more than 2 million units. The truly acclaimed and the stunning performer Honda Jazz , in its Second generation avatar, is all set to hit the Indian Roads in early June 2009.

It is the best-in-class driving machine with incredibly spacious interiors, ultra-frugal engines, unrivalled build quality and nimble handling. It’s more than meets the eye.

Sporting a perfect combination of external compact design & spacious interiors it also offers ample luggage space. The newly improved one-motion operation Magic Seats make the car even more versatile by letting you fit almost anything you can think of. Its longer wheelbase and a compact engine bay render more cabin space for both the driver & the passengers for a comfortable drive.

The car has been awarded the ‘Japanese Car of the Year 2007-2008’, and has been widely acclaimed for its stylish exteriors, spacious interiors, unmatched safety features and outstanding fuel economy. The car has been the most sold car of Japan in 2007-08.

Since safety is of paramount importance for Honda, Jazz has been packed with ingenious safety features to help avoid collisions and minimise injuries during unavoidable accidents.

New Honda Compact Car to be Priced Below Rs. 5 Lakh in India

Small cars or compact cars go pretty well with the populace here in India and Honda gauging this aspect, decided to introduce the Jazz here. However, many prospective buyers of the car have been put off by the high price of the car, which has not even launched as yet.

But if you remember, the Japanese car maker was working on two, not one, small cars for the country. Now Indian newspaper, The Times of India, is reporting that Honda Siel Cars India (or HSCI) is planning to get their other small car with a price tag that would be below the Rs. 5 lakh mark. In fact, officials from the company have pointed out that a new team focused on research and development would be in place from next month.

Elaborating more on the team, an official from Honda India explained, “The R&D team will be headed by a senior Honda official from Japan. The expected size of the team is around 25 members and it will also have people from Honda’s India operations from departments like manufacturing and purchase.”

The new compact car by Honda India is expected to be priced somewhere around Rs. 4.5 lakh. Though there is no word on the release date, it is expected to be out within the coming three years. The R&D team will not only work on the indigenization of the car but also on the localization of the production of key components, which will keep the costs low.

New Honda Compact Car to be Priced Below Rs. 5 Lakh in India

Small cars or compact cars go pretty well with the populace here in India and Honda gauging this aspect, decided to introduce the Jazz here. However, many prospective buyers of the car have been put off by the high price of the car, which has not even launched as yet. But if you remember, the Japanese car maker was working on two, not one, small cars for the country.

Now Indian newspaper, The Times of India, is reporting that Honda Siel Cars India (or HSCI) is planning to get their other small car with a price tag that would be below the Rs. 5 lakh mark. In fact, officials from the company have pointed out that a new team focused on research and development would be in place from next month.

Elaborating more on the team, an official from Honda India explained, “The R&D team will be headed by a senior Honda official from Japan. The expected size of the team is around 25 members and it will also have people from Honda’s India operations from departments like manufacturing and purchase.” The new compact car by Honda India is expected to be priced somewhere around Rs. 4.5 lakh.

Though there is no word on the release date, it is expected to be out within the coming three years. The R&D team will not only work on the indigenization of the car but also on the localization of the production of key components, which will keep the costs low.

Nissan New Small Car Project on Track

The Japanese car maker Nissan stated that its project to launch small car in India is on track and it will be ready to bring its new car in India by early 2010. Nissan Motor India’s Managing Director and CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama said: “There is no delay, our plans are on track and Nissan India will come out with its next-generation A-segment car- Micra, on schedule before summer 2010.”

Both the companies intend to make India as their next favorite car manufacturing destination and also intend to increase their market presence in this region. The company is currently working with the French car maker Renault and has a manufacturing unit in Chennai. The plant is being set up to manufacture four lakh cars annually but Nissan said that it shall initially manufacture only 200,000 units annually. Nissan is ready to bring the new small car model – Nissan Micra or Nissan March. The Micra hatchback car is named March in Japan and the Indian version would be christened either Micra or March, said Tokuyama. Nissan also intends to add nearly 4 to 5 models in its product portfolio in India in next 5 years.

Nissan to launch supermini March in India by 2010

Thanks to the Singur imbroglio and the shifting of the plant site to Sanand in Gujarat, by the time the Nano hits the road in India, its competitors will be much closer to launcing on their versions of small cars.

One such rival is Japanese automobile company Nissan Motor, which plans to launch a supermini, March, in India. According to Nissan the March will hit Indian roads by March 2010 or just 12 months after the Nano's launch.

