Volkswagen to make India low-cost export hub

Volkswagen AG will make India a low-cost manufacturing hub catering to select export markets as Europe’s largest car maker tries to emulate the success of global rivals Hyundai Motors and Suzuki Motor Corp. Volkswagen will export from the second quarter of next fiscal fully-built models and completely knocked-down kits of its hatchback, Polo, to South East Asia, Middle East and Africa from its Pune plant, a senior executive said.

The company will launch Polo this month-end in India. The India-made vehicle at Rs 4.5-6 lakh comes at half the European price as the company has been able to ram down costs by sourcing 80% of auto parts from the domestic market. It will help the Polo compete against Hyundai’s i20, which too is exported in large numbers to these markets.

"We are looking at all potential markets for export," said the executive who asked not to be named, adding that many markets in South East Asia and Africa would prefer the India-made Polo for its competitive pricing.

Car exports grew 30% to 3.3 lakh units between April and December last year from a year ago. Hyundai, which shipped 2.15 lakh cars, and Maruti with 1.05 lakh cars were the biggest contributors. Volkswagen, which has set a production target of 50,000 for Polo in 2010, is looking to sell up to 35,000 units in the domestic market and export the rest. The company would ramp up production next year after it launches the sedan version of the Polo, which too is to be exported.

The company’s new plant at Chakan near Pune can manufacture 1.1 lakh cars, including the Polo, other small car models and Skoda Fabia.

Suzuki Saudia opens new service center

Suzuki Saudia, the sole distributor of Suzuki vehicles in Saudi Arabia, has recently opened a fully-equipped service center in Philistine Street, Jeddah, in line with its strategy to maximize customer satisfaction through after-sales services and in conjunction with the introduction into the Kingdom of the five-door Celerio sedan.

A presentation on the company’s vision and enhanced customer-care services was held at the center on Wednesday, in which company officials revealed that it will be the first of a series of Suzuki service centers that will be opened across Saudi Arabia, with similar centers coming up in Dammam, Riyadh, Madina and Makkah, in addition to branches in Jubail, Qassim, Tabuk, Taif, Jizan, Khamis Mushayt and Hofuf.

The service center, which has a team of highly experienced professional staff, offers top quality maintenance and after-sales services for the entire line of Suzuki vehicles.

“This service center is the first-of-its-kind among all Suzuki Saudia service centers, and we have invested in building a spacious and well-equipped center that will enable us to effectively implement our plans that revolve around optimizing customer satisfaction,” said Maher Al- Nabawy, deputy general manager, Suzuki Saudia, a part of the Bamarouf Group. “This center, with its well-trained staff, is equipped to handle around 40 cars at a time,” he added.

“We currently employ a total of 300 technicians at our Suzuki-dedicated service centers in Saudi Arabia, all trained at the company’s training center in accordance to the highest standards that have been stipulated by the parent company Suzuki,” he noted. “The underlying objective is to provide a comprehensive range of services that are distinguished by the skill and efficiency of the workforce, and that too at highly competitive prices to satisfy diverse consumer segments,” he stressed.

“We believe that our service network is unparalleled in terms of the geographical distribution, the range of spare parts stocked, and the professionalism and skill of our trained technicians and engineers.” Al Nabawi added that “we make it a point to constantly sharpen the skills and technical knowledge of our technicians to ensure that they are familiar with the latest technologies and are well-prepared to service new models as soon as they are launched in the market.”

In line with the launch of Celerio, Suzuki Saudia has recently hosted special technical training sessions for Suzuki’s Middle Eastern after-sales group recently.
The three-day training exposed participants from the Middle East mostly from Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Emirates and Yemen dealerships to theoretical and practical details on the three-cylinder Celerio that comes with either a 5-shift manual transmission or 4-shift automatic gear.

The Celerio is a full-option hatchback which includes a radio, CD and MP3 player; double airbags; an anti-lock breaking system; fog lamps; alloy wheels; remote control and power steering. Manufactured by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., it features a stylish design targeted toward younger drivers. The highly fuel-efficient Celerio is powered by a state-of-the-art and lightweight K10B engine. Aside from its intended youthful base, the vehicle is expected to attract buyers searching for high performance, attractive design, and fuel economy.

