Indian Auto Industry Update · experts. They though see low probability on any change in the tax...

Indian Auto Industry Update

30 Jan 2017

IndustryUnion Budget 2017 Auto Inc awaits tax exemptions rural boost amp scrappage scheme

DampB sees steady demand growth for auto companies in 2017

Budget 2017 How Arun Jaitley can provide impetus for consumers to opt for better vehicles

Tata Motors reshuffles senior management for a leaner structure

Interviews amp FeaturesWere careful about marketing spends after demonetisation TVS Motor CFO S G Murali

Demonetisation has hit everyone Koshy K Varghese Executive Vice-President (Marketing) MRF

Maruti Suzuki Ignis comparison vs rivals

Cars SUVs MUVsMaruti Suzuki India discontinues sale of lower variants of S-Cross

Maruti introduces limited Allureacirceurotrade edition of DZire

Maruti Baleno RS Spec sheet leaked

Renault plans compact SUV premium small car

Luxury CarsMini John Cooper works Countryman unveiled

Commercial VehiclesConstruction amp Agri Machinery

Tractor companies aim for double-digit growth after note recall dip

23 WheelersBajaj Dominar 400 review Was Bajajacirceurotrades long-awaited flagship worth the wait

Triumph Bonneville Bobber review Just a retro-chic poser or is there more to it

Speed lovers Hereacirceurotrades good news

Yamaha FZ25 specs comparison with its rivals

125-150cc segment vrooms ahead of others in bike market

E-BikesThe changemaker Ridge e-scooter

ComponentsAllied Industries

Ceat Apollo Tyres among others who signed Rs 105 lakh cr MoU in Andhra Pradesh

TAL to create mkt for robots in India

Emissions EnvironmentFinance amp InsuranceOil Lubricants amp Alternative FuelsNews Magazines

Nissan GT-R outlines India map on lakebed

New Toyota Supra to carry Gazoo name

Maruti Vitara Brezza bookings cross 2 lakh mark

2017 KTM RC390 review test ride

Next-gen VW Golf GTI to adopt mild-hybrid tech

2017 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm kicks off today in Delhi

Tata Zest AMT long term review third report

International NewsGeneral Motors to cut 625 jobs in Canada move some work to Mexico

General Motors Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance

GM Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance

Volkswagen recalls nearly 600000 Audis in US

Volkswagen ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn sticks to denial of early knowledge of scandal

German watchdog suspected VW scam on CO2 emissions- report

Mercedes-Benz redesigns its global product range reveals first images

Tesla Motors explains cancelled order with German supplier SHW

Specs amp Features of Skoda Kodiaq Sportline variant released

Ford braces for $600 million Brexit currency hit says its Europe chief

EconomyIndian rupee staged an incredible comeback against the US dollar

Market zooms 848 points for the week ahead of Union Budget

Trumponomics Rupee is better placed globally

Closing

Industry

Union Budget 2017 Auto Inc awaits tax exemptions rural boost amp scrappage scheme Amit MudgillThe Economic Times (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

New Delhi Amid weak demand environment the auto sector is likely to see a host of announcements aiming at boosting consumersentiment that may revive auto sales after a tepid December quarter

Experts believe that the government may announce rural-focused schemes in the wake of looming state elections while it couldincrease income tax exemptions in the Budget scheduled for next week All this could boost consumer sentiment and result inhigher sales of two-wheelers and personal vehicle whose sales degrew 2-5 per cent in the quarter gone by

A boost to hybrid or electric vehicle and an introduction of a scheme to scrap truck older than 15 year old is also in the offing feelexperts They though see low probability on any change in the tax structure given the impending goods and services tax (GST)

ampldquoConsidering the likely GST implementation from July we do not expect any changes in indirect taxes However we expectan increase in income tax exemptions and higher allocation toward rural-focused schemes Lower income tax and the focus on ruralmarkets could put two-wheeler industry back on the growth pathamprdquo said Motilal Oswal Securities in a note

ampldquoThis coupled with the benefit of normal monsoon and 7th Pay Commission could drive two-wheeler volume CAGR of 10-12per cent over FY17-19Eamprdquo the brokerage said

The brokerage is positive on Hero MotoCorp TVS Motor and Mahindra amp Mahindra (MampM)

Binay Singh and Satyam Thakur of Morgan Stanley are expecting the government to incentivise electric or hybrid vehicles throughduty exemptions For this the foreign brokerage is expecting details on possible extension of the FAME program andannouncement incentives for electric vehicles MampM and Maruti Suzuki could benefit from any such announcement

The market would be looking into details relating to incentives timeline and process for the fleet modernisation or scrappageprogram which could benefit players such as Ashok Leyland Tata Motors and Eicher Motors

Experts noted that the commercial vehicle volume growth was flat in the December quarter even as it stood 6 per cent YoY up inthe first nine months of FY2016-17 Motilal Oswal Securities believes that the introduction of scrappage scheme could boost growthfor CV players to 15-18 per cent compounded annually from 12 per cent at present Ashok Leyland and Bosch are a play on anysuch announcement the brokerage said

During April-December period the auto industry produced a total 19236932 vehicles including passenger vehicles commercialvehicles three wheelers two wheelers and quadricycle against 17925959 in the year ago quarter registering a growth of 731 percent

In the ongoing financial year excise duty charged on purchase of ranges between 6 per cent and 30 per cent The industry isexpecting uniform excise duty structure which could be positive for Maruti Suzuki MampM and Tata Motors among others

ampldquoWe believe the budget to be positive for the industry and expect Maruti to emerge as beneficiary considering its large marketshare and Pan-India presenceamprdquo Angel Broking said in a note

There may also be scheme incentivising those with plans to phase out of older commercial vehicles (CV) That may turn positive for

Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors


ampldquoWe believe the Budget to be positive for the industry and expect Maruti to emerge as beneficiary considering its largemarket share and Pan-India presenceamprdquo Angel Broking said in a notehttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustryunion-budget-2017-auto-inc-awaits-tax-exemptions-rural-boost-scrappage-scheme56829629Budget 2017 Auto industry hopes govt rolls out a cash-for-clunkers schemeThe Financial Express (Web Edition)httpwwwfinancialexpresscombudgetbudget-2017-auto-industry-hopes-govt-rolls-out-a-cash-for-clunkers-scheme528383

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DampB sees steady demand growth for auto companies in 2017 PTISee this story in The Economic Times (Web Edition)(Jan 30)

Mumbai The auto sector which saw a revival last year after two years of turbulence is set to continue the momentum this year withdemand picking up across all segments says a report

Growth of the auto industry is expected to continue in 2017 across all vehicle categories-commercial and passenger vehicles aswell as two and three-wheelers But it is unlikely that the industry will maintain the sales growth of 2016 due to the note ban impactand the uncertainty regarding the GST says Dun amp Bradstreet in a report

The report however does not quantify its proejction

In 2016 auto sales grew 92 per cent driven by two- wheelers that moved up by 96 per cent from 07 per cent in 2015 At the sametime cars clipped at 7 per cent and commercial vehicles grew 78 per cent

