Delhi Auto Expo 2010

January 25th, 2010

Major domestic and International auto makers participated in Delhi auto expo 2010 – from 5th January to 11th January 2010 making it a huge success.  The Indian Cars Expo is also claimed that it was the world’s second biggest automobile exhibition. It saw a footfall of over 2 million people.  The Indian car event managed solid competition to its previous big brothers the Tokyo Motor Show and The Detroit Auto Show.

Japanese car makers like Honda, Toyota, as well as other global auto giants like Volkswagen and Generals Motors all participated showcasing an interesting mix of cars.   It can’t get any bigger than this.  Delhi Auto Expo saw 2100 participants from 20 countries, and the launching of 25 new models worldwide.  Small cars, super cars, SUVs, accessories all at one place!

India Auto Expo 2010

Delhi Auto Expo 2010

“Etios”, a specially designed car developed for the Indian audience was launched by the Japanese Automobile company Toyota.  Volkswagen’s much anticipated “Super –Mini Polo” was also showcased at this year’s expo.  Compact cars rule 70% of the market and the only way to break in is to have an array of car models which are small.

Honda wasn’t far behind.  It had been keeping its newest car a secret till now.  It announced its latest car “New Small Concept” making its presence felt.  This compact car is designed specifically for the Indian Automobile Market.

General Motors announced its radical and different looking car “Beat’. $7000 is what the beat is priced which 3,34,000 rupees in Indian currency.  The American based company is looking to sell this car worldwide. “Polo” India made of Volkswagen was also on display.

Meanwhile Maruti Suzuki unleashed the “Kizashi” which was displayed in last year’s expo. “Kizashi” is Suzuki’s first step towards premium cars.  It has been brushing shoulders with the GM Cruze, Skoda Laura and Honda Civic in terms of competition.  It has a six speed engine mated to manual transmission..

In the SUV market, Czech car maker Skoda introduced “Yeti” and Korean car maker Hyundai introduced the “Santa Fe’.  These vehichles are competing with Ford Endeavour, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Fortuner.

The exhibition lasted seven days with 1.25 square meters of pure exhilaration!  It featured global releases designed for Indian consumers who have also been termed the “sweet spot” of the market currently.

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Volkswagen to relaunch Beetle in India

November 18th, 2009

German automaker Volkswagen will be re-launching its popular car Beetle in India this year. Beetle, better known as the people’s car, is expected to run on Indian roads by December 2009. The classic car – Beetle – has its own historical impact on the auto industry and is one of the most successful models that the German car manufacturer has ever produced.

Volkswagen is already selling the Touareg, Jetta and Passat models in Indian car market. Beetle is looked by Volkswagen as a brand building strategy for to get into the competitive Indian compact car segment. Volkswagen does not bother about the competition with any other imported smaller cars as Beetle has its own product segment.

beetle car india

Volkswagen is also planning to launch their best selling small car Polo hatchback by early next year. The new VW Polo hatchback is currently under development and expected to be available with a more affordable price. The car will be designed to suit Indian buyer preferences. Volkswagen intends to use the Beetle for building its brand as it plans to enter the Indian compact car segment by next year.

The assembling of Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen cars is done at company’s production plants at Aurangabad and Chakan in India . The company’s production in this plant is at full swing. They have increased their work force by additional 1500 employees so as to double the production.

Beetle has a 5-speed manual transmission with 1.9-litre TDI diesel engine. Its safety features include anti-skid system, ABS, standard front and side airbags and traction control. Beetle is packed with other features like cruise control, and rain sensor. It also has a rear parking sensors to facilitate fitting the car into small parking spaces. Some critics had predicted this car as a complete failure due to its underpowered motor, peculiar styling, rough ride and noisy engine. Nevertheless the car bucked all trends and has made history.

In European market, Beetle is sold for around 17,000 Euros (Rs. 11,86,000). However, it will be costlier for Indians as the car has to be imported. According to Indian import regulations, a direct import almost doubles the price of a car. So, Beetle is estimated to be priced around Rs. 20 lakh and above. This is a bit steep for the Indian market if you compare with that the price of Tata Nano, which is just around Rs. 125,000 for the base model.  The company’s target is to acquire 8-10% share in the Indian passenger car market within the next 6 years, and it plans to achieve it by launching Beetle in Indian small car market.

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India’s growing economy and Automobile sector

November 18th, 2009

Indian economy is growing at a rapid rate of about 7% in the past decade, since 1997.  The Indian urban population is growing at the rate of 2.4% per year and currently 29% of Indian population is urbanized.  With this transformation, the Indian middle-class and upper middle class is growing.  It is this growing middle class in the urban areas of India who are going for items like cars, scooters, motorcycles, designer clothes, air conditioners – which were once considered as luxury items. These upwardly mobile families are responsible for the huge domestic growth in sales of automobiles in India during the last decade.  In Indian urban areas, penetration of cars has increased from 1.61% to 9.14% and two wheeler penetrations has increased from 2.93% to 28.2% in just last 10 years.  Thus, Automobile Industry in India has seen a remarkable growth and at present it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world.  It’s no wonder why automobile leaders like Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, General Motors, Hyunai, and Suzuki are now targeting Indian car market.

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Toyota targets Indian Small Car Market

November 12th, 2009

Toyota is world’s biggest automaker, but surprisingly in India it has only three percent market share.  Toyota wants to make its mark in Indian car market as well where the top selling brands are Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata.  India is emerging as 2nd largest auto market in the world and Toyota wants to capture this market.  Toyota Motor plans to achieve this goal by launching its first small car in India by end of 2010.  It will be showcased in upcoming Auto Expo in January 2010 to be held at New Delhi, India.

Toyota in INDIA – Current Status

Currently Toyota manufactures Fortuner- sport utility vehicle, Corolla sedan and Innova a multipurpose vehicle.  Other Vehicles which Toyota import and markets includes Camry sedan, Qualis, Land Cruiser Prado SUV and Land Cruiser.

Toyota begun its operation around 11 years ago in India and since then it has crossed the sales of over 400,000 units. At present company is known as Toyota Kirloskar Motors as it is joint venture between Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motors. 89 percent shares of Toyota Kirloskar Motors are owned by Toyota Motors Co., while the remaining shares are owned by India’s Kirloskar group.

Toyota’s Plan for Small Cars in India

For Toyota’s upcoming project to manufacture small car they have set the benchmark as Hyundai i20 and Maruti Swift.  Toyota plans to make the car 10 % more fuel efficient than the i20 and Swift.  The new model of Toyota will be powered by four cylinder 1.2 liter gasoline engine and at later stage it will also consider diesel option.  Toyota is still deciding on engine specifications in order to get the benefits of excise duty for small cars.  At present, in India, small car engines are charged 8% duty against 20% duty levied on big car engines.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors will start manufacturing the small car at its 2nd industrial unit which is being built up at Bangalore with the investment of about Rs. 32 billion (US$ 680 million). Toyota’s new plant will be located in the same complex of their existing factory.

Toyota Motors Co.  plans to follow the footsteps of global car makers like Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd and Ford Motor Co. and venture in the India’s small car market.  Understanding the fact that India is price-sensitive market, Toyota is trying hard to reduce the costs.  To make it cost competitive Toyota is considering importing auto parts from other ASEAN countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

Major chunk of Indian Auto market is captured by Hyundai Motor Co., Tata Motors Ltd. and Suzuki Motor Corp. With the introduction of small car in India, Toyota is planning to improve the market share in Indian automobile market.

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