Indian Autos Thread

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bart
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by bart »

archit wrote:
John Snow wrote:If GOLDB(L)UM can be a human name
and BILL LORRY (Australian Cricket team captain in 1960/70s actually spelled Lowry)

Why cant Truker Mann be a human may be germanic name from India? :mrgreen:
:D :D :D

I am convinced that my experience at BRF would be resourceful regardless of my identity. Thanks Rahul, for doing the needful.

With an alternative forum-handle, I hoped to share and initiate dialogue on some modest bits of classified information that I am privy to. Obviously I can't do that now, you know, some of the cons of a slightly rare-ish name.

For now, I am sitting here staring at the pictures of the Tata Motors' World Truck, wondering what military functions it has the potential of performing. Any guesses? Can it take head on, the fleet of Tatra 12x12s for missile launch vehicles?

@Mods, is this the right place for such questions? There is certainly no existing discussion in any other section of BRF, that i could find. Thanks...
Architji, welcome to the forum.

IIRC Tatra motors was bought for a song by a JV between NRI owned Vectra and Terex which is mining equipment maker. It would have been easy for an Indian company to buy it. IIRC Tatra's basic engineering is still pretty good, evidenced by the number of Dakar rallies they have won in recent years.

Perhaps they can still be bought out.

300 HP+ Trucks like the world truck from Tata can definitely be good tank carriers. If they can build something of an articulated truck for towing artillery etc it will be good. Otherwise both Tata and Ashok Leyland have 6x6 and 8x8 trucks, in addition to the licensed built Tatras from BEML. You can look up the Defexpo pictures elsewhere on BR for pictures of several such vehicles.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Ameet »

Speculation only: Nano at Fiat-Chrysler showrooms in US?

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06 ... showrooms/
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by nikhil_p »

On the TATA world truck program...I have seen one of the pre production vehicles (a dumper) up close. Our company is a supplier of the transmissions for the range and I was being tested on our site...Believe me the vehicle is AWESOME...quality not seen on Indian trucks, very comparable to Volvo's and the MAN's now on roads.
AMW (Asia Motor Works) was started as an assembler of vehicles. I have seen quite a few of them on the mumbai Pune Hwy...From what I have spoken with a couple of trucker friends they are cheaper alternatives to the Volvo FM and FH series.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Satya_anveshi »

hnair wrote:Only an H&D seeking company run by jernails equipped with morale-sapping SRBMs would buy Hummer brand amidst the changing world opinion about big cars and the impending penalities in owning big vehilces. dont those Wall Street YumBeeAys look more sober...
HNair ji,

You got to give it to the chinese on this one. Imagine the status of H&D of the redneck buyers (majority of the buyers?) of this vehicle and now they are owning a chinese vehicle. What a sellout the US Government and GM have proven to the most hardcore of the Americas :lol:

The ony thing funnier would have been a Saudi or North Korean company or government owning this brand/vehicle.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Skanda »

bart wrote:BTW, why is the GM bigwig in the below ad winking:
http://www.chevrolet.co.in/content_data ... dence.html
:mrgreen:
Karl Slym is always like that. He has a problem with his eye.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by arun »

Top Selling Car Models in India (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, Units Sold)

Maruti Alto …………… 212,568
Maruti WagonR ……… 134,768
Tata Indica ……………. 111,256
Maruti Swift ………….. 110,071
Hyundai I10 ………….. 106,095
Hyundai Santro ………. 91,478

Six old faithfuls race ahead in the Indian car market
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Neela »

Jaguar said to have electric XE in pipeline
As with the Chevy Volt, the electric XE will be able to cover a given distance using the battery pack alone, after which the petrol engine will kick in to drive the electric motors through a generator and to re-charge the battery pack.

A similar power train is rumoured to be scheduled for the new XJ saloon due to be unveiled – at least with conventional petrol and diesel engines - next month.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Sanjay M »

Tata May Turn Nano Into Electric Vehicle

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New ... 664522.cms
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by svinayak »

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... 7hSULUYEX8


Mahindra to Help India Beat China to U.S. Auto Market
By Alan Ohnsman and Vipin V. Nair

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s largest maker of sport-utility vehicles, is betting its diesel pickup trucks can beat the Chinese to the U.S. market.