Speaking to the press Nissan Motor India managing director Shouhei Kimura, ''The small, next-generation car 'March' will be launched in India by 2010 in the 'A' segment category. The car would be manufactured at the company's plant situated at Oragadam in Tamil Nadu, though initially the car would be rolled out from the company's Thailand facility followed by India.

He said the development of an 'A' platform is one of various initiatives taken as part of Nissan's new five year business plan the GT 2012.

Kimura said, ''We would have a total of nine Nissan models by the year 2012 in the Indian market and this car would be one of the new models."

The compny says the March would have a local content of 80 per cent. Kimura said India is one of the five leading competitive countries for manufacturing and exporting the car from Nissan's global manufacturing network.

Last week the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ennore Port in Tamil Nadu from where the company would export cars. (See: Nissan to be first automaker to export from Ennore Port)

Kimura said that by 2011 Nissan would be exporting around 110,000 units, which would include this new model. Primarily the exports would cater to European markets from the second half of 2010.

Nissan also proposes to widen its dealership network in order to sell higher numbers in the country. ''We would increase our dealership network from the present 5 to 55 by 2012," Kimura said.

Kimura declined to comment on the timing of rolling out of the car from the other three countries. He also did not announce the number of cars to be rolled out saying it is too early to say.




The Nissan 'March'

The Nissan March supermini is being produced by Nissan since 1982. Since 1992 the car has also been made in Europe, the US and the UK. Outside Asia mainly in Europe and US it is known as the Nissan Micra. The last time the company gave the March a facelift was in late 2007. The next model is expected to be launched worldwide in 2009.

Starting with the K10 model in 1982 successive March models have been code named K11, K12 and so on.

The March / Micra K10 first went on sale the UK in 1983, and met with instant success. In 1990 the March was the eleventh most popular new car in the UK with having sold 50,000 units. It was a popular choice due to its ease of driving, solid build and durable mechanical components.

The second incarnation of the March / Micra was launched in 1992, production baing in Britain and at its Washington plant rather than in Japan. Like its predecessor, it remained a very popular car thanks to its fuel economy. However, it was available with a limited range of engines: 1.0 and 1.3 petrol units.

The car received a facelift in 2000 which saw the 1.3l engine being replaced with a 1.4 unit. This upgrade, after a previous makeover in 1998, enhanced the car's appeal and it was still fairly popular on the launch of its successor in December 2002.



The third generation model of the March / Micra was made at the Sunderland in the UK. It had a wider range of engines, including Renault-sourced 1.2 petrol and 1.5 direct-injection diesel powerplants, and offered an improved driving experience. This stylish, all-new Micra helped Nissan bolster its market share in the supermini space. The March has been among the best-selling 10 cars in Britain among private buyers for virtually all of its production life.

The March / Micra is known for its reliability, excellent build quality, and user friendliness. The K12 model that came out in 1990s received consistently good overall reviews, main criticisms being its lack of headroom and luggage space in the rear. Another criticism that came its way in the UK was from insurance company that rated it as a dangerous car in case of crash in 1988-1995.

However, its safety specification has improved with successive models. The K12 Micra came on top of its class in What Car? magazine's Security Supertest in 2003, passing both entry and driveaway tests and achieving a maximum score for its locking system and immobiliser.

In an independent test, the Micra was found to be more secure that certain BMW and Mercedes models.

In British magazine's What Car?' Reliability Supertest in 2007, Nissan ranked 6th out of 26 manufacturers overall, with the K11 Micra (1998-2002) being its most reliable model.

The next generation Nissan March (W02A) will be unveiled in Feburary 2009. Globally it will be based on a revamped B-platform with a new 1.2-1.3l engine.

It will be built in Japan, UK, Thailand and in Chennai, India in partnership with Nissan shareholder Renault. The company's US plant in Washington will manufacture an entirely new model that will compete in the same market segment as the March/Micra.

Honda unveils plans for small car

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) has announced its plans to come up with a second small car in the country after the launch of Jazz in the middle of next year. The announcement comes despite a slowdown in the passenger car industry in India.

The second small car from Honda, to be rolled out from the company's second plant in Rajashthan, is expected to go on stream in the fourth quarter of 2009.

However, according to Bloomberg, Japan's second- largest automaker will delay opening its second car factory in India owing to a slowdown in the market growth.