Improving economic growth robust demand from rural and semi-urban markets and lower cost of ownership have driven sales in2016 bringing in a much needed recovery for the industry after growth slumped in 2015 he report said

Sales will also be helped by higher replacement demand on account of the expected implementation of new emission norms andthe impact of deferred purchases as a result of demonetisation the report adds

But the report is quick to note that the recovery will take at least two to three months more as consumers are still hit by the noteban Consequently although the mid to long term prospects look positive given the impact of demonetisation and the uncertaintyregarding the GST the industry may not sustain the growth rates achieved in 2016

The positive sentiment is driven primarily by the rural and semi-urban demand for two-wheelers and cars driven on the back ofgood monsoons Another boost up will be the 7th pay commission that will infuse around Rs 102 trillion of disposable income ofover 1 crore employees

Another reason is the aggressive play by the cab aggregators who are expanding their operations extensively

On commercial vehicles sales which recovered in 2015 with a growth of 63 per cent and 77 per cent in 2016 demand will bedriven by replacement demand construction and mining increasing freight movement and moderation in fuel prices and firm freightrates while increased government focus on infra sector will drive demand for specialised heavy goods vehicles such asconstruction trucks mining tippers etc

After two years of consecutive declines bus sales grew 158 per cent it nearly halved to 84 per cent in 2016 In 2017 buses salesare expected to remain in positive on the back of robust demand from the private segment as also orders from state road transportundertakings

In a span of five years scooter sales nearly doubled from 29 million in 2012 to about 56 million in 2016 thus outperforming theoverall two-wheeler market consequently its share in domestic two-wheeler sales surged to 32 per cent in 2016 from 21 per cent in2012 And the buoyant trend in the scooter segment is expected to continue into 2017

Scooter sales will be driven by inadequate public transport increase in participation of women in workforce implementation of the7th pay commission awards good monsoons and strong demand from the semi-urban markets

But the report notes that 2016 saw the second consecutive year of decline in two-wheelers exports largely due to drop in demandfrom the key export markets of Africa and Latin America

Two and three-wheelers exports contracted 106 per cent in 2016 dragging the overall auto exports down by a negative 51 percent although commercial vehicle exports rose 126 per cent and passenger vehicles at 174 per cent

This year demand will come from rural markets lower fuel prices expected softening of interest rates new launches and increasein discretionary spending due to the implementation of the pay commission awards

But auto export is expected to remain muted this year due to demand slowdown in key markets like Egypt Angola Algeria Nigeria

and South Africa etc it warnedhttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustrydb-sees-steady-demand-growth-for-auto-companies-in-201756854305

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Budget 2017 How Arun Jaitley can provide impetus for consumers to opt for better vehicles The Financial Express (Web Edition)(Jan 30)

New Delhi The automobile industry contributes immensely to the economic growth of the country and expects support from thegovernment for fostering the growth through fiscal measures from the upcoming Union Budget While industry is always in favour ofmore streamlined taxes to augment overall capacity it is important to ensure that key submissions are fulfilled on priority

Last yearamprsquos Budget had proposed to reduce the weighted deduction on RampD expenses from 200 to 150 with effect fromApril 1 2017 to March 31 2020 It is recommended that the weighted deduction of 200 continues till March 31 2020 The autoindustry would be moving from BS-IV emission norms to BS-VI by 2020 and this would require huge expenses in RampD Hence itbecomes pivotal that the government extends the benefit This will provide boost to innovation and manufacturing

SIAM recommends that there should not be any cut-off (start) date for claimingallowing the weighted deduction of RampD expenditureonce the approval has been granted and cooperation agreement has been entered by the Department of Scientific and IndustrialResearch (DSIR)

This will ensure that the industry focuses more on RampD and maintains a futuristic outlook It is also important from the point of viewof making vehicles safer and more environment-friendly

SIAM also requests some provisions in the Budget for implementation of a fleet modernisation scheme While this will ensuredevelopment and production of safer vehicles in all categories it will provide the right impetus for consumers to opt for improvedsafer and better vehicles Some rules and regulations are needed to give that required push which will create the necessaryecosystem to ensure that our fleet of vehicles matching the right standards

SIAM also requests for correction of an anomaly that exists under the Central Excise Tariff Act as per which tariff item 8702 (motorvehicles for transport of more than 10 people including the driver) attracts two rates of 125 and 27 The rate of 125 is for allvehicles above 13 seats while vehicles with 10-13 seats attract 27 The 10-13 seater vehicles are essential for rural transportbecause in the hinterland roads are narrow and bumpy and do not support transport using bigger vehicles Hence these vehiclesshould attract a maximum 125 excise duty

The much-awaited GST Bill will soon be introduced and it will streamline the current taxation system

In this direction SIAM has already accepted the standard GST rate of 28 for two-wheelers three-wheelers commercial vehicles(bus and truck) small cars and utility vehicles and suggested all other cars should attract a uniform cess of 8 electric vehiclesshould attract a GST of 12 or lower and all categories of hybrid vehicles should have about a 10 point rebate from theapplicable GST rate

The list of Acts to be repealed after the introduction of GST should include the relevant part of the Act that levies NCCD RampD Cesson Import of Technology and Infra Cess Also the specific provision in Model GST Law should be made for used vehicle businessotherwise the organised pre-owned vehicle business will become unviable

Auto industry is a driver of growth for the economy and we aim to fulfil all our responsibilities in the best possible manner WhileGST will be a landmark development we expect the Union Budget will consider the aspirations of the industry and reward them forgood performanceThe author Sugato Sen is deputy director general Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)httpwwwfinancialexpresscombudgetbudget-2017-how-arun-jaitley-can-provide-impetus-for-consumers-to-opt-for-better-vehicles528390

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Tata Motors reshuffles senior management for a leaner structure Shally Seth Mohilemint (Jan 30)

Mumbai Tata Motors Ltd is reshuffling the roles of its top executives as part of a restructuring exercise it initiated a few months agoto make the firm more efficient said three people aware of the developments All of them declined to be identified

Details of the new roles and responsibilities were shared by Guenter Butschek managing director and chief executive withemployees in an office circular on 25 January said the people cited above In the first phase the programme is aimed at reducingthe number of management layers to improve speed of decision making

The former chief executive at plane-maker Airbus Group SA who completes a year at the Tata group flagship on 15 February hasbeen tasked with turning around the fortunes of a company that has seen domestic passenger car sales and market share roughlyhalve in the past two years with profit boosted mainly by its UK unit Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc In his first interaction withreporters onacirceuroŠ18acirceuroŠMarchacirceuroŠButschekacirceuroŠhad emphasized on the need to make Tata Motors agile and ampldquofuturereadyamprdquo

The new structure which allocates roles based on product lines will be effective from 1 April and reduces the layers to five fromthe current 14 said the first of the three people cited above Girish Wagh who heads the project planning and programmemanagement in the passenger vehicle (PV) business unit will head the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (CV) business of thefirm Ramki Ramakrishnan who is vice-president for the CV business will become head of customer care and after-sales servicesfor CVs Anil Sinha head of manufacturing operations for passenger cars will head the quality function of the companyamprsquos CVbusiness he said

