Auto India, Car India

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Seven new models such as one motorcycle, a scooter and five cars will soon hit the roads in the months of October and November in the season, which coincides with the festivals of Diwali, Durga Puja, Navrantra, considered favorable for big-ticket purchases. Same like in the past, a few models have been developed from scratch and go beyond simple refreshes as well as cosmetic changes. The launching of new models comes in the backdrop of increasing interest rates and petrol costs, which have greatly insisted a number of purchasers to put off buying plans.

The sales of car slewed 11 percent in India for the second successive august month to almost 144,516 unites from the previous year. Hyundai Eon and Honda Brio models mark the entrance in sections, which have been throttleholds of the Company Maruti Suzuki India LTD for decades for local arms of both the companies Hyundai Motor Co and Honda Motor Co. The Honda Brio model scheduled to launch on 27^th September with the cost of 4.5 lakh. Honda Brio will be the first bet of Honda in the small car section, which account for minimum 75% of the local market. Continue Reading »

Maruti Suzuki India is quite confident that the impact of the strike by the workers at the Manesar plant will not have much impact on the sales this festival season. The company has recorded bookings of about 1.08 lakh units of Swift. The management is certain that the labor issue will soon be sorted out and it will not impact the supply of the new Swift model.

On August 29, 950 workers were asked not to enter the plant till they sign a “good conduct bond”. This was done when it was found that the quality of the cars produced in the plant were not up to the mark. Only 116 workers have signed the bond till now. The company has faced a loss of about 900 crores and the production of 18,000 units of the car till date.

Mayank Parekh, the Managing Executive Officer of the Marketing and Sales division of Maruti Suzuki India remarked that “The demand for Swift is huge. It is the supply side which we had a problem in the first part of this month, but that is gradually coming to normal levels.” He seemed quite confident that the supply constraints would not have any effect on the sales during the month of October. Continue Reading »

Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki India LTD, that has experienced labor unrest from the month of June, is trying to roll out a new compact car for getting the benefit of reduced tax rates on models, which are short than 4 meter in length. Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki that recently introduced swift hatchback since the protest of the workers began on the 29^th August is testing the sub-4-metre car built on the swift platform to introduce in the month of January during Delhi Auto Expo according to the company officials.

A-star hatchback and SX4 car is made by the Manesar factory. Manesar factory produces 1,200 cars a day. Swift 3.99, the new car is developed by investing the amount of almost 500 crore. This car is being developed to target at markets outside India since people living in Latin America and Europe like fuel-effective and small cars as the slowdown in the worldwide economy lessens the gains. Minimum 20 cars are there including a few left-hand drives meant for overseas markets. It has been suggested not to take the picture of the car.

“We have started the trial runs,” said an official at the plant, who did not want to be named and refused to share more details. A formal name for the car has not been decided. “If the trial runs have started, then it is quite possible that we may see the car much before the Auto Expo,” said Shapur Kotwal, deputy editor, Autocar India magazine. Continue Reading »

The persistent label conflicts in Manesar Facility that has affected the supply of both the models such as Dzire and Swift that has created the issues for Maruti that is already reeling under increasing acceptance of its diesel versions of GM Beat, Toyota Etios, Liva, Ford Figo and VW Polo.”We have lowered our 2012-13 volume estimates by 4 per cent to 1.46 million by factoring in a 200 basis point lower domestic passenger vehicle market share at 43 per cent for MSIL. On the back of prolonged labour-related issues at Manesar and assuming that normal production is restored by October, we have reduced our financial year 2012 estimated volume further by 7 per cent to 1.26 million,” said Mr Basudeb Banerjee, an auto analyst. Continue Reading »

Suzuki Company has greatly managed for keeping the amusement going with the swift sport. Good performing machines are famous for its suppleness and handling on different types of terrains. It is the idea of every manufacturer to make a car, which performs well with ease. Hence, Suzuki Company has introduced the new Suzuki Swift Sport in the Frankfurt Motor show this year. This newly introduced Suzuki Swift Sport reproduces a more supple character. Talking about the feature of Swift Sport is its handling excellence and one can enjoy driving this vehicle with sheer pleasure.

