BMW launches new X3 at Rs 44.9 lakh

German luxury carmaker BMW on Thursday launched the updated version of its sports utility vehicle X3 priced up to Rs 49.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The new X3 is available only in diesel option and is being locally produced at the company 's Chennai plant. It goes on sale across the country from Thursday onwards.

"In order to strengthen our presence in the country, we would aggressively expand our product range in the luxury segment," BMW Group India President Philipp von Sahr told reporters in Noida.

The new X3 will be available in two variants priced at Rs 44.9 lakh and Rs 49.9 lakh (ex-showroom). It is equipped with various luxury features, including the eight-speed automatic transmission with cruise control.

The company had first launched the X3 model in 2003, followed by an updated version in 2011. The model launched today is the third generation of the SUV.

Commenting on the future launches, Sahr said the company would launch the M3 sedan, M4 Coupe and the M5 sedan in 2014.

Taking a further step in sustainable mobility, BMW India will also introduce hybrid car i8 in 2014, he added.

The company also plans to expand dealer network in the country by 2015 end by taking the overall number to 50 from 37 currently.

BMW India, which is wholly-owned subsidiary of the Germany's BMW Group, currently produces various vehicles at its Chennai facility including the 1 Series, 3 Series, X1 and X3.

Source : businesstoday.intoday.in

Tata, Volkswagen, Others Agree to Invest $1.9 Billion in India

New Delhi:

Tata Motors Ltd and German carmaker Volkswagen AG are among carmakers that have agreed to invest a total of R

s.

 11,500 Crore ($1.9 billion) to expand their manufacturing capacity in Maharashtra.

The investments would be made under the state government's industrial project policy, which was initiated in 2005 to boost investment in the manufacturing sector.

Tata Motors, India's top automaker by revenue, and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the country's largest utility vehicle maker, agreed to invest R

s.

 4000 crore each, according to a statement issued by the Maharashtra government on Thursday.

Bajaj Auto Ltd said it plans to invest R

s.

 2,000 crore, while Volkswagen agreed to invest R

s.

 1,500 crore.

Mahindra's investment, expected to be made over seven years, will increase the capacity of its plant in Chakan, located 85 miles southeast of India's financial capital Mumbai, to 4.5 million vehicles from 3.2 million.

This will take the total investment in the plant, where it manufactures trucks and buses, to 80 billion rupees, Mahindra said in a separate statement to the stock exchange.

Source : profit.ndtv.com

Zest, Bolt success hold key to Tata Motors car biz profits

Mumbai: The profitability of the struggling domestic unit of Tata Motors, especially that of its passenger car division, depends on the success of the newly launched sedan Zest and the forthcoming roll out Bolt, says global rating agency Moody's.

"The profitability of Tata Motors' passenger car business depends on its ability to sell significant volumes of its new Zest and Bolt models," Moody's said in a statement.

The company has Ba3 stable rating from the agency.

"If TML sells at least 15,000 units a month of the Zest and the Bolt combined, its market share of the passenger car segment would be about 10 percent and re-establish the standing of the car business," Moody's vice-president and senior credit officer Alan Greene said.

"Such a sales figure would be a phenomenal turnaround for the company. It sold an average of 6,300 cars a month in the first four months of the fiscal year," he added.

Tata Motors, this Tuesday launched its first car in four years, in a bid to regain market share and plug losses in its domestic business. The Zest is priced at Rs 4.6 lakh and above and is available in diesel and petrol variants.

The compact sedan Zest competes with the established brands like Maruti D'zire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent. The company plans to launch the hatchback Bolt by the end of the year.

On the company?s credit profile, the agency sees the company demonstrating weaker consolidated credit metrics this fiscal, but does not see any downgrade as it global arm JLR looks to continue to report strong set of numbers, helping to retain the current high rating level.

JLR revenue rose 31 percent to 5.4 billion pounds, while Ebitda jumped 68 percent to 1.1 billion pounds in the June quarter, helping the parent report the best ever net income growth in the past nine quarters which rose nearly fourfold to Rs 5,398.21 crore for the three months to June.