Under the new structure the top two levels (L1 and L2) of managers will be responsible for execution of strategies formulated by anexecutive panel comprising the managing director function and business heads Tata Motors has picked close to 120 highperformers for the L1 and L2 positions said the third person

Both Mayank Pareek president passenger vehicle business unit and Wagh who fall in the L1 (top leadership) category willbecome the sole custodians for the respective PV and CV businesses and will be responsible for the execution of strategiesRespective executives under both units who are heading sales marketing product planning product development customer careand after-sales will report into them In addition they will also appoint plant heads one each for the two businesses

ampldquoThe idea is to have a more focused job evaluation approach rather than being hierarchicalampmdashit reducestime-to-marketing and does away with bureaucracyamprdquo said the third person cited above ampldquoThey will now go through anastronaut-type on-board training session and then decide L3 and L4 below them he added The maker of the Tiago and Nano carsis also likely to announce the bifurcation of roles within the passenger vehicle units based on product lines said the third person

A Tata Motors spokesperson declined to comment on specific roles as itamprsquos an ampldquointernal exercise and inprogressamprdquo He however confirmed the firm has finalized and recently announced the new management levels for L1 and L2

This he said was done after conducting intense and extensive workshops for the past couple of months and the decisions weremade based on a review of each individual considered for the placement of a particular role

The new structure aims to further strengthen Tata Motorsamprsquo position in the CV business particularly the medium andcommercial heavy vehicle (MHCV) segment where it enjoys a leadership position and has been the companyamprsquos cash cowsaid the first person cited above

But the company has ceded some ground to rivals in recent times In the first nine months of this fiscal Tata Motorsamprsquos marketshare in the MHCV segment dropped to 5247 from 5542 a year ago according to lobby group Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers

The Tata Motorsamprsquo spokesperson said the new structure will lead to synergies through optimal utilization of resourcesampldquoThrough this exercise TML (Tata Motors) is aiming to become a lean agile organization by empowering its business unitswith clear accountability strengthening functional leadership and oversight ensuring faster and effective decision making andimproving customer focusamprdquo he added

The structure seems an initiative of Butschek drawing from his experience at Airbus said an analyst at a domestic brokerage whodeclined to be identified ampldquoIt also signals the start of a leaner top leadership set upamprdquohttpwwwlivemintcomCompaniesbI6aZm7lmkPlZfnZZQxG5NTata-Motors-reshuffles-senior-management-for-a-leaner-structhtml

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Interviews amp Features

Were careful about marketing spends after demonetisation TVS Motor CFO S G Murali T E NarasimhanBusiness Standard (Web amp Print Edition)(Jan 29)

Despite speed bumps for the auto sector such as demonetisation and prices of commodities going up TVS Motor has managed topost a 10 per cent growth in profit to Rs 13267 crore in the quarter ended December 2016 For the corresponding quarter in theprevious year the firmamprsquos profit was Rs 12021 crore TVS Motoramprsquos total revenue for the quarter has increased to Rs323955 crore compared to Rs 315112 crore in Q3 FY16 TVS Motor chief financial officer S G Murali tells T E Narasimhan abouthow it managed to stay in profits its plans to increase market share to 18 per cent and a proposed investment of Rs 300-350 crorein the next financial year (2017-18)

What factors helped TVS in Q3 especially when the effects of cash crunch were felt across the automobile sector

Demonetisation happened in November but PAT (profit after tax) grew well We had a good festival season and continued withbilling in November We were careful in marketing spends after demonetisation and all the brands have done well

For the first six months of FY17 (April to September) we grew 20 per cent in the festive season also we grew 20 per cent As aresult Q3 performance was good The first six weeks of the festive season was good impact of demonetisation was felt on thesecond half We are hopeful about continued performance in Q4 (January to March)

Though the first two weeks of January were subdued increase in cash supply and a good rabi crop will help improve sentiment Thesales should pick up by February and March If there are any good measures for the sector in the Budget that will also help growth

You have set a target of around 18 per cent market shareamphellip

At the beginning of the year we said we would achieve 18 per cent market share in less than three years and set ourselves a targetof achieving 15 per cent market share end of this financial year (March) By the last quarter (October-December 2016) weachieved a market share of 155 per cent

Stability is returning The sector should be stable by late January or early February It will reflect in the Q4 FY17 results Ourportfolio ampmdash especially Apache Jupiter and Victor ampmdash has done well We need to grow our scooty brand

Are any new products on the cards What is the status of the vehicle from the BMW venture Will you launch any scooters ormotorcycles in 2017-18

As far as BMW concerned the project is progressing well There is no delay in launching vehicles we will come out with the productin 2017 Besides we will also launch new products in scooter and motorcycle segments

What will be your capex

Around Rs 300-350 crore for 2017-18 (In 2016-17 it was around Rs 400 crore) Weamprsquoll focus on enhancing capacity from thecurrent four million units across all three plants and this will cater to the following yearamprsquos requirements How much the exactincrease is will be announced by the end of the next quarter Besides capacity expansion the company will invest on new productshttpwwwbusiness-standardcomarticlecompanieswe-re-careful-about-marketing-spends-after-demonetisation-tvs-motor-cfo-117012800853_1html

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Demonetisation has hit everyone Koshy K Varghese Executive Vice-President (Marketing) MRF KT JagannathanThe Hindu (Web amp Print Edition)(Jan 29)

As a 71-year-old company which has spent 65 of them manufacturing automotive tyres MRF has seen its share of both the goodand bad times Having built a reputation as a trustworthy brand the home-grown tyre major now faces a market where uncertaintyis the new normal Koshy K Varghese Executive Vice-President (Marketing) gives a peek into the relatively media-shyfirmamprsquos perspectives and plans Edited excerpts

How has demonetisation impacted the tyre industry

Demonetisation has hit everybody Both purchasing and investments have been held back In a product like tyres you need to buya tyre at some point of time ampmdash if not today tomorrow There has been a postponement of purchases (in replacement market)This has led to a very significant demand compression in the after-market That is visible across all product categories The tyretrade operates on cash So bulk of retail sales used to be in cash for all companies Retail trade was affected as many of themdidnamprsquot have PoS (point-of-sale) machines We have been making a conscious attempt now to enable our trade partners to gocashless by helping them acquire PoS machines at a faster rate The situation has slightly eased in January as we find cash slowlycoming back As cash is coming people are also getting back to buying in cash which is probably not the intended objective

What is the demand scenario now

Regulatory norms are coming for trucks BS 4 norms are coming from April 1 With that cost of trucks is likely to go up by Rs 15 toRs 2 lakh at least So truck makers expected some advancement of purchases in November and December That didnamprsquothappen however We expect there could be a spurt in truck sales in February and March with money coming in and things getting alittle easier For us the raw material prices have suddenly gone up In the past three years from February 2013-January 2017 theindustry has seen only price reductions Prices dropped to the extent of Rs 5000 on a pair of truck tyres which is a 15-16 dropBut things are changing In the past one-and-half-months rubber price has gone up to Rs 155 per kg from Rs 120 per kg Thisincrease has happened in a very short period Crude prices are also likely to go up further and with that prices of other derivativeswill also increase