Other features of this Swift Sport are the big front grille hints in the center of the car ticked under the hood and perfectly set fog lamps increase the beautify of the car. Special aerodynamic parts of Swift Sport for controlling the airflow suppress lift and even provide this car a lower visual centre of gravity. Other things that increase the visibility of the car are great intensity discharge lamps made with metabolic grey coating and designer rear combination lamps. The interior of the Swift Sport is the same like the recently launched Maruti Suzuki Swift like gearshift cover in rd, stitching on steering wheel cover and seats. An organized look is given to the car through instrument cluster with five dial meter.

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India’s biggest automaker is all set for a major project to take on of launching 15-20 new vehicles in five years. To remain competitive in the market, the automaker will continue to focus more on low-cost vehicles with 70-80% of its upcoming offerings are possibly to be in small car segments. It will include mostly facelifts and variants.

Out of the planned vehicles, five are already in the advanced stages of development. The company probably may roll out sub-4 meter Swift Dzire at the Auto Expo2012 in Delhi. It will be followed by a multi-purpose vehicle based on the R-III concept, an A Star facelift, next gen Alto 800 and Ritz backlift by early 2013. Continue Reading »

At the Manesar factory of Maruti Suzuki India LTD, production of new cars was hit when the company announced that it would only permit workers who accepted and signed a good conduct bond to work in the company, mentioning indiscipline and damage by workouts in the last 2 months during a strike in the month of June. Such move could even hit the new car’s production, the famous swift that has attained almost 85,000 bookings only within ten days after its launching even if Maruti executives told that the firm was in the probability to move its production to its Gurgaon Plant.

This fight could even curved into broad labor disaster in Gurgaon, Manesar belt in Haryana, which houses the factories of a number of auto companies with the president of the Haryana CTTU chapter of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Satbir Singh. Unions of a few other farms would even join the workers of Maruti for protesting against the action taken by the company. Continue Reading »

New Maruti Suzuki Swift is one of the most awaited cars of the year as even before its launch, the car had heavy bookings for diesel model and petrol too. It is one of the most beloved and best-selling cars of Maruti which is all set to enthrall its customers with its new design and upgraded version. Here are some of the customer’s reaction to it and their expectations from the new version before its launch.

Sameer Takalkar of Mumbai says, “I have heard so many reviews from my friends and relatives that I could not wait for the new Swift launch. It looks much more powerful and efficient than the K-series. I have already booked the diesel variant and I am just waiting for the delivery.” Continue Reading »

As the domestic of auto market is on a downhill sliding position due to extensive fuel hikes and increase in the interest rates of the banks, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have decided to cut its production as the auto industry brace up for single digit sales growth rate this economy.

However, car producers are hoping positively for a sales growth due to new launches, including MSI’s Swift, Volkswagen’s Jetta, Honda’s Jazz and Brio and newly launched General Motor’s Beat, diesel version.
A Tata spokesperson said, “Our production is exactly as per demand. We keep in mind the need to keep inventories at both the company and dealers’ end in balance.”
He further added, “If there is a requirement for adjustment in production, the company does it. At the moment there is a slowdown in demand.” Continue Reading »

 Maruti’s super seller premium hatchback Swift is up for a major overhaul. Swift was rolled out of Maruti’s garage for the first time in the year 2005 and has been a rage among the youth, owing to its sporty sub-compact. Maruti Dealers have started accepting bookings for the new model of Swift, the car has been codenamed as YP8 and the trials of it are on in the Manesar plant.

This B to B+ segment Hatchback sells close to 5000 units every month, Swift’s arrival had set the Indian hatchback segment on fire, with all the auto manufacturers vying to jump on the premium Hatchback bandwagon by launching their own models. In spite of multiple offerings in this segment, the popularity of Swift has never taken a beating. Continue Reading »