Skoda to Focus on Lowering Product Cost, will Compete with Asian Counterparts

Skoda Auto India, a subsidiary of Skoda Auto, a Volkswagen Group. It is among the fastest growing auto make in the Europe. The company has one manufacturing facility in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The company’s India portfolio consist of models like Superb, Laura, Fabia, Yeti and Rapid.

These models has so far focused on limited segment of people providing extensive car experience. The company is now looking forward to focus on lowering cost of development and increase localization. The company also gave signal of consolidating its business as a part of Volkswagen group that enable it for profitable and sustainable business in the country.

Sudhir Rao, Chairman & MD, Skoda Auto India say, “Currently we are in a phase of execution of product development strategy in which we are learning how to lower the cost and increase localization so that we can compete with Asian rivals but at the same time retain our inherent Skoda quality.”

He clarifies that company will have clear road map of its product line up and strategy ahead within next six to nine months.

Mr. Rao further explain his strategy and says “We have taken a conscious decision to focus on value for luxury and not the volume segment. In the short-to-medium term we will be focusing on the mid-sized sedan Rapid segment and above.

While looking at company’s sales performance, it sold about 22000 units last year, competing with Honda, Hyundai and Toyota cars. It production has achieved close to 60 percent localization and company is looking ahead for more.

Sketch leaked for 2016 Skoda Superb

A Sketch has been leaked online that seems to be 2016 Skoda Superb. The authenticity of the image is not confirmed. However, Skoda had earlier mention about new Superb’s look, and the image goes definitely that way.

The new sketch gives an image of large four door car that would have inspired by Skoda Vision C Concept. The concept was show case by Skoda at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

Formal information of the car have not been revealed yet, however image shows Superb’s traditional grille, new more slim headlights, more highlighted side lines, larger doors. The sketch also reveals a sloping roofline that gives the model an appearance of a four door coupe.

The 2016 Skoda Superb is expected to be based on Volkswagen’s MQB platform and mechanical information is not revealed by the company yet. It is also expected to share many components with the Volkswagen Passat.

The car may enter market for sale in the end of 2015.

Porsche top Quality, Fiat Worst : Survey

JD Power in Detroit, had survey about the car quality and rated different companies based on number of problems reported in new cars. The company has done survey on cars and trucks this year and says more problems were reported in cars than previous year.

Car makers are emphasizing on providing more and more technology in the car in order to deal with competitive market. But buyers get frustrated when they have Bluetooth system but won’t connect with phone, have voice recognition system but understand their voice and so on.

Mr. David Sargent, VP for Global Automotive at JD Power said “Anytime you make a significant change to a vehicle you have the opportunity to introduce more problems.”

In the survey, Porsche, Jaguar,  Lexus and Hyundai and Toyota were the best –performing brands while Fiat, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Scion and Mazda. Survey also states more complaints from younger drivers then older once. The Buyers reported an average of 116 problems per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership, up 3 percent from last year. J.D. Power surveyed 86,000 owners between February and March of this year. One major brand, Tesla, isn't included because J.D. Power didn't have enough data from owners.

Important Finding :

Porsche top the list registering 74 problems in 100 vehicles, while Fiat was last with 206 problems in 100 cars.

Ford climbed 11 spots to 16^th in rankings, and Ford’s luxury car Lincon brand also enter in to top 10.

Acura and Infiniti was biggest sliders in the list, they slid 19 spots in the ranking.

General Motor was best corporate performer receiving six awards in segments, Hyundai followed it by receiving five awards in categories.

Nissan to Launch Sunny Facelift on July 3, 2014

The Nissan is ready to launch is one of the credible car facelift on Indian roads soon. The company had showcased this car in 2014 Auto Expo and it will be officially put out for sale on July 3, 2014.

The new Sunny will come two engine options 1.5 litre petrol and diesel engine, three version will be available for diesel Sunny, XE, XL and XV while petrol one will come with XE and XL. The diesel XV trim also have two option upgrade packs. These packs will give additional features like leather upholstery and side airbags.