Today 67-70 of the total rubber produced in the country is consumed by the tyre industry At the same time there is ademand-supply gap of about 4 lakh tonnes While the demand of the tyre industry is about 10-105 lakh tonnes the domestic supplyis 6-65 lakh tonnes So there is a gap of 4-45 lakh tonnes which needs to be filled by imports We are caught in a situation whereinternational prices are higher than domestic and there is a deficit in domestic supply Therefore there is an imminent cost pushwhich is what we are already seeing

What leeway do you have now

We are caught in a tight situation If you donamprsquot pass it on your bottom line will suffer If you pass it on you may lose marketshare We are caught in the devil-and-deep-sea situation We expect things to get back to near normal by March Time has come tohave a re-look at our pricing

Where are you in the marketplace

Incidentally 2017 is 30th year of our market leadership We became market leader in 1987 in the replacement market where thewar is happening as it accounts for 65-70 of the volumes When I say 30 years it means uninterrupted 30 years ampndash from1987 till 2017 Today across all product categories we have the highest market share

That has been achieved over a period of time with a lot of grit Products have played a role The investments made in developing

products for right applications and brand building over these years have helped

Also our distribution network is very wide

We have consciously created a very strong network which we directly deal with

Gujarat investment is a natural extension of our thought process that going forward India will continue to be a dominant consumingmarket We might have a GDP drop of 1 or so but 6-65 will still be substantial Therefore it makes business sense to investSome of the consuming markets are also in the North and the West Going forward logistics costs will increase

With that in mind we thought it would be appropriate to have a factory closer to where the consuming centres are Also some ofour newer OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] such as Maruti and Honda have gone there I think it will give us savings inlogistics Hopefully we should have possession of land in 3-4 months time The plant will come up in phases The first phase maybegin in 2019

How will you define brand MRF in todayamprsquos context

While there is brand promiscuity on one side there is also an element of trust associated with the brands for end customers In arecent survey in the top 50 brands across categories and products there was only one tyre brand and it was MRF

MRF has been ranked very high on trust quotient In the surveys we conduct couple of things that come up very often are reliabilityand trust when it comes to brand MRF

We continue to be a preferred brand and our objective is to ensure that this doesnamprsquot get diluted

What should be your focus - bottom line or top line

It is easier to fix the bottom line but more difficult to fix top line Once you lose market share it is difficult to regain

But bottom line is a function of various things ampndash costs efficiency in purchases and processes Each companyamprsquosphilosophy is unique We are very clear that market share is a key parameter of successhttpwwwthehinducomtodays-papertp-businessDemonetisation-has-hit-everyonearticle17111144ece

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Maruti Suzuki Ignis comparison vs rivals Ronak ShahThe Economic Times (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

New Delhi The strategy to increase its product portfolio has worked well for Maruti Suzuki for a long time now The company hasnot just tasted success with its new models but have consistently managed to keep the sales of its existing models as well MarutiSuzuki overall sold over 1154 lakh units in April-December 2016 registering 8 growth over the same period in 2015

Maruti Suzuki has been very aggressive about the positioning of its newly launched Ignis It just not priced it attractively but at astarting price of Rs 459 lakh (ex-Delhi) the car would also eat up the customer base of many other Maruti Suzuki products as well

From a price point of view Maruti Suzuki Ignis overlaps with Swift Wagon R which have been the companyamprsquos top sellingmodels for a long time now and outside the family the car will rival Mahindra KUV 100 Ford Figo hatch Hyundai i10 and a fewvariants also over laps with the Hyundai Grand i10

In an exclusive interview with ETAuto RS Kalsi Executive Director Maruti Suzuki India said ampldquoI donamprsquot deny that theremight be a slight cannibalisation of our existing models but at the same time the basic concepts on which the Ignis has beendesigned will create its own segment Maruti is known for creating new segmentsamprdquo

The petrol variants of Ignis have been priced just right The car is positioned just above its elder sibling Wagon R and is almost atpar with Mahindra KUV 100 Hyundai i10 with a starting price of Rs436 lakh (ex Delhi) is priced below the Ignis but there are a fewvariants which overlaps and offers more features than the i10

Maruti Suzuki Ignis is also a close rival to Hyundai Grand i10 The diesel variants of the Hyundai Grand i10 starts at Rs577 lakh(Ex-Delhi) On the Ignis there are only 3 diesel variants on offer and the prices start at Rs639 lakh (Ex-Delhi) Ford Figo the otherhatch in the category starts at Rs 465 lakh

ExteriorEven though regarded as a tall boy car Maruti Suzuki Ignis is still shorter than its rivals Infact the car is shorter than the car itsreplacing Ritz and much shorter than the Wagon R However the car still offers a ground clearance of 180 mm Introduction ofDRLs on the Ignis is first in the segment

InteriorsEver since Maruti Suzuki announced that the Ignis will be sold only through its Nexa channel it was very much understood that thecar will be premium and the interiors will be very much in line with that of S-cross and Baleno The Cabin of the Ignis is as spaciousas what we have seen on the Ford Figo and Hyundai Grand i10 Its spacious and roomy The dashboard is finished in black andivory dual tone colour and the plastic quality on the Ignis is much better than some of the other cars in this segment Toggle switchon the automatic climate controller unit is something new and is well placed below the infotainment system but is available only on

the top-end manual variants

EngineMaruti Suzuki Ignis in its petrol avtar will have more rivals as compared to the diesel On the diesel front the car gets the same 13Lengine which we have seen on the S-Cross but has been detuned to give 88KW of power and 230 Nm of torque Both petrol anddiesel engines get a choice of AMT geaerbox The company expects the petrol AMT to be a volume driver than its dieselcounterpart which also gets an expensive price tag

Infotainment systemThe top-variants of the Maruti Suzuki Ignis by far gets the most advanced infotainment system when compared to the rivals Its getsa 7-inch touch screen system with navigation and it also supports Apple Car Play and Googleamprsquos android auto However thishas been restricted only on the top-end manual variants and is a huge miss on AMT variants

VerdictWe expect Maruti Suzuki Ignis to be another volume driver product for the company With the bookings crossing 10000 units withinfirst 20 days has extended the waiting period to about 2-3 months Even though not an SUV the car is being regarded as the miniersion of Vitara Brezza and we expect the petrol variants of the car to outsell the rivals Diesel still feels a bit more expensive

With Hyundai Grand i10 facelift coming out next month the competition is all set to spice up in this segmenthttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewspassenger-vehiclecarsmaruti-suzuki-ignis-comparison-vs-rivals56823074

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Cars SUVs MUVs

Maruti Suzuki India discontinues sale of lower variants of S-Cross PTISee this story in The Economic Times (Web amp Print Edition)(Jan 30)

New Delhi Maruti Suzuki India has quietly discontinued sales of lower variants of its premier crossover S-Cross featuring 16 litrediesel engine due to low demand

The company is now selling only the top-end Alpha variant of the vehicle featuring 16 litre diesel engine priced at Rs 1203 lakh(ex-showroom Delhi) from its premium retail channel Nexa

MSI however continues to sell all the three variants of the crossover powered by a smaller 13 litre diesel engine These are pricedbetween Rs 878 lakh and Rs 1063 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