Masafumi Harano, group leader of Suzuki for Middle East and Africa Automobile Marketing Group, said the “eye-catching, stylish, fuel efficient and environmental-friendly city car” is built in conformity with the highest performance and safety standards.

Company officials said the Celerio targets the youths and expatriates alike with its retail tag price of SR26,000.

Volkswagen to do R&D in India for global cars

Germany based automaker Volkswagen has said that they are now planning to establish their global research and development center here in India.

This center would work on development of cars for the global market.

This would be similar to how Suzuki and Honda are now developing cars in India.

Volkswagen Executive Vice-President and Member of Board Ulrich Hackenberg was speaking at the Paris Auto Show: “India has a good resource of engineering talent. We will build up our technical centre at Pune. After sometime, may be in 5-6 years time, we may have global car developed in India.”



Volkswagen Group Chairman Martin Winterkorn added: “We, as a big automobile company, constantly keep evaluating possibilities. Emerging markets, including India, are key to our expansion programme not only in cars but also in commercial vehicles.”

Nissan says it has star cars for Paris show

Nissan said it will unveil its futuristic concept car Nuvu, an all-new production car Pixo and a revised version of an existing model Note as its star participants at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

Nissan's vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, literally a ‘new view’ of the type of car it says 'we will be driving in the middle of the next decade'.

Compact – it’s just 3 metres long – Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating. It is aimed at urban dwellers who don't want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that there is a need for a dramatic change in the way we move around our cities.

Nuvu is an electric vehicle, is agile, easy to drive and even easier to park. Nissan has already announced plans to introduce an all-electric car in Japan and the US in 2010 and to mass-market it globally in 2012. Nuvu is not that car, though it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle.

Nuvu incorporates a witty representation of Nissan's green credentials: across its all-glass roof are a dozen or so small solar panels. Shaped like leaves on a branch, the power they generate is fed to the battery using a 'tree trunk' within the car as a conduit. Nuvu also uses natural, organic and recycled materials within the cabin.

Nuvu is compact on the outside yet roomy on the inside. Built on a unique platform, it sits on a wheelbase of 1980 mm but is 1700 mm wide and 1550 mm tall to create a large and airy cabin.

These dimensions provide all the interior room needed for the vast majority of city journeys. Nuvu has two regular seats and a third occasional chair that can be folded down when required. But, unlike some two-seater city cars currently on the market, it is a thoroughly practical proposition with an integral luggage area providing sufficient space for a typical supermarket or shopping expedition.

'Nuvu is a concept car, for sure, but it is an entirely credible vehicle,' said Francois Bancon, general manager, Exploratory and Advanced Planning Department, Product Strategy and Product Planning Division, Nissan Motor Co.

'It is light, clean and easy to drive. It is practical and a sensible size, yet it also embodies an element of fun: the future doesn’t look so bad, after all.”

Nissan said its Pixo conveys continuing the theme of compact urban motoring, with outstanding green credentials – but, this time, for the more immediate future.

The comapny said Pixo is an accessible city car which offers low emissions and consumption at an extremely accessible price.

Pixo is a five-door, four-seater with a roomy interior and generous luggage space thanks to its efficient design and packaging.

It has a lively highly efficient three cylinder 1.0-litre engine. Thanks to its brand new lightweight construction, with resulting benefits in performance, very low fuel consumption and emissions, Pixo will be among the best value eco-cars in the small city car category.

Pixo is 3565 mm long, 1470 mm tall and 1600 mm wide. It has a wheelbase of 2360 mm.

Built in collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corp. at state-of-the art facilities in Delhi, India, PIXO is a brand new four-seater competing in the fast growing A-segment.

Unlike some of its immediate rivals, however, Pixo is far from a micro car. It has five doors to ease ingress and egress to and from the rear seats but remains sufficiently compact to be agile to be ideal for city driving.

