Tata Motors reclaims No 2 spot in domestic car market

It is by far the country’s largest automaker by revenues. Its dominance in the lucrative commercial vehicle segment is undiminished, despite a flurry of new entrants in the past few years. Is the car segment the next frontier for Tata Motors to conquer?

The company has never been forthcoming on the issue, but the market is buzzing with speculation about an impending battle between Maruti Suzuki — the incumbent — and Tata Motors for the top slot in the fast-growing car market. The speculation has been fuelled by a better-than-expected performance by its car division in June.

Last month, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market jumped 53% year-on-year to nearly 30,000. This makes it India’s second largest carmaker, ahead of Hyundai Motors India. For Tata Motors, growth was led by the success of its recently launched sedan, Indigo Manza, and a big jump in the delivery of Nano. A strong demand for Manza more than doubled the sales of Indigo to 7,500 units last month, becoming a clear leader in the entry sedan segment.

Nano, meanwhile continues to gain traction after inauguration of its green-field manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat. Last month, Nano sales doubled over the previous month and at this rate, the entry-level hatchback could soon emerge as the largest selling car in the Tata stable.

Tata Motors has done well to reclaim the number two spot in the domestic car market but a shot at the top slot looks well-nigh impossible at the current level. Maruti Suzuki is a strong incumbent with the widest model line-up in the industry.

Most importantly, Maruti has a vice-like grip over the bread and butter compact car segment, with a nearly two-thirds market share and a product portfolio to suit any budget. In contrast, Tata Motors continues to lag in the segment with a slow offtake of its Indica range. In the first three months of FY11, sales of Indica range were up just 8%, much below the industry growth rate.

The company’s ambitions have also been hurt by its failure to notch-up higher volumes in the sports utility vehicles(SUV) segment, with a weak response to its newly-launched Sumo Grande. The company’s SUV sales grew a modest 9% in the month of June 2010 and 20% during the first three months of the current fiscal.

Tata Motors can expect a better show in the segment in future, given the impending launch of its new SUV platform.

GM ends alliance with Reva

Following the M&M-RECC pact, the GM called off its deal with electric car firm and plans to source Volt’s technology from their global electric vehicle.

India’s Mahindra buys Reva majority stake, GM to Develop New India Electric Car, Ends Reva Deal.

Indian car maker Mahindra and Mahindra said on Wednesday it had bought a majority stake in Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car to strengthen its position in the low-emission electric auto market.

Mahindra, India’s largest sports utility vehicle and tractor maker, bought a 55.2 percent stake in Reva, a global leader in producing low-cost electric cars.

The deal includes buying out equity from the promoters of Reva and providing 450 million rupees (9.5 million dollars) in fresh equity, a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange said. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Reva’s promoters, the Maini family, will hold 31% in Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Company while Lon Bell, the co-founder, will hold 11% . Employees with stock options will hold the rest. “We expect that there will be 1.5 million electric cars sold globally. I see no reason why Reva cars will not be 50,000 of that 1.5 million in the next 7 to 10 years; this deal is a part of the larger strategy within the Mahindra group of focusing on sustained mobility,” said Pawan Goenka, president (automotive & farm equipment sectors), Mahindra & Mahindra, who will take over as chairman. Given our expertise in the overall vehicle development, we’ll work closely now with Mahindra Reva to make NXR and NXG a cost competitive and commercially viable product. We have also tied up funds for the first launch for Reva (NXR-NXG).”

GM to Develop New India Electric Car, Ends Reva Deal

Aday after Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd said it was taking a controlling stake in Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Co., General Motors India (GM) scrapped its partnership with the company being acquired, saying it would make use of its own alternative fuel and propulsion technologies. “We plan to look within the General Motors portfolio for alternate technology vehicles,” said Karl Slym, president and managing director of GM India. Its US parent company is working on launching the Volt, a car that runs on batteries and has a small combustion engine that charges the cells as the car runs, giving it a range of 480km. The car is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of this calendar year. The Reva, which operates solely on batteries, has a range of 80km.

The company is on track to launch light commercial vehicles as well as cars brought from its Chinese partner SAIC Corp. by the end of 2011. The cars will be sold in India under the Chevrolet badge. The three light truck models in the one-tonne range will be manufactured at its plant at Halol in Gujarat. It declined to disclose details on the cars to be launched. GM India is a 50-50 partnership between US-based General Motors Corp. and Shanghai-based SAIC Corp.

Price, Features and Specifications of Tata Indigo e-CS sedan

Tata Motors proudly launched the Tata Indigo e-CS as ‘World’s most compact sedan’ which is set at a price starting from Rs. 4,08,000 to Rs. 4,88,000 (ex-showroom price in Delhi). The company aims to make a sedan available to those who want to spend money below Rs.5 lac and yet enjoy this vehicle. It is the most fuel efficient sedan launched by Tata till date.

Tata Indigo has undergone a facelift and Tata has also enhanced some of the features to deliver e-CS to the Indian sedan buyers. The company has launched 4 versions of e- CS: Indigo e-CS eLS, Indigo e-CS eGLS, Indigo e-CS eLX and Indigo e–CS eGLX.

Tata Indigo e-CS will be available in 2 engine options namely 1193cc MPFi Petrol which can develop 65Bhp of maximum power with 100Nm of maximum torque and 1396cc CR4 Diesel engine which can develop 70 Bhp of maximum power with 140 Nm of maximum torque. Both the engines are complaint with BS4 emission norms applicable in 13 cities of India. The all new 1.4 litre CR 4 Common Rail Diesel engine offers a mileage of 23.03 kmpl approved by ARAI. This mileage is the highest for any sedan currently available.

The all new Tata Indigo e-CS comes with revamped features that include new headlamps, new orange turn indicators in headlamps, new white alloy wheels, dual tone beige interiors, electric outside rear view mirrors and integrated turn indicators in outside rear view mirrors. The sedan also includes new music system with Bluetooth and aux port, new satin finish front grille, new instrument cluster with chrome rings and latest brown glaze finish for centre console. The company has also cut the overall length to four meters to avail tax benefits of small cars. Tata Motors has successfully made e-CS a complete package to address space and maneuverability demands in the big and congested cities of India.

Tata Indigo e-CS is available in 4 vibrant colors: Sterling Gold, Starlight Blue, Royal Burgundy and Porcelain White. The ex-showroom price in Delhi for the four models is as follows- e-CS e LS is set at Rs. 4,08,000, e-CS e GLS at Rs. 4,28,000, e- CS e LX at Rs. 4,68,000 and e-CS e GLX 4,88,000.

Special edition of Innova launched by Toyota

Car-maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Wednesday launched a special edition of its multi-purpose vehicle Innova, priced at Rs 8.87 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The special edition, of which only 700 units will be sold, has been launched to commemorate the five years since the launch of the MPV in the Indian market, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

"The Innova has been highly appreciated by our customers and has been the market leader in the MPV segment ever since its launch in 2005. We are focused on constantly upgrading our products based on customer feedback and are now delighted to introduce the all-new edition of the Innova," TKM Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh said.

He said the company has sold over 2.26 lakh units of the Innova since its launch in 2005. It is currently available in four variants in a price range of Rs 8.15 lakh to Rs 11.98 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)

The new special edition will be sold at TKM's dealerships between now and September. Fitted with a newly designed bumper, front grill and rear door varnish, the car will be available in one colour, premium super white.