When contacted a MSI spokesperson told In this segment (16 litre engine) customers go for highest trim that has all the featuresTherefore it is business prudence to keep the number of variants at an optimum level in line with customers requirements

The models performance is in line with the companys expectation the spokesperson added

We started a new segment called premium crossover with S Cross Volume-wise S-Cross continues to do an average of2000-2100 units monthly the spokesperson said

S-Cross the first model from the stable of MSI to be sold through its premium retail chain NEXA has had a chequered history

MSI had introduced the S-Cross in two options of 16 litre and 13 litre engines in 2015 coinciding with the launch of its premiumretail outlet chain Nexa However pricing issues hindered sales of the vehicle forcing the company to go for price correction

Last year the company had cut price of the vehicle by over Rs 2 lakh The reduction in the price of 16 litre variant was Rs 205000for all the three trims while that of 13 litre variant ranged from Rs 40000 to Rs 66000

S-Cross along with Vitara Brezza have helped the company enhance its market share in the utility vehicle (UV) segment

While Vitara Brezza has been a runaway hit S-Cross has been a slow starter for the company

Acknowledging the fact the spokesperson said Every brand has a specific role in the overall portfolio While some are massmodels that sell in big numbers others may not sell as much as a mass model but contribute to the overall brand objectives of thecompany for the medium and long term

S-Cross helps Maruti Suzuki in expanding its range and presence with an eye on the future the spokesperson added

Growth in the UV segment for MSI is over 120 per cent for the April-December period this fiscal Volume wise the company has sold143254 units during the April-December period as compared to 63924 units in the previous fiscal

The company now commands over 65 per cent market share in the total UV segmenthttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewspassenger-vehiclecarsmaruti-suzuki-india-discontinues-sale-of-lower-variants-of-s-cross56849485Maruti discontinues sale of lower variants of S-CrossThe Times of India (Web Edition)httptimesofindiaindiatimescombusinessindia-businessmaruti-discontinues-sale-of-lower-variants-of-s-crossarticleshow56848091cms

Maruti discontinues sale of lower variants of S-CrossDaily News amp Analysis (Web Edition)httpwwwdnaindiacommoneyreport-maruti-discontinues-sale-of-lower-variants-of-s-cross-2298333Maruti discontinues sale of lower variants of S-CrossThe Hindu Business Line (Web Edition)httpwwwthehindubusinesslinecomcompaniesmaruti-discontinues-sale-of-lower-variants-of-scrossarticle9508240eceref=wl_newsMaruti stops sale of S-Cross variantsThe Hindu (Web amp Print Edition)httpwwwthehinducomtodays-papertp-businessMARUTIarticle17114542eceMaruti discontinues sale of lower variants of S-CrossDeccan Herald (Web Edition)httpwwwdeccanheraldcomcontent593734maruti-discontinues-sale-lower-variantshtml

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Maruti introduces limited Allureacirceurotrade edition of DZire PTISee this story in Asian Age (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

DZire Allure Edition comes with cosmetic updates to make it stand out from the crowd of fellow sedans

Not only the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire is the highest selling sedan but its also one of the highest selling cars in the country With somany DZire on the roads its reasonable that the buyers look for something that makes them stand out To address this Maruti hasnow introduced a limited edition of the DZire named DZire Allure Edition Although it gets cosmetic changes and new features interms of mechanicals its unaltered It is being offered with all the variants and six colour options of the sedan

On the outside the DZire Allure Edition comes with cosmetic updates to make it stand out from the crowd of fellow sedans It wearsAllure body graphics a window frame kit rear lower lid garnish and chrome bumper protectors on the outside Inside the carcomes with faux wooden inserts on the centre console and door handles dual-tone seat cover dual-tone steering cover beigecarpet mats and white ambient lighting In terms of added equipment the car gets side skirts a front centre armrest Allure carpillows and door sill guards

There is also a music kit which can be added to the Allure edition It comes with an eight-inch 400W subwoofer a four-channel700W amplifier and 65-inch speakers This music kit is an add-on to the Allure package and will be charged separately

The Maruti DZire is available with a 84PS 12-litre petrol and a 75PS 13-litre diesel motor Both of these engines come mated to afive-speed manual transmission but the petrol motor can also be had with a four-speed automatic whereas the diesel motor can behad with an AGS automatic gearbox The most lucrative factor of the DZire has been its fuel economy The petrol powered sedanreturns 2085185kmpl with manualautomatic transmission and the diesel returns 2659kmpl with both the transmission optionswhich is the highest in the segment

The Allure edition tries to make the DZire feel a little more premium with the help of accessories And to a certain extent it doesmake the sedan look distinctive All the added accessories come in the form of an accessory package while the music kit is aseparate package that can be opted for if the buyer DZires to The Allure edition will cost about Rs 30000 over the price of thevariant that you opt for Prices for the sedan start at Rs 615 lakh and go up to Rs 706 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) Also the all-new2017 Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire has been spotted testing in the country and will be launched in a few months after a possibleshowcase at the Geneva International Motor Show in March this yearhttpwwwasianagecombusinessautos280117maruti-introduces-limited-allure-edition-of-swift-dzirehtml

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Maruti Baleno RS Spec sheet leaked Asian Age (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

Spec sheet confirms that the performance oriented Baleno RS will be powered by a 10-litre (998cc) 3-cylinder

Maruti Suzuki is required to present the Baleno RS in India soon In front of the official dispatch the specification sheet of the carhas surfaced uncovering a couple points of interest

This leaked spec sheet confirms that the performance oriented Baleno RS will be powered by a 10-litre (998cc) 3-cylinderBoosterJet engine which will develop 100bhp 5500rpm and 150Nm of torque 1700-4500rpm This power output is 10bhpshort of the speculated figure of 110bhp

Thus Maruti appears to have detuned the engine for Indian conditions The spec sheet also confirms that the Baleno RS will becoming with a 5-speed manual gearbox

The leaked images further reveal that the car will have disc brakes all round Maruti is also likely to tweak the suspension of the carto handle the increased power output According to the spec sheet the Baleno RS has 114mm of ground clearance (laden)

Once disclosed the Baleno RS is anticipated to compete against the likes of the VW Polo GT TSI and Abarth Puntohttpwwwasianagecombusinessautos280117maruti-baleno-rs-spec-sheet-leakedhtml

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Renault plans compact SUV premium small car Pankaj DovalThe Times of India (Web amp Print Edition)(Jan 30)

New Delhi French carmaker Renault is looking to drive in a compact SUV and a premium small car in India placed above Kwid Itplans to boost volumes led by highly-localised models

Renault ended 2016 with a market share of around 45 on sale of 11 lakh cars and operates with three key products Duster SUVKwid mini and Lodgy MPV

Sumit Sawhney country CEO and MD of Renault India said the company is in a portfolio development mode at a time when itexpands retail presence across the country High local content will be a major focus area for all new products as Renault wants toensure that car prices are attractive and operating costs are competitive Sawhney told TOI He said the company may look at acrossover (SUV) which can hit the market during the second half of this year It is believed that this vehicle will be the Kaptur SUVthat has been displayed internationally The new vehicle can be placed along with Duster as Renault wants to have a greater say inthe fast-growing off-roader category