Early next year, Mumbai-based Mahindra plans to start selling small 2- and 4-door pickups with a diesel engine that meets California’s strict exhaust rules. U.S. plans for Chinese brands such as Chery Automobile Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. have yet to materialize, five years into their announcements.

“Once you establish the brand, volumes will come,” Pawan Goenka, Mahindra’s president in charge of the automotive business, said in a June 16 interview. “There is a hole available to us which is not populated.”

Mahindra’s trucks will arrive in the U.S. even as recession and job losses have pushed auto sales to the lowest in three decades, triggering bankruptcy filings for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. A weak economy and cheaper diesel prices may help the Indian automaker win buyers seeking a bargain, said industry analyst Eric Noble.

“It’s not a bad time to launch a durable, value-oriented brand,” said Noble, president of Car Lab, an Orange, California-based consulting firm for automakers. “There’s no real competition in compact trucks with a diesel powertrain.”

“Totally Unknown”

With a brand that’s “totally unknown” to U.S. customers, an Indian automaker will face the same challenges Hyundai Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. faced when they entered the world’s largest economy, said Puneet Gupta, a New Delhi-based analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. In India, Mahindra makes Scorpio and Bolero SUVs.

“It’s a big challenge,” Gupta said. “Selling a very cheap vehicle may not work. Selling in a matured market may also spoil your reputation if your product is not up-to-the expectations of customers there.”

Mahindra’s shares have more than doubled this year in Mumbai trading. That’s the best performance in the benchmark 30- share Sensex index during that period.

The vehicles will be “competitive” with similar vehicles in the range of $20,000 to less than $30,000, Goenka said, without giving a specific price. The company has spent between $60 million and $70 million in reworking its Scorpio SUV into a pickup for the U.S. market. Mahindra has set up a network of 336 dealers throughout the country.

Fuel Economy

Mahindra expects the pickups to get at least 30 miles per gallon in highway driving and carry a payload of at least 2,600 pounds. By comparison, Toyota’s gasoline-engine Tacoma, the best-selling small pickup in the U.S., gets 26 mpg on the highway and can carry 1,570 pounds in its bed. Diesel engines are generally at least 20 percent more fuel efficient than gasoline engines.

Key to Mahindra starting sales on schedule will be completing U.S. crash and safety tests by August, said Larry Daniel, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc., Mahindra’s distributor.

“We’re cutting it close, but are confident the trucks will do well in the tests,” Daniel said in a June 12 interview.

Mahindra was set up in 1945 as a franchise to assemble Jeeps of Willys, according to its Web site. The automaker later had a partnership with Ford Motor Co. and now makes the Logan sedan with Renault SA in India.

India Engineering

While China’s auto market has drawn more attention, India’s experience in the industry is longer, broader and more sophisticated, said Noble. China is the world’s largest auto market in the first five months of the year, ahead of the U.S.

“Probably half the global vehicle structural analysis for automakers gets done overnight in India,” Noble said. “Indian engineers have been part of the fabric of the automotive industry for 15 years. China’s engineering capabilities are much more nascent.”

Honda, which entered the U.S. pickup market four years ago with the midsize Ridgeline model, said Mahindra should be viewed as a serious competitor.

“We discount any new entrants at our own peril,” John Mendel, Honda’s U.S. executive vice president, said in a June 11 interview. “I think they can get it right.”
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Jay »

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/18/your ... ahindra-p/

Moi been saving dallarah to buy a compact car, but would definitely consider a MM just to thumb my nose.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Purush »

Remember how a few months ago, Porsche tried to take over VW by secretly buying up their stock....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/busin ... ref=global
FRANKFURT — When Wolfgang Porsche learned that his family’s sports-car maker, once bent on taking over Volkswagen, now had to beg its giant rival for money, he looked as if he were going to faint.
A day later, on March 23, fax machines around Germany spit out a piece of paper for Volkswagen’s board members to sign: an emergency loan of €700 million, or $977 million, for Porsche from its former prey — Volkswagen.
Mr. Porsche is now on the verge of accepting Porsche’s integration into Volkswagen, rather than the hoped-for David-versus-Goliath takeover. On top of that embarrassment, Porsche also is seeking outside investors and a government bailout.