Strong JLR sales helped boost the company's overall margins by a massive 550 bps to 20.3 percent from 15.8 percent a year ago, while margins at the domestic operations fell to minus 2.8 percent from 2.3 percent. Revenue from JLR jumped 54 percent to Rs 54,425.97 crore.

On the other hand, revenue from Tata and other brand vehicles and financing during the quarter were at Rs 9,898.38 crore, down 11.33 percent. JLR paid 150 million pounds dividend to the parent during the quarter. The domestic unit or the parent, has nearly halved net profit to Rs 394 crore, from Rs 703 crore a year ago, as sales have been on the decline for many quarters.

By the domestic arm recorded another very weak quarter during in the June period, with revenue falling 15 percent to Rs 7710 crore, and an Ebitda loss of Rs 220 crore from a gain of Rs 210 crore.

Moody's further said that JLR's strong ability to generate cash offers funding flexibility to the group, circumventing the parent's limited ability to incur additional debt. At the end of the June quarters, JLR's net cash position totaled 1.3 billion pounds.

But the agency warned that it expects the group?s liquidity to deteriorate during the fiscal as JLR is investing around 3.7 billion pounds this fiscal up from 2.7 billion pounds last fiscal. 

Source : zeenews.india.com

Hyundai Elite i20: 5 things you should know about the upcoming Hyundai car

Hyundai, as is their custom close to any launch from their end, are making quite the noise lately - what with all those tantalising leaked images, spy shots or details. This time it's a familiar car, the i20. Make no mistake though. This is the all-new i20 which the carmakers will be launching first in India on August 11 and thereafter in other markets in the world. Here are five things that we know about the car.

1. Looks

The 2015 Hyundai i20 bears little resemblance to the car it will replace. Gone are the rounded edges, instead of which Hyundai designers have chosen to go ahead with more pointed corners. This is the evolution of the Fluidic Design philosophy that the company prosaically calls 2.0. We saw this first in the Grand i10 last year and more recently in the Santa Fe and Xcent. The airdam is a wide piece and features a chrome outline. The bumper has sporty appendages while the fog lamps are wide units.

The headlamps are also big and have inserts within them. Standard now for the i20 range are 15-inch wheels and there will be diamond cut 16-inch alloys on the top end variants. The ORVMs also have blinkers on them while the C-pillar in the spy images looks blacked out. Tail lamps are of the wraparound kind with the turn indicators done up in clear lens. The stop lamp is mounted higher up.

2. Interiors

Like with the exteriors, Hyundai has spruced up the interiors of the car significantly. A three spoke steering wheel replaces the four spoke one in the current car. There is ambient blue backlighting for the switchgear. The steering wheel, like before, will have audio controls on it as well as the tripmeter settings. Push button start is expected to be standard on mid and top level variants.

Creature comforts like automatic climate control and a touch screen music system with 2GB onboard storage will also be part of the features list. The cabin has also grown in size and we can expect more head and legroom. The new i20 will have a rear AC vent like the Grand i10. Boot space though remains the same as in the outgoing car.

3. Safety

The first-gen i20 was a pioneer in terms of safety features. Ever heard of six airbags in a car which costs less than Rs 10 lakh on-road? Well, the i20 offered the same. The new i20 gets an adaptive steering parking assist, a sensor which unlocks the door on impact, ajar warning for all four doors, a reverse camera with parking sensors and of course, four airbags.

4. Ride and handling

Hyundai has been fine tuning the i20's handling at the Nurburgring. The older i20's ride quality was quite satisfactory however the handling was often criticised for being soggy. With the launch of the new i20, we can expect Hyundai to have resolved this issue.

There is also an 'N' version expected later. This will be the performance variant and is expected to run the 90PS diesel engine but with the works including bodykit.

5. Engines

The new i20 can be expected to come with the same engines that power the current gen car. However our sources say that the new i20's petrol and diesel engines will have a higher fuel efficiency as compared to that of its outgoing counterpart. There will be two petrols and one diesel engine with the former enjoying the convenience of a four-speed automatic transmission.

Source :  ibnlive.in.com