The news agency, quoting Tokyo-based Honda spokesman Sakae Uruma, says that the company aims to open the Rajasthan plant by October 2010 as against the scheduled opening of 2009.

"We will be launching two small cars in India within the next three to four years," Jnaneswar Sen, vice-president-marketing, HSCI. The first of those--the premium hatchback Jazz--will be rolled out by June-July next year. It will be followed by a smaller car that will be driven by a 1.2 litre petrol engine and is currently under development, said Sen. He added that it will initially be produced at the company's plant in Greater Noida.

The Greater Noida plant is part of Honda's Rs 1,000 crore initial investment in India for setting up a new facility to manufacture small cars focusing on the domestic market. Spread over 600 acres, the facility will have an initial capacity of 60,000 units and could be expanded up to 2.4 lakh units over a period of time.

Honda Siel Cars, on Friday, inaugurated the first phase of its second plant at Tapukara, which comprises a press facility and an advanced power train unit. The facility, which is spread over 150 acres and will eventually employ 500 people, will supply body panels and engine components to HSCI's Greater Noida plant.

The company will also set up an R&D centre in India to focus on market and environmental research and development of local components and material more suited to Indian conditions.

Honda Seeks to Boost Auto Sales in India

Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui unveiled a new version of the City, Honda's best-selling compact sedan in India, aiming to boost sales in this key emerging market as concern grows of a global slowdown in the auto industry.

With sales in the U.S., the world's largest market, falling to their lowest levels in years, auto makers have looked to hot markets like India and China to help pick up the slack.

But now these other auto markets are also showing signs of weakness. In India, auto sales fell in August from a year earlier, marking the second monthly fall in a row. August sales in China also fell from a year earlier, marking the first decline in auto sales there in two years.

"Even in India, they are not immune to the cyclical nature of the economy," says Tatsuo Yoshida, an analyst for UBS Securities in Tokyo. "Investors have been very nervous about near-term prospects of the Indian automobile market."

The Honda president said he thinks India's slowdown is temporary. "It's sure to bounce back in the next few months," Mr. Fukui said.

Meant to draw buyers back into dealer showrooms during the coming festival months in India, Honda's new City model is part of a wave of vehicle launches by car makers into the country's increasingly crowded auto market.

In 2007, the current City model was Honda's biggest seller, accounting for 37,000 of its total sales of 60,000 vehicles. In the first eight months of this year, sales of the current City were up 12% from a year earlier. The Japanese auto maker is expecting the new model to help lift Honda's India sales above those of last year. Honda's goal for 2008 is to sell 80,000 vehicles in India, though it may not reach that because of the slowdown.

Mr. Fukui, who describes the City as "roomy," said it is Honda's "most significant model" in the Indian market. Though it would be considered a compact, entry-level vehicle in developed markets, the City is viewed as a premium vehicle by business executives here. The new model will cost about 800,000 rupees, or close to $17,500, making it Honda's least expensive vehicle in the Indian market but still beyond the reach of most car buyers.

Although Honda dominates the motorcycle market in India, the Japanese company doesn't offer any models in India's small-auto segment, which makes up the vast majority of car sales.

The new City was also launched this month in Thailand, one of 39 countries where the model has been sold since the first-generation City was launched in 1996.

Price gap between SX4 and Honda City has narrowed

Maruti Suzuki officials refused to comment on whether they would bring down the price or offer discounts on the SX4. “The price gap was not much in any case and the SX4 has gained popularity because of its strength as a good product,” commented a Maruti official who did not wish to be identified.

The two Japanese companies have been locked in a tough battle to increase their share of the fast- growing mid- segment of the Indian car market. Ford Fiesta and Hyundai’s Verna have also been notching up strong growth in this category even as Maruti Suzuki launched the Dzire sedan recently in order to add to the competition.

The mid- size segment of the Indian car market registered an overall growth of 14.61 per cent for the financial year ended March, 31 2008 at 2,25,719 units, up from 1,96,942 units in 2006- 07. According to industry body Society of India Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti Suzuki emerged the leader in the segment during 2007- 08 with a market share of 21.85 per cent, a huge jump from the fourth spot that it held in 2006- 07 with a market share of 15.08 per cent. The company sold 49,335 units in 2007- 08, compared to 29,697 units in 2006- 07 to clock a growth of 66.13 per cent.

Maruti succeeded in pushing the once undisputed market leader Honda to the second slot reducing its market share to 17.95 per cent for the financial year ended March 31, 2008 from 20.55 per cent during financial year 2006- 07.