“This is becoming a reverse takeover on a financial level,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, head of automotive research at Credit Suisse in London. “Porsche has debt and VW has the luxury of cash.”
In October, Porsche set off an epic “short-squeeze” by announcing that it had shares and options equal to nearly 75 percent of Volkswagen’s stock.

That forced hedge funds and traders who had sold the shares short — a process that involves lending them out — to buy them back at astronomical prices. For a brief period, VW was the world’s most valuable company. The Porsche finance chief, Holger Härter, was a minor legend, the German who had beaten London and New York traders at their own game.

But, in retrospect, Porsche appears to have scored a Pyrrhic victory.

Getting the last 8 percent to 10 percent of Volkswagen it bought may have been what broke Porsche, according to a person familiar with its finances, who requested anonymity because the subject involved confidential data. Porsche appears to have paid about €6 billion for that segment of stock, enlarging its debt load at precisely the moment that capital markets turned reluctant to lend money anew.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by bart »

Nothing wrong with Porsche aspiring to buy VW, it was after all Ferdinand Porsche who founded VW and designed its most famous car.

And they had a decent shot at doing it since they were a few years back the most profitable car company in the world.

However they seem to have suddenly gone through a bout of Paklogic and overreached themselves. Either ways it wont be a bad thing for Porsche and VW to merge since they share a lot of technology and have too much in common.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Ameet »

Your old Chrysler dealership may soon sell Mahindras

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/ca ... e-Pickups/

Highlights:

The Detroit Free Press reports, "Chrysler's decision to cut 25% of its dealerships is providing an opportunity for Indian car and truck manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra to enter the U.S. market quickly." A pair of Detroit-area dealerships, recently cut loose by Chrysler, are blazing the path. The two, along with a nearby Ford dealership, "expect to begin selling their first Mahindra compact pickups this fall."

Autoblog explains, "The Indian truck manufacturer is sweeping in to sign up recently booted Chrysler dealers to sell their fuel efficient diesel pickups. Mahindra is hoping to soon have 300 dealers online and ready to sell the inexpensive trucks," and hundreds of "experienced, ready-for-business Chrysler dealerships are like a gift placed in the lap" of the company.

The company will initially offer only a compact, diesel-powered pickup truck. But the Free Press notes, "Mahindra will offer a small SUV in fall 2010," with a price "of $13,000 to $15,000. The pickups will be imported from India for the first six months. Mahindra plans to assemble them through a contract manufacturing partner in the United States by mid-2010."
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Ameet »

US Based SDREs can sign up to be among the first to test drive a Mahindra truck here:

http://www.mahindrana.com/test-drive-mahindra.html
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Dileep »

Won't they incur the "chicken tax" if the import CBUs?
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Bade »

So is Mahindra offering their SUV with Automatic transmission for the Indian markets too like they are planning for the US markets ?

added later: seems like they already did in 2008 :oops: well under my radar looking for cheap auto trans vehicles in India This one starting at Rs 8+ lakhs only.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by svinayak »

Dileep wrote:Won't they incur the "chicken tax" if the import CBUs?
Even assembly work is a good job in NA.

Auto Parts will be sourced from the cheapest region in the world.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by bart »

Has anybody test driven the new Honda Jazz or Fiat Punto, both recently launched in India?