Unusually in this class, Pixo is also available with a full four-speed automatic, reinforcing its suitability as a town car that’s perfectly capable of longer journeys when needed.

Nissan said the third star car participant at the Paris Show, the Note, has undergone a wide range of changes and improvements to maintain its place as one of the most innovative, space-efficient and popular accessible compact cars.

The most obvious changes can be found to the exterior design, where the front end benefits from a completely new design of grille, bumper and headlight, lending the Note a more premium and sleek appearance.

At the rear, the signature ‘boomerang’ lights are now darker, another discreet change which adds to the Note’s premium feeling. Two new designs of alloy wheels – 15” and 16” – are available, while a new eye-catching pale green exterior color called Cider has been developed.

For the driver, a new combi-meter has been introduced, giving improved legibility and clarity and there is also a new central instrument panel, giving a cleaner appearance to the centre console.

Under the skin, improvements have been made to the Note’s suspension to improve ride comfort, while improving responsiveness, knowing that customers consider driving enjoyment a key priority.

Following revisions to its engine and gearbox ratios, September will see the introduction of a 1.5-litre dCi powered Note which produces CO2 of just 119g/km. This follows the introduction of a diesel particulate filter on the 1.5-litre diesel engine earlier this year.

Additionally, from October, customers will benefit from reduced CO2 emissions from the Note’s 1.4-litre petrol engine. Thanks to revised gear ratios, it will produce 139g/km.

The updates to the Note also herald the introduction of Nissan Connect, Nissan’s all-new combined satellite navigation, audio entertainment and communication system.

It was conceived to offer the level of convenience and user-friendliness normally found on portable navigation devices with the added convenience of full integration into the centre console.

With touch-screen technology, Nissan Connect combines a satellite navigation system (in nine languages), with an audio system capable of playing CDs (including MP3 and WMA CDs), as well as music via an auxiliary input, USB plug and Bluetooth streaming.

The system also provides Bluetooth phone connectivity for hands-free communication.

Nissan Connect will be available on Note from January 2009 and will be extended to other Nissan models during the course of 2009.

As well as these ‘stars of the show’, Nissan will also have its Crossover icon, the all-new Murano, on display and its baby brother the Qashqai+2 - the ‘family Crossover’ - which takes the Qashqai concept and offers extra interior space and convenience for those buyers who are uninspired by the traditional MPV options.

2009 Paris Motor Show

Nissan to Present a New View of its Future

A world premiere of a futuristic concept car and of an all-new production car, as well as a heavily revised version of an existing model will be the stars of Nissan’s 2008 Paris Motor Show. All the stars of the show share a philosophy of tackling the reality of mobility in and around the city, today, tomorrow and in the more distant future.

Nuvu
Nissan’s vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, literally a ‘new view’ of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade. Compact – it’s just 3 metres long – Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating. It is aimed at urban dwellers who don’t want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that there is a need for a dramatic change in the way we move around our cities.

Nuvu is an electric vehicle, is agile, easy to drive and even easier to park. It represents Nissan’s commitment to electric vehicle technology, considering that Nissan has already announced that it will present a production-ready EV at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, with sales due to start in Japan and North America in 2010.

Whilst Nuvu is not that car, it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle. The vehicle shown at Paris Motor Show incorporates a witty representation of its green credentials: across its all-glass roof are a dozen or so small solar panels. Shaped like leaves on a branch, the power they generate is fed to the battery using a ‘tree trunk’ within the car as a conduit. Nuvu also uses natural, organic and recycled materials within the cabin.

Nuvu is compact on the outside yet roomy on the inside. Built on a unique platform, it’s just 3 metres long and sits on a wheelbase of 1980 mm but is 1700 mm tall and 1550 mm wide to create a large and airy cabin. These dimensions provide all the interior room needed for the vast majority of city journeys. Nuvu has two regular seats and a third occasional chair that can be folded down when required. But, unlike some two-seater city cars currently on the market, it is a thoroughly practical proposition with an integral luggage area providing sufficient space for a typical supermarket or shopping expedition.