Sawhney however did not confirm plans for a new small car but said the company is looking at segments above Kwid as it looksto boost overall share It is understood that the new small car is in the development stage at the moment and may be ready in two tothree years

The Renault India chief said new products will be an integral part of the companys strategy We will surely have one car launchevery year This will happen as our distribution and sales footprint get stronger

After being able to get brand recognition in India following launch of Duster in 2012 Renault finally managed to break into thevolumes market with SUV-shaped mini car Kwid (introduced in October 2015) The new vehicle managed to sell nearly 1 lakh unitsin its first year of launch and averages over 8000 units on a monthly basis

Kwid (price starts from Rs 264 lakh ex-showroom Delhi) managed to bring in volumes for the company in one of the mostfiercely-contested categories as it battled heavyweights such as Marutis Alto and Hyundais Eon

Sawhney said a localisation of 98 high ground clearance strong mileage and right pricing helped the company penetrate thesegment Localisation was the key behind the success of the car

The company has also been expanding its retail footprint across the country and finished last year with 270 dealers up from 205numbers at the beginning of the year We have similar expansion plans for this year too and a lot of focus will be to get deeperinside the markethttptimesofindiaindiatimescombusinessindia-businessrenault-plans-compact-suv-premium-small-cararticleshow56861153cms

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Luxury Cars

Mini John Cooper works Countryman unveiled Asian Age (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

After introducing the second generation of the Mini Countryman Mini Cooper has now unveiled its more powerful sibling the JohnCooper Works Countryman The new hatch has an all-wheelampndashdrive system and comes with the most powerful engine in theMini lineup This should definitely make the John Cooper Works Countryman a fun-to-drive car

The John Cooper Works Countryman gets the 20-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine but it has been heavily worked on to makeit freer to perform and more fun to drive The changes include model-specific pistons a bigger charge-air cooler and an additionalradiator All this helps the Mini JCW Countryman belt out 231PS of power (13PS more than the predecessor) and 350Nm of torque

As for the transmission there is a standard six-speed manual or the optional eight-speed automatic with paddle-shifters These willtake the JCW from 0-100kmph in 65 seconds and all the way up to 234kmph To help manage this performance the car also getssports suspension 18-inch JCW-spec light alloy wheels Brembo sports brakes and MINI Driving Modes ampndash Sport Mid andGreen

Like the standard Countryman the JCW is also loaded with convenience features It comes with standard LED headlamps daytimedriving lights cruise control with brake function and a 65-inch screen which displays a start screen specially designed for JohnCooper Works when the driver gets into the car

As soon as you set your eyes on one you would immediately know that it is not just another Countryman but its sportier cousinThis is courtesy its distinctive exterior styling which includes larger-than-normal cooling inlets in the front apron (fog lamps absent)

a model-specific roof spoiler and other elements of an aerodynamics kit In terms of cosmetic upgrades the car gets red paintaccents around the side turn indicators ORVMs roof and front grille racing stripes on the bonnet and sides John Cooper Workslogo on the front grille and tailgate and the Rebel Green paint scheme which has been reserved especially for the JCW There arechanges inside the cabin as well It gets red accents around the centre display and JCW sports seats

The Mini John Cooper Works Countryman will make its global debut in April this year at the Shanghai Motor Show But it remains tobe seen whether the model will make it to India The standard Countryman is likely to make its India debut in mid-2017 and willprice-wise fall in the league of the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLA Audi Q3 and BMW X1httpwwwasianagecombusinessautos280117mini-john-cooper-works-countryman-unveiledhtml

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Commercial Vehicles

Construction amp Agri Machinery

Tractor companies aim for double-digit growth after note recall dip Sharmistha MukherjeeThe Economic Times(Jan 30)

New Delhi Tractor makers are hoping to report growth in strong double digits for the first time in three years even asdemonetisation impacted rural demand adversely over the past three months

Several tractor manufacturers ET spoke to said sales are likely to grow 18-19 to 58-585 lakh units by the end of this fiscal If thiscomes true it will be the second highest sales volume recorded in the domestic tractor market in a year after sales surged 20 to arecord high of 634151units in 2013-14

The cash crunch impacted demand and tractor sales in the industry dropped around 14 in November said Shenu Agarwal chiefsales and marketing officer Escorts Limited

Sales revived to an extent last month We expect the market to improve and stabilise by the next harvest season Monsoon hasbeen good this fiscal sowing has gone up and pices are holding well Despite demonetisation the industry should grow 18-19Agarwal added

Between April and October 2016 tractor sales accelerated 25 over that in the previous year After falling 14 in November salespicked up in December to grow 7 over that a year ago

With good progress in rabi sowing and increased minimum support prices (MSPs) we expect to see the growth momentum tocontinue in the coming monthsamprdquo Rajesh Jejurikar chief executive-farm equipment at Mahindra amp Mahindra had said earlierthis month

Raman Mittal executive director at International Tractors makers of Sonalika brand of tractors said that post demonetisation banksand financial institutions prioritised collection as challenges in cash availability impacted repayments in the immediate aftermath ofdemonetisation This affected new sales in the industry The company which sold 63823 tractors in domestic and overseasmarkets till December this fiscal expects its sales to surge at least 20 in 2016-17 over the previous financial year Tractor sales inIndia declined 13 in 2014-15 over the previous year to 551463 units with poor monsoon whittling demand Sales fell in 2015-16as well declining 11 to 493764 units

However good monsoon and a pickup in infrastructure and construction activity in the first half of the fiscal prompted most tractormakers to revise upwards their sales growth projections for 2016-17 to 15-17 from the earlier 10 Industry executives arehopeful of meeting this revised target for the entire fiscalhttpeconomictimesindiatimescomindustryautonewsindustrytractor-companies-aim-for-double-digit-growth-after-note-recall-diparticleshow56862266cms

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23 Wheelers

Bajaj Dominar 400 review Was Bajajacirceurotrades long-awaited flagship worth the wait Sherman NazarethHindustan Times(Jan 29)

Few motorcycles have managed to create such phenomenal levels of hype as this one Previewed as the CS400 concept bike atthe Auto Expo in 2014 the Dominar 400 could be a game-changer and Bajaj intends for it to open up a whole new segmentItamprsquos loaded with features power and technology and with it Bajaj has taken a bold step away from the Pulsar moniker to

debut the premium new Dominar brand The companyamprsquos philosophy behind the Dominar was to deliver a bike with the easyriding quality of a cruiser along with the performance and handling of a naked bike But has it succeeded

With modern naked styling and chiselled features the Dominar 400 shows off sleek styling and powerful proportions It has a fairlysquat stance but it also manages to blend in quintessential Pulsar styling cues The Dominaramprsquos beefy all-LED headlightsetup complements the muscular styling of the bike and whatamprsquos nice is that it comes with Auto Headlamp On (AHO) safetyfeature

Thereamprsquos a premium feel to the new power cruiser with elegant raised decals and plenty of smartly-machined alloys bitsincluding the handlebar mount footrests and its mounts