Jazz looks really nice and practical, but the price is a bummer...8L+ OTR for a 1.2 L engine is a bit steep regardless of how well packaged it is. Honda seems to have gotten carried away with positioning themselves as 'Premium'. It will be interesting to see how well it sells, perhaps the Beemer and Merc driving folks will buy it as first car for their kids. :)

Punto seems to be much better value.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Sanjay M »

TIME on Mahindra's plan to sell trucks/SUVs in the US:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 17,00.html
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Jamal K. Malik »

Bajaj unveils world's 'most fuel efficient' engine
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... ne/361954/
The second-largest motorcycle manufacturer in the country, Bajaj Auto, today unveiled the second generation or version 2.0 of the DTS – Si engine. The Digital Twin Spark Swirl Induction technology engine series, says the company, is the world’s most fuel efficient engine and will feature in a new motorcycle the company hopes to unveil next month. Company executives hinted it may be featured in a vehicle that falls in the 125-135cc category.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Kakkaji »

Indian automakers aim to eat Detroit's lunch
Mahindra & Mahindra's small diesel-powered trucks to go on sale here by the end of this year, while Tata Motors' Nano car is slated stateside in 2011.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It wasn't too long ago that the thought of buying a reliable car from Korea seemed laughable. Today, Korean vehicles are common fare and automakers from India are getting ready to invade the U.S. market.

Experts say their vehicles are no joke. Plus, Detroit's turmoil could give Indian automakers a foot in the door here.

With General Motors and Chrysler both looking to save money, in part by trimming their dealer ranks, hundreds of new-car dealers could be ready to sign up with new competitors like these.

By the end of 2009, U.S. auto shoppers will be able to buy a mid-sized Mahindra pick-up truck and already almost 350 dealerships have signed on to sell it nationwide

In addition, Tata Motors has said it intends to begin selling its Nano microcar here by 2011 for those seeking an ultra-cheap and fuel-efficient vehicle.

Who's going to drive Indian? While it's targeted at a core part of America's vehicle market, Mahindra's truck is unusual by American standards. Global Vehicles hopes the trucks' unique features will appeal to cost-conscious but open-minded truck buyers.

The typical customer will be an "independent thinker" with an active lifestyle, said Larry Daniel, Global Vehicles' vice-president for sales.

"They don't really care what people think of what they drive," he said.

The trucks are much smaller than full-sized rigs like the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram. They are closest in size to mid-size trucks like the Dodge Dakota but their cargo beds are about as big as the big trucks'. With high ground clearance, a tall cab and large bed, the trucks look oddly proportioned compared to competitors.

Most importantly, the Mahindra trucks are diesel-powered. Diesel engines produce more pulling power than gasoline engines while getting better fuel mileage. Mahindra boasts that it's truck, with its 4-cylider diesel engine and 6-speed transmission, will get 30 miles per gallon on the highway and will also be able to haul more than competitors' V6-powered trucks.

The relatively high cost of diesel engines, combined with the additional technology required to make dirty diesel emissions conform to air quality rules in all 50 states, has so far kept major manufacturers from offering diesel in smaller trucks, Levine said.

Currently, diesel engines are used only in the biggest pickups sold in America, ones intended for strictly commercial use.

Buyers of smaller trucks would probably snap up diesel-powered ones, some analysts say, because truckers understand diesel.

"They realize what both the power fuel economy benefits of diesel are," said Mike Levine, an editor for the Web site Pickuptrucks.com.

Mahindra insists it can sell its truck here in the low $20,000 range. That's in spite of a 25% tariff on imported pick-ups that has even foreign companies like Toyota and Nissan building their trucks here. Mahindra might open its own factory here, too, in order to beat the tariff, but only if sales take off.

India's key to success. Mahindra's truck sales may benefit from the fact that, in rural markets, the name is already well known, said Levine. Mahindra is already one of the biggest-selling tractor manufacturers in the American market and even sponsors a Nascar team.

The first couple of years will be critical to Mahindra's success, said Levine. If other truck manufacturers decide to offer diesel engines in their better-known small truck models, that could undercut Mahindra's main selling point, especially if they can do it at a similarly low price.

Beyond that, Mahindra just has to keep an eye on quality.

"The two questions will be final pricing and the trucks' reliability and dependability," Levine said.

If the Mahindra trucks aren't rock solid, they will be quickly shrugged off, he said.

Mahindra trucks probably won't sweep the market right off, said Jeff Schuster, an analyst with J.D. Power and Associates. With so much on the line, the trucks will probably get a slow-rolling, toe-in-the-water introduction he said.

"I think it's likely to be in limited quantities and with limited fanfare, at least initially," he said.

