VW to launch Phaeton in June with a price tag of Rs 76.3 lakh, Vento in three months

The Volkswagen Polo, the German auto major’s offering in the premium hatchback segment, continues to have a waiting period of two-three months, depending on the model and the variant.

This is despite customers paying a deposit of Rs 50,000 on booking. The Chakan plant is ramping up volume, which is approximately 100 cars a day now, for production of the sedan version of the new Polo, called the Vento (which means wind in Portuguese and Italian). Production of this car is expected to begin from July. It will be commercially available later in the year.

Neeraj Garg, member of the board and director cars, Volkswagen India, said they have over 9,000 bookings for the Polo. He said, “A sure sign of the revival in the market is that people are booking the Polo despite having to wait up to three months.”

The diesel variant of the Polo was launched earlier this month. VW India began selling the petrol version of Polo in March. The company will launch its top-of-the-line Phaeton next month with an ex showroom price tag of Rs 76.3 lakh. This will come as VW’s third CBU import, the two others being the Touareg and the new Beetle.

“We have no bookings for the Phaeton since it is in a niche segment,” said Mr Garg. He was speaking to reporters after the formal inauguration of VW’s Pune dealer, Vidyut Motors, its 43rd. VW has dealerships in 37 cities.

VW India president and CEO Joerg Mueller said VW is the only carmaker with a 17 vehicle line up across three brands in the group.

Mr Garg ruled out any cannibalisation of group company Skoda’s Fabia by the Polo hatchback. The entry level Polo is priced lower than Fabia, also a hatchback. Mr Garg said, “The group has a product strategy.. In the market different brands could compete with each other. But there has been no cannibalisation and the brands are not in conflict.”

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.

Hyundai to launch one new car model in India every year

Hyundai Motor India plans to launch a new model every year for the next few years as it seeks to hold its own in a fiercely competitive car market in the country. Besides, it will give a facelift to an existing model every year and also make minor modifications for a model year change.

(Auto makers refresh their line-up with small changes for the new calendar year, which they refer to as model year change.)

Over a buffet dinner at an Indian restaurant in Seoul's shopping district of Itaewon, Mr Han-Woo Park, Managing Director & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, told a group of visiting Indian journalists last week that this will be the company's strategy to meet competition, from the likes of Ford Figo, Chevrolet Beat, Volkswagen Polo and the new WagonR from Maruti Suzuki, besides the spate of new launches planned.

“I will launch minimum three models a year,” he told the journalists, on a visit sponsored by Hyundai Motor India to some of its parent company's facilities in South Korea.

“I feel that competition will be tough this year,” he said, and added that even in the face of the new launches by competitors so far this year, Hyundai Motor India's market share did not drop. This, he attributed to strong marketing and sales and the product line-up. Last year, the company's average market share was 20.6 per cent. In the January-April 2010 period, this increased to 20.7 per cent.

Hyundai Motor India sells the i10, Santro, i20 (all compact cars), Accent and Verna (sedans), and Sonata, a luxury sedan. It plans to launch the Santa Fe sports utility vehicle later this year.

The recently launched Ford Figo compact car has been reporting good sales numbers, especially the diesel option, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the car's sales.

Will he look at a diesel engine option for the i10? Mr Park replied that the company had not thought of this option till now, but might consider it for the new i10, whenever it was launched.

Hyundai Motor India gets 1.1-litre diesel engines from Hyundai Motor Company for the export model i10.

Mr Park was confident of the automobile industry's prospects for this year, with sales expected to grow 10-12 per cent over last year. Hyundai Motor India expected to do slightly better than the industry average.

The company, according to him, will have a stronger rural focus in the coming years. Rural sales accounted for more than a fourth of the company's total sales. From January to April this year, the rural market had grown 27 per cent, with Hyundai's sales growing at about 40 per cent. The company's strategy was to have sales branches in the rural areas to push sales.

When would the company think of expanding capacity? “We will think of it when the domestic sales account for 70-80 per cent of total sales,” said Mr Park. Last year, the domestic and export sales were equally split, with domestic sales growing to 57 per cent this year.

Mr Park was firm in stating that the company would not yield any more ground to a section of the workers which is threatening an agitation.

Last year, he said, the company took back 20 of the dismissed 87 employees. But some of them had agitated against the management, even when they were still serving their probation period. There was demand to take back some more of the dismissed workers.

Mr Park said “we will take a firm stand this time. We will not reinstate even one person.” On humanitarian grounds, the company was trying for an out-of-court settlement. “We have reached a settlement with four persons and are negotiating with a few more,” he said.

The industrial relations scenario was a major issue for the company, he said, and added that it would not be possible to run a large organisation if the company had to repeatedly compromise its stand. Moreover, it would affect the other industrial units in Sriperumbudur area, where Hyundai Motor India's plant is located.

“I don't think reinstatement is the only option for a settlement on humanitarian grounds. An out-of-court settlement is also an option,” said Mr Park.

BMW to launch electric car, MegaCity, in 2013

When everyone is going green, BMW does not want to be left behind in the race. Yes, we are talking about the latest trend, well known as electric cars, that has become so popular among the global car manufacturers.

BMW will launch a new car in 2013 which will run entirely on electricity. BMW had earlier announced that it will launch its first-ever full electric production vehicle, MegaCity in 2013, which is two years earlier than expected. This car would run primarily on electricity stored in a battery and the MegaCity urban electric vehicle will be built of carbon fibre.

BMW has forged a partnership with the composites expert SGL Group to construct a new plant in Moses Lake, Washington. This plant will produce lightweight carbon-fibre materials for auto industry applications. The total cost of the plant is likely to go beyond $100 million.

Carbon fibre weighs less and hence plays a very important role in reducing a car’s total energy consumption. The MegaCity will be built on carbon fibre which would enhance its green sustainability. It will be sold primarily in over-populated cities.

The firm's "Megacity" car "will be an emission-free city vehicle for metropolitan areas around the world," the Munich-based firm said in a statement.

The MegaCity is expected to be a four-seat, three-door hatchback. All MegaCity cars will run solely on electricity stored in a 16-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack.

BMW has now produced two electric cars so far: the two seat Mini E, which is currently being tested in the US, UK and Europe, and the new Active E Concept which introduced at the last month's Detroit Auto Show.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, is also expected to launch its electric cars in 2013.