The Dominar 400 deploys a split-speedometer console which comprises an all-digital handle-mounted unit ampndash that hascascading bars to read out the engine speed and fuel level ampndash and the tank-mounted screen that gets all the warning lights Ithowever doesnamprsquot get a gear indicator which is expected of a motorcycle in this segment But the crisp-functioningilluminated switchgear comfy palm grips as well as a set of KTM Duke-inspired mirrors all function well The twin-vertical LED striptail-light also lends flair to the Dominar 400amprsquos tail

The muscular fuel tank sweeps smoothly into the nicely padded saddle which is lightly stepped Its 13-litre fuel capacity howeverdoesnamprsquot give it a very exceptional range something a little bigger would have suited touring duties better The belly pan tankextensions radiator shrouds and the stylish 10-spoke alloy wheels add to the bikeamprsquos muscular look Also fit and finish levelsare quite good as is the attention to detail

The Dominar 400amprsquos 373cc single-cylinder powerplant is Bajajamprsquos version of the engines found in the KTM 390 Dukeand RC390 This liquid-cooled engine comes with triple-spark plug technology and is quite vibration-free during regular riding lightvibrations only creep up through the handlebar foot pegs and seat at higher revs

Engine heat management is commendable even riding through city traffic speeds wonamprsquot prompt the engine to emanate toomuch heat unlike what KTM 390amprsquos engines do It pulls well from low revs which makes the Dominar 400 an effortlessmachine to ride in crowded traffic The throttle is responsive and rewards the rider with heady acceleration so pulling away cleanlyfrom traffic lights should be a breeze Power delivery is particularly strong from 5000rpm and is accompanied by a gruff pleasingexhaust note

The Dominaramprsquos six-speed gearbox feels light and precise when shifting and the slipper clutch steps in when you areaggressively downshifting at high speeds to keep the bike completely under control The gear ratios are perfectly matched tohandle city riding and cruising at higher speeds That said this bike is no slouch Itamprsquos capable of smashing past 60kph in ascant 33sec from standstill with 100kph going by in 83sec While it should be able to manage a top speed of around 150kphitamprsquos comfortable cruising at 120kph

Bajaj has managed a really pleasant seating position on the Dominar 400 Thereamprsquos a light lean into the flat handlebars whichimparts a nice sporty feel This is further complimented by the well-positioned footrests and brake pedal Clearly the Dominar 400 isnoticeably comfier than its KTM stablemates which offer a more aggressive but cramped riding positions Another highlight of theDominar is that you can hardly tell that this is a 182kg motorcycle by the way it rides

Suspended on beefy 43mm telescopic front forks and a Nitrox adjustable rear monoshock system the Dominar 400 feels a bitstiffly sprung And this is evident even with the rear suspension dialled down to its softest setting However the firm setup is whatgives the Dominar excellent high-speed stability Through corners the bike feels planted and turns in a fuss-free neutral mannerThe MRF Revz C1 radial tyres offer really commendable levels of grip while braking and cornering which gives you the confidenceto sustain spirited riding within reasonable measure

What also helps is that the 320mm front disc and the 230mm rear disc together provide ample stopping for the Dominar 400 Themore expensive variant of the Dominar also gets dual-channel ABS for added safety

All in all this is a motorcycle that is just effortless to ride It doesnamprsquot set out to be overtly athletic and in fact it feels like asmall-displacement bike but the overall riding experience is quite satisfying The Dominar 400 is aggressively priced at Rs 136 lakhand Rs 150 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the non-ABS and dual channel-ABS versions respectively making it a well-positionedbike especially since itamprsquos an immensely competent package Itamprsquos got all the performance youamprsquoll need on Indianroads itamprsquos quite a looker itamprsquos comfortable to ride and like most Bajaj bikes itamprsquos good value for your money Sodoes the Dominar 400 have what it takes to see market success The answer to that is a resounding yeshttpwwwhindustantimescomautosbajaj-dominar-400-review-was-bajaj-s-long-awaited-flagship-worth-the-waitstory-EDBBLTDLQrDhQ6Tf8KCpqOhtml

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Triumph Bonneville Bobber review Just a retro-chic poser or is there more to it Priyadarshan BawikarHindustan Times(Jan 29)

Going purely by looks thereamprsquos little doubt that Triumphamprsquos new Bonneville Bobber is tailor-made for beardedplaid-shirt-and-skinny-jeans-wearing hipsters But this Bobber is based on the companyamprsquos new Bonneville T120 which is oneheck of an impressive bike So maybe thereamprsquos more to the Bobber than meets the eye

Actually even what meets the eye is quite remarkable The styling is reminiscent of the stripped-down amplsquobobbersamprsquo thatentered the American custom motorcycle scene in the amprsquo30s In fact barring the engine thereamprsquos no way to tell that thisis based on the T120 Triumph managed this by taking the T120amprsquos frame and modifying it to the point where itamprsquos

technically all-new Also to keep the whole amplsquobobberamprsquo look going both wheels are wire-spoked and the rear is 16-inchshod with chunky 150-section rubber

The Bobberamprsquos real party piece is its rear end It might look like a hardtail (bikes without rear suspension) like bobbers of yorebut Triumph has very cleverly installed a monoshock hidden under the seat while maintaining the bikeamprsquos clean looksSpeaking of the seat itamprsquos pretty ingenious too The rider-only floating seat is mounted on a rail that allows for adjusting itsposition depending on the rideramprsquos preference Also adjustable is the instrument pod which features a simple quick-releasemechanism that allows its viewing angle to be changed in a jiffy

There are also some classic design touches that make the Bobber really distinctive These include its sculpted fuel tank that hassome attractive colour schemes a rear-wheel hub that resembles an old-school drum brake and even an ignition barrelthatamprsquos located near the right side panel to name a few On the whole Triumph has struck a wonderful balance betweenmodern and classic with the Bobber and this amplsquofactory customamprsquo is sure to entice even those who have no love forold-school motorcycles

This Bobber packs the same 1200HT (High Torque) motor from the T120 but it is in a slightly different state of tune The 1200ccliquid-cooled parallel-twin motor now makes 77hp which is a little bit less when compared to the Bonneville T120 but itamprsquostweaked to dish out power at more useable engine speeds While the motor is quite free-revving itamprsquos at regular speedswhere it really shines Coming out of turns as soon as you get the motor on the boil the Bobber shoots ahead in a mannerthatamprsquos almost uncharacteristic for such a classic-looking motorcycle And with its amplsquosawn-offamprsquo twin exhaustsyouamprsquore greeted by a wonderful noise reminiscent of old-school hot-rod motorcycles every time you open the throttle

In a straight line the Bobber is an absolute hoot It accelerates hard and reaches triple-digit speeds in no time at all And theproperly old-school low leaned-over riding position (the seat height is just 690mm) makes the bike feel even more thrilling atspeed While the bike itself has no problems cruising at triple-digit speeds thereamprsquos nothing to shield riders from wind blastsAnd so high speeds will be limited to short bursts of throttle-wide-open action

Now looking at the Bobber youamprsquod expect it to not have much cornering prowess However the Bobber is quite a delightaround bends The low-slung nature and the larger 19-inch front wheel and flat wide handlebar mean that steering it into turnsrequires a bit of effort However once turned in itamprsquos absolutely planted providing plenty of confidence for you to get on thegas as soon possible The bespoke Avon Cobra tyres it comes shod with play a crucial role in the terrific levels of grip the bike hasas does its low centre of gravity