Global Vehicles, for its part, insists that there will be a strong retail market for these trucks, but Levine and Schuster both argue that commercial fleet buyers, focused on functionality and cost over style, will be the more likely buyers for these vehicles.

Despite changes to improve the trucks' interior amenities and exterior design for the competitive U.S. market, the Mahindra truck will still be more of a rough-and-tumble work truck than the nearly car-like conveyance American buyers are used to, said Levine. Global Vehicles really ought to concentrate on commercial buyers, he suggested.

"I think fleet is an optimal way for them to get in and have them win," he said.

Schuster agrees that ordinary, non-business truck buyers will be slow to warm up to a new entry.

"The small commercial use person or contractor or someone that just needs a truck for hauling," is how Schuster describes a likely customer, not the fun-loving, motorcycle-carrying young man Global Vehicles' Daniel said the importer envisions.

Still, by entering the market with a diesel-powered mid-sized truck, a product that strikes at a weak spot in the market, Mahindra is smartly treading the path of least resistance, said J.D. Power's Schuster. Americans like trucks and they're becoming more interested in fuel economy.

When Tata Motors enters the market later it will be trying to sway buyers toward a much smaller car than Americans are used to at a price that will compete against larger used compact cars from well-known brands.

"The risk associated with the Nano is much greater than Mahindra's risk with the truck," he said.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by achit »

Ameet wrote:US Based SDREs can sign up to be among the first to test drive a Mahindra truck here:

http://www.mahindrana.com/test-drive-mahindra.html
Done!!
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by a_kumar »

Tatas to inject millions of pounds into JLR
Meanwhile, the Financial Times in its report published online on Sunday noted that the cash injection from Tatas has bought ministers breathing space to respond to demands for multi-billion pound loan guarantees from the car sector.

Quoting a government insider, the daily said, "They (Tata) have managed to solve the immediate difficulties so may be they can resolve some others as well."

Last week, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had said the government does not have "an open cheque book" for ailing private companies and Tatas have the "first responsibility" to ensure the survival of the luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover.

According to the Financial Times, Mandelson is considering whether "Jaguar Land Rover still needs government backing to get through the recession or whether Tata can be called on for further cash support".
Pretty slick.. huh?
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Virupaksha »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 711987.cms
Tata Motors launches Jaguar, Land Rover brands in India

MUMBAI: The country's top automaker, Tata Motors, on Sunday launched in India its marquee car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which it had acquired from the US car maker Ford.
So finally tata brings them to India. Guess this was the time they required to firm up dealer ships and other issues - Total time ~1 year, not too bad, not too perfect either.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by suryag »

I would like to see atleast one glitzy ad in the US portraying M&M as coming from India and then a followup review in a magazine which compliments Indian engineering for the durability, endurance and bang for the buck that the truck provides
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by ArmenT »

^^^^
Well, Mahindra is already known as a brand in rural America. For instance:


And then there's this article from Australia about the SUV (which does mention it is made in India):
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by p_saggu »

The mahindra truck was run down by the critics in their test drives in Australia. It was said to be of very poor finish quality. The interiors were of poor quality.
The crash tests were also said to be barely adequate.
But they all agreed on the sturdiness of the machine.

This is probably why M&M is hoping for a cautious launch targetting a no-frills economy loving segment of workers in the US for now.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by svinayak »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACnCntTrxmE

They have all these video of how they did various tasks and teach others about Mahindra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgP9il5tQww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOLvg3ZC-ww
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by VikB »

Hats off to Mahindras. They are amongst the few Indian companies I see as having spunk and who are aggressive. There were naysayers when they launched their tractors in US but they proved all wrong.
I hope that this trait of aggressiveness permeats to many more of our companies and people.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by VikB »