Safety features like drive airbags, ABS, EBD and brake assist are included in car. While talking about exterior, the car has redesigned bumpers, new headlamps and grill.

Above all these new Sunny is claimed much more fuel efficient.

Mercedes Benz and Carzonrent announce First Luxury Self Drive Concept

Mercedes Benz and a car rental company Carzonrent announced country’s first self-drive concept under the brand name of Myles. The companies will offer self-drive facility to people who want to drive themselves and will make huge difference between traditional travelling systems.

 

The Myles will provide Mercedes cars such as C-Class and E-Class models in bigger cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The company may later on introduce other models into the luxury self-drive service such as the SLK and AMG versions.

The Myles brand plans of having about 1000 cars by 2015 and will grow to around 5000 cars in next 3 years. There is good potential of growing self-drive market considering better road availability, higher cost of chauffeurs and availability of navigation system.

Mercedes Benz India MD & Chief Executive Mr. Eberhard Kern said, that This hassle-free mobility solution will extend our luxury experience beyond our existing customers. We believe both companies will benefit from this alliance in terms of consumer outreach.

In addition to that Mr. Rajiv Vij, MD of Carzonrent said, “The demand for luxurious personal mobility solutions is on the rise. With the inclusion of luxury models in our fleet, we want to propel people's aspirations to experience luxury.”

This service can be booked on a daily or hourly basis as per the consumer requirement. One can car of his/her choice by just calling up or by online. Rental price differs as per chosen model.

Honda flag offs Mobilio Promotion

Honda Cars India, has found different way of reaching its customer before it launches Mobilio in to the market. The company seems to understand Indian test of buying and it knows Indian prefer close look of a product before buying it. The company will display Mobilio in big malls across the big cities of India and try to share details of car with customer.

The car was displayed at Delhi NCR last week and would be soon available in other cities. The company has scheduled dates for the different cities and will showcase the car in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh,Bangalore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kochi and other major cities.

The Seven seat car, which is powered by same capacity engine of 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines. The engine will mounted with 5 speed manual transmission. The Honda Mibilio petrol will be available in automatic CVT box as an option.

The car is expected to be priced between Rs. 7 Lac and Rs. 11 Lac. This is Honda’s first MPV in India and has been specifically developed for Asian countries like ours. Let us see, a car before its official launch and how does it strike to potential buyers mind.

Free Checkup Camps for Ford Cars Owners

Ford India announces Free Monsoon Camps to avail customer service benefits for free. The company has announced this scheme in north and west region of India. This service will be available on camps scheduled 
on June 25 - 29, 2014.  

The company will avail about 50-point check at an authorized Ford Dealership. Service will include cleaning and check-ups like oil level and leaks, tyre condition, steering, brakes, engine transmission, windshield wiper blade, washer motor and clutch etc. The check will not cost anything to customer as it is a after sales service initiative. 

Apart from the general checkups, company will offer discount on some parts if it need to replace in the car. It will offer 50 percent off on wiper blades, buy-back offer on batteries, 10 percent off on brake pads, fog lamps, and selected parts of suspension system.

Hindustan Motors takes more time for preparing revival plan roadmap

India’s super car Ambassador Maker Company, Hindustan Motors Limited taken more time from State government of West Bengal for preparation of revival plan. We have not been able to submit the revival plan as sought by the state labour department today as been told to.” Source said from the company.

In In the last tripartite held day before yesterday, the government had asked the representing HM management to submit a revival plan and a schedule for payment of wage arrears.

The source said that, HM management had apprised the government of various concrete steps initiated giving the existing state of circumstances which has made the present operational structure at Uttarpara unviable.

"The company is committed to pay off all the back wages as soon as possible as it has the fund from the sale of its assets. “The situation remains to be stark and restructuring exercise is necessary to evaluate all option of the organization.” Company source said.