“Nuvu is a concept car, for sure, but it is an entirely credible vehicle,” says Francois Bancon, General Manager, Exploratory and Advanced Planning Department, Product Strategy and Product Planning Division, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. “It is light, clean and easy to drive. It is practical and a sensible size, yet it also embodies an element of fun: the future doesn’t look so bad, after all.”

Pixo
Continuing the theme of compact urban motoring, with outstanding green credentials – but this time for the more immediate future, Pixo is an accessible city car which offers low emissions and consumption at an extremely accessible price. Pixo is a five-door, four-seater with a roomy interior and generous luggage space thanks to its efficient design and packaging. It has a lively highly efficient three cylinder 1.0-litre engine. Thanks to its brand new lightweight construction, with resulting benefits in performance, very low fuel consumption and emissions.



Pixo will be among the best value eco-cars in the small city car category.

Pixo is 3565 mm long, 1470 mm tall and 1600 mm wide. It has a wheelbase of 2360 mm. Built in collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation, at state-of-the art facilities in Delhi, India.

Pixo is a brand new four-seater competing in the fast growing A-segment. Unlike some of its immediate rivals, however, Pixo is far from a micro car. It has five doors to ease ingress and egress to and from the rear seats but remains sufficiently compact to be agile to be ideal for city driving.

Unusually in this class, Pixo is also available with a full four-speed automatic, reinforcing its suitability as a town car that’s perfectly capable of longer journeys when needed. Sales start in late spring 2009.

Maruti India Sales Falls First Time in Five Months

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., maker of half the cars in the country, said sales fell for the first time in five months in August as higher interest rates and inflation damped demand.

Sales fell 9.2 percent last month to 59,908 cars, vans and sport-utility vehicles, the New Delhi-based unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. said in a statement today. That was Maruti's biggest decline in monthly sales since Feb. 2006, according to Bloomberg Data.

Interest-rates at a seven-year high and the fastest inflation rate in 16 years are squeezing consumer spending in India. Slowing growth may undermine a government target of tripling car sales to 3 million vehicles annually by 2015.

"Condition for auto sales have been deteriorating,'' said Mahantesh Sabarad, an analyst with Centrum Broking Pvt. in Mumbai, who has an "accumulate'' rating on the stock. "there has been a substantial increase in interest rates and fuel prices also went up.''

More than half of the vehicles sold in the nation are bought on credit. Maruti said domestic sales fell 10.2 percent to 54,113 vehicles in August. Exports gained one percent to 5,795.

Maruti, 54 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor, fell 2.1 percent to 635.9 rupees at 10:36 a.m. in Mumbai trading.

Maruti hikes prices of its models as input costs rise

INDIA'S largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, on Monday raised prices of most of its models to offset the rising cost of inputs such as steel.

The price hike ranges from Rs 1,000 on the Zen Estilo and Wagon R hatchback to Rs 18,000 on its sedan Swift Dzire. The company had launched the Swift Dzire sedan with an introductory price ranging from Rs 4.49 lakh to Rs 6 lakh across different variants, which has now been withdrawn, a Maruti dealer said.

Maruti has also hiked the prices of all petrol variants of hatchback Swift, SX4 and Gypsy by Rs 9,000, while the price of the diesel version of Swift has been raised by Rs 15,000. It has also increased the price of all variants of Zen Estilo and WagonR LPG by Rs 1,000 and of Alto and M800 by Rs 1,500.

Prices of all variants of Omni and WagonR Petrol have also been hiked by Rs 2,000 and that of multi- utility vehicle Versa by Rs 8,000. The price increases, which spared the Grand Vitara SUV, came into effect at the weekend, he said.

Maruti's managing director, Shinzo Nakanishi, had said in April that the car maker was negotiating with steel companies on new contracts, for which it faced up to a 40 per cent price increase. Earlier, Maruti had cut prices of some of its models, after the government reduced excise duty on small cars.