pandyan wrote:There is one more to list..Asia Motor Works based in Gujarat. Has anyone seen their trucks plying on the inter-city roads? They sprang out-of-the-blue and were simply integrating best components from global suppliers (most of the established players do that too); what was surprising was that they jumped several established indian players and brought advanced heavy trucks to india. Not sure how successful they are
AMW as it is called didnt spring out of the blue. It is an old effort by the Essar group to enter the business. They started with a facility somewhere between Pune-Nasik highway about 5-6 years ago but it didnt work well. Then the whole thing was shifted to its present location - Bhuj in Gujrat which is also an IAF forward base. Once I was landing there and a Mig 21 was taking off nearby !!!!! Awesome sight that was.
In that God foresaken place called Bhuj they set up a huge facility - the essential strategy was that today all auto parts have become commodities. It is all about integerating them. Even if you see TML, AL, etc all are 'essentially' 'integraters'. So AMW tried cummins engines with some chinese frame and chinese cab (the whole thing in front where driver sits). I dont the source of components of their final product.
They poached some great technical talent from Ashok Leyland and marketing talent (quite a bit) from Tata Motors. Their former chief of R&D was ex AL. He unfortunately died some years back.
The basic business premise was that the Essar group in iteself needs 2000+ trucks every year for shipping, mining , etc. The trucks have done pretty well in the Rajasthan, Gujrat mines.

My paan-chai waala in a lungi and fati baniyan is deep in the Auto sector. Hence the details :D
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by manish »

VikB wrote:
pandyan wrote:There is one more to list..Asia Motor Works based in Gujarat. Has anyone seen their trucks plying on the inter-city roads? They sprang out-of-the-blue and were simply integrating best components from global suppliers (most of the established players do that too); what was surprising was that they jumped several established indian players and brought advanced heavy trucks to india. Not sure how successful they are
AMW as it is called didnt spring out of the blue. It is an old effort by the Essar group to enter the business. They started with a facility somewhere between Pune-Nasik highway about 5-6 years ago but it didnt work well. Then the whole thing was shifted to its present location - Bhuj in Gujrat which is also an IAF forward base. Once I was landing there and a Mig 21 was taking off nearby !!!!! Awesome sight that was.
In that God foresaken place called Bhuj they set up a huge facility - the essential strategy was that today all auto parts have become commodities. It is all about integerating them. Even if you see TML, AL, etc all are 'essentially' 'integraters'. So AMW tried cummins engines with some chinese frame and chinese cab (the whole thing in front where driver sits). I dont the source of components of their final product.
They poached some great technical talent from Ashok Leyland and marketing talent (quite a bit) from Tata Motors. Their former chief of R&D was ex AL. He unfortunately died some years back.
The basic business premise was that the Essar group in iteself needs 2000+ trucks every year for shipping, mining , etc. The trucks have done pretty well in the Rajasthan, Gujrat mines.

My paan-chai waala in a lungi and fati baniyan is deep in the Auto sector. Hence the details :D
The few chaiwallahs and doodhwallahs that I have come across also had a similar story to tell about AMW. Same story with pretty much every Essar Group enterprise - backward integration. Just look at the businesses it operates in, and the linkages and synergies are obvious - steel, energy, shipping, ports and logistics, constructions, power, mining and minerals, communications etc. For example, almost all of Essar's construction needs are met by Essar Constructions and the co. actually claims that it owns one of the largest eqpt banks in Asia. They are almost fully captive-only, and I have heard some doodhwallahs claim that in terms of orderbook, they are second only to L&T in India. And the plants will be powered up with the help of Essar Power and Essar Shipping would vessels carry the raw materials and finished products using the facilities owned by the Ports & Logistics biz. And of course, all the karporate konnections will be Vodafone Essar :D They may take it to the IT services as well since they recently started with an IT services arm for the Aegis BPO business.

Independent verification of some of their claims of course is very difficult given the ownership structure of the Essar Group. Take it FWIW and anyways this is OT.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Gerard »

Citu bungs job spanner in Tata works
The CPM and CPI labour arms today planted red flags and stopped work at an under-construction Tata project in Kharag- pur demanding that each landloser family be given jobs at the plant when completed. The Rs 600-crore excavator-manufacturing unit, expected to be operational from October, is coming up on 250 acres acquired in 2006.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by p_saggu »

Continuing the Mahindra saga:

bart
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by bart »

The new Jaguar XJ is out.