Festive Season, and Most Awaited Cars in 2014

Indian car industry is about to Wel-Come upcoming festive season, previous month sales shows a bit improvement and positive sign. The companies are planning to take benefits of festival sales after long sluggish period. The car makers have lined up more than 30 cars to hit the Indian roads and get rebound in their sales number. 

Starting from small cars, sedan, utility vehicles and premium cars, all will be the part of upcoming festive season. Below list shows most awaited car on Indian roads.

Company	Brand	Estimated Price
Compact Cars
Hyundai	i20 (Hatchback)	Rs. 6 - 10 Lacs
Tata Motors	Bolt (Hatchback)	Rs. 5 - 8 Lacs
Maruti Suzuki	New Alto (Hatchback)	Rs. 3 - 4 Lacs
Honda	Jazz (Hatchback)	Rs. 5.5 -8.5 Lacs
Mitzubishi	Mirag (Hatchback)	Rs. 4 - 6 Lacs
Value Buys
Tata Motors	Zest (Compect Sedan)	Rs. 6 - 9 Lacs
Ford	Fiesta (Sedan)	Rs. 8 - 12 Lacs
Emerging Models
Honda	Mobilio (MUV)	Rs. 7 - 11 Lacs
Maruti	S-Cross (Crossover)	Rs. 8 - 13 Lac
Fiat	Avventure (Crossover)	Rs 6 - 10 Lacs
Nissan	Evalia (Wagen)	Rs. 7 - 12 Lacs
Datsun	Go+ (Crossover)	Rs. 6 - 9 Lacs
Force	Viano (Crossover)	Rs. 8 - 14 Lacs
BMW	2 - Series AciveTourer (Crossover)	Rs. 30 - 35 Lacs
Off Roaders
Mahindra Ssangyong	Korando (SUV)	Rs. 15 - 20 Lacs
Mercedes- Benz	GLA Class (SUV)	Rs. 30 - 45 Lacs
BMW	X6 (SUV)	Rs 85 - 95 Lacs
Porsche	Macan (SUV)	Rs 50 -75 Lacs

 

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Cars providing Highest Mileage on Indian Roads

In the time of high inflation and rising fuel prices, a fuel efficient vehicle helps a lot on saving good amount of money on traveling. Entering into diesel segment Honda has topped Indian passenger vehicle segment in terms of fuel efficiency.

As per the list prepared by Economic Times, New Honda City diesel is the car consuming least fuel among other car available on the Indian roads. Second comes Honda Amaze, Again a car from same manufacturer. The Honda City gives 26 kmpl mileage, and as expert believes it would be a key reason for Honda City’s success. The new city is powered by all new 1.5-litre diesel engine, mileage is certified by ARAI. While Amaze diesel on other hand delivers mileage of 25.8 kmpl.

While commenting on the news, Mr. JnaneswarSen, Honda's senior VP, Marketing and Sales said“As a latecomer to the diesel market, we had set the goal of delivering highest mileage. We were able to achieve it by innovation that is also in line with Honda's global philosophy to make environment-friendly and mileageconscious cars.”

 

While Tata Motors represent significant portion of list, having 7 models in top 15 fuel efficient cars. And the list also possess General Motors, Chevrolet Beat Diesel at 3^rd spot on the list. Tata Motors cars in the list includes Gasoline versions of Nano, Diesel versions of Indigo and Indica.

Hyundai’s recent launches Xcent and Grand i10 have 10^th and 11^th spot respectively. While Toyota has its three models on the top 15 fuel efficient cars on Indian Road.

Maruti Suzuki is not the list of top 15 most fuel efficient car. It was time before a decade that Maruti Alto was most efficient car on the Indian roads, but today the company has only one car, Shift Dzire compact sedan at 19^th spot in top 20 most fuel efficient car.

Recent date on mileage have seen improvement in mileage by 1.5 km in five years. However, all car makers must take note of new regulation coming up soon, after that each car and SUV on Indian roads will be bound to deliver at least 18.2 kmpl from April, 2016.