Image

Image

Image
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by VikB »

pandyan wrote:Thanks for the chaiwala report on AMW. Is it still tightly coupled to Essar or do they have other external customers?
My pleasure :)

AMW has come into retail space. So they have established exclusive dealerships (at least) in Gujrat, Rajasthan, Delhi. They met with considerable initial success and now have stabilised with a small market share. The ability to come up with new versions is something yet to be seen. It takes to be a Goliath like a Tata Motors or Ashok Leyland to be constantly running and offering more products.

So essentially AMW is now an independent arm in the Essar Group with of course the backing of various other group companies.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by VikB »

[quote="bart"]The new Jaguar XJ is out.

Saw this beauty in front of Inox in Mumbai this Sunday. Could not identify it from the front of it so went around to see the sleek cat (ya ok I am ashamed of myself). And guess what, while I was sizing up the thing I noticed the proverbial Indian way of things - the chauffeur was proudly sitting in the driver's seat soaking the admiration it was getting!! Baap what a waste.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by bart »

VikB wrote:
bart wrote:The new Jaguar XJ is out.

Saw this beauty in front of Inox in Mumbai this Sunday. Could not identify it from the front of it so went around to see the sleek cat (ya ok I am ashamed of myself). And guess what, while I was sizing up the thing I noticed the proverbial Indian way of things - the chauffeur was proudly sitting in the driver's seat soaking the admiration it was getting!! Baap what a waste.

You probably saw the XF. The XJ was just launched in London last week and won't be delivered to customers till the end of the year.

Yeah, its too bad they dont have the leaping cat on the front of either the XF or XJ, though the grille looks nice its not distinctive as before.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by Ameet »

Nano paases European crash tests

http://www.bsmotoring.com/storypage.php?autono=1068

The Nano can now hold its head high in the international arena. The small car passed the 40 per cent offset crash test at 56 kph and the side-impact tests at the MIRA crash test facility recently.

The Nano that was put under tests was the same as the car sold in India and not the Europa that is to be sold in Europe, come 2012. Some changes were made to the test vehicle, such as the addition of a driver airbag as well as strengthened the front longitudinal structure, while adding another structure behind the bumper. All of this increased the weight of the vehicle by 18 kg.

While Tata's small car has already passed the Indian norms which are the frontal impact test at 48 kph, roof crush and side door impact tests, these are slightly different from European norms that are more stringent. Tata Motors didn't necessarily need to meet European norms at this point in time, but decided to do so anyway. By doing so, Tata Motors can keep its international critics at bay, who have long suspected the Nano's crash worthiness. It also gives Tata Motors data on improvements, if any, it needs to make on the Europa that is some three years away.

Tata Motors is aiming to achieve a four-star rating for the Nano Europa in the Euro NCAP tests.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by ashish raval »

^^ these d1ckheads thought India was China. I think they should now swallow their b@lls and put it in their throat before speaking.
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Re: Indian Autos Thread

Post by AnimeshP »

Ameet wrote:Nano paases European crash tests

http://www.bsmotoring.com/storypage.php?autono=1068

The Nano can now hold its head high in the international arena. The small car passed the 40 per cent offset crash test at 56 kph and the side-impact tests at the MIRA crash test facility recently.

The Nano that was put under tests was the same as the car sold in India and not the Europa that is to be sold in Europe, come 2012. Some changes were made to the test vehicle, such as the addition of a driver airbag as well as strengthened the front longitudinal structure, while adding another structure behind the bumper. All of this increased the weight of the vehicle by 18 kg.

While Tata's small car has already passed the Indian norms which are the frontal impact test at 48 kph, roof crush and side door impact tests, these are slightly different from European norms that are more stringent. Tata Motors didn't necessarily need to meet European norms at this point in time, but decided to do so anyway. By doing so, Tata Motors can keep its international critics at bay, who have long suspected the Nano's crash worthiness. It also gives Tata Motors data on improvements, if any, it needs to make on the Europa that is some three years away.

Tata Motors is aiming to achieve a four-star rating for the Nano Europa in the Euro NCAP tests.
AoA ... here is the video and photos ...
http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpape ... 41527&CT=V
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsGalle ... 1500&EL=-1
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