However being this low-slung has its problems too Lean into a corner a lot and the foot pegs tend to ground quite hard That saiditamprsquos really surprising how the Bobber never feels unsettled even when youamprsquore dragging the foot pegs over the tarmacwith sparks flying in your wake

The other downside to this low-set design is low suspension travel and understandably the bikeamprsquos KYB shocks are set upslightly on the stiffer side Now while the stiff suspension wonamprsquot pose a problem on smooth roads for heavier riders the rearis likely to bottom out over bumps and when it does be prepared for a painful jolt through your spine

One seriously weak link in the Bobberamprsquos otherwise fairly strong suite is braking The Bobber uses a single 310mm disc at thefront which simply isnamprsquot adequate to bring this 228kg bike to a quick stop Itamprsquos a shame considering just how quicklythis bike accelerates and just how much fun it is when going fast

This Bonneville Bobber is set to hit Indian shores in a couple of months with pricing expected to be between that of the T120 andthe Thruxton R which means in the Rs 9-10 lakh range Itamprsquos undoubtedly one of the most beautiful bikes in Triumphamprsquoscurrent line-up but the best part is that itamprsquos not just a pretty face itamprsquos genuinely fun to ride and can even hold its own incorners It also exudes a sense of high build quality thatamprsquos synonymous with Triumphamprsquos motorcycles

To top things off Triumph offers some incredible customisation options in the form of amplsquoinspiration kitsamprsquo to make theBobber feel more retro or even set it up like an old-school drag bike Hipster or not the Bobber is one motorcycle thatamprsquoll be afine addition to anyoneamprsquos garagehttpwwwhindustantimescomautostriumph-bonneville-bobber-review-just-a-retro-chic-poser-or-is-there-more-to-itstory-EdsATfbxJrACLCuNMc9BeOhtml

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Speed lovers Hereacirceurotrades good news Hindustan Times(Jan 29)

Listen up speed enthusiasts India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd recently launched the much awaited FZ25 in its successful and popularFZ Series in the presence of actor John Abraham

The new model FZ25 has been developed with a newly designed air-cooled 249 cc 4-stroke SOHC 2-valve single-cylinderhigh-torque fuel-injected engine on a lightweight frame (148 Kgs) enabling the joy of control as the rider intends These features willestablish the FZ25 as a powerful mid-class street fighter for the Next FZWorld

The design emphasises both the senses of mass forward layout and downforce evoking the powerful muscles of an athlete Thisnewly launched street model delivers riding enjoyment as well as excellent fuel efficiency and environmental performance

Building on the reputation the new model has been developed with Yamahaamprsquos New Generation Engine Development Idealampndash amplsquoBlue Coreamprsquo featuring overall improved performance including fuel efficiency acceleration and environmental

friendliness The model is compliant to BS IV emission standards

With its maximum power output of 209 PS at 8000 rpm and maximum torque of 20 Nm at 6000 rpm the product is available inthree colors ballistic blue warrior white knight black and will be available in the market beginning February 2017

Speaking on the occasion Masaki Asano managing director Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd said ampldquoThe FZ series hasbeen a great performer ever since its launch in 2008 FZ Series performed very well in India and crossed 13 Million sales since itslaunch and has developed as a strong brand in the deluxe segment Now the deluxe segment customers can step up to a premiummodelamprdquo

Roy Kurian Vice President Sales amp Marketing Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd added ampldquoThe bike has been personalizedfor street smart new age macho riders with aspiration to move towards a more powerful bike For a powerful bike like this it isimportant to have balance and control While the bike has been engineered for new age biking enthusiasts its superior design andcomfort makes it perfect for daily use as wellamprdquo With the new launch the company is confident that it will be able to make newinroads in the customer base especially those who wants to step up from the deluxe segment to premium

Priced Ex- showroom DelhiRs119500 Ex- Showroom Mumbai Rs119553

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Yamaha FZ25 specs comparison with its rivals Ronak ShahThe Economic Times(Jan 30)

New Delhi Indian arm of the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer Yamaha Motor has finally entered the 200-250cc entry premiummotorcycle segment with its FZ25 and with this the company has filled the gap between its 150 cc Yamaha YZF R15 and 320 ccYamaha R3

The entry premium motorcycles space in India has grown consistently over last two years We have seen Bajaj Pulsar 200 seriestasting success and TVS with its Apache TRT 200 4V has got the market buzzing

Yamahaamprsquos new offering is priced at Rs 119 lakh (ex-Delhi) and while itamprsquos the most reasonable among the 250ccmotorcycle space it might still come across as a bit expensive when compared to the likes of Bajaj Pulsars and even TVS ApacheRTR 200 4V

Yamaha FZ25 at the moment takes on the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V Honda CBR 250 and among the range of Pulsars fromBajajamprsquos stable the bike will give competition to Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS which will soon get a BS-IV compliant engine and alsoexpect some minor cosmetic changes with an updated price as well

Yamahaamprsquos entry into this segment has taken a while but the company has got it just right when its comes to the design It isboth modern and aggressive and the muscular tank adds to the overall appeal of the bike The tank has more muscle than the TVSApache TRT 200 4V and looks a bit bulkier Honda CBR 250 has been in the market for a while now and its complete flaring rathergives it a sports bike look while the other two makes it to street sports category

FeaturesDigital speedometer telescopic front suspension monoshock suspension at the rear and dual disc brakes are standard on allYamaha FZ25 TVS Apache RTR 200 4V amp Honda CBR 250 The FZ25 is frst in the segment to come with full LED headlampsAnti-lock brakes (ABS) is a miss on the Yamaha and TVSamprsquos offering Honda CBR 250 gets an ABS variant as well at anexpensive price tag

EngineYamaha FZ25 and Honda CBR 250 gets same 249 cc single-cylinder engine The liquid cooled engine on the Honda pumps outabout 25 bhp of power and 23 Nm of torque whereas Yamahaamprsquos air-cooled motor sheds a power of 206 bhp and 20 Nm oftorque which is very similar to the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V TVS and Yamaha have installed a 5-speed gearbox on their entrypremium offering but Honda on the CBR 250 has a 6-speed gearbox mated to its engine

Yamaha Motor India is expecting sales of about 4000-5000 units on its new offering Yamaha FZ25 will certainly give a toughcompetition to its rivals and will help the company to gain some market share in the entry premium segment motorcycle segmenthttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewstwo-wheelersmotorcycles-yamaha-fz25-specs-comparison-with-its-rivals56851275

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125-150cc segment vrooms ahead of others in bike market Ajay ModiBusiness Standard(Jan 30)

Like the sports utility vehicles in passenger vehicles the mid-segment (125-150cc) motorcycle market is growing at a thunderingspeed much ahead of others and the overall market This market has grown 54 per cent during the first three quarters of thefinancial year and clocked sales of a million units making it worth a little over Rs 7000 crore Launches have helped expand themarket like in the case of SUVs In the domestic passenger vehicle (cars vans and utility vehicles) market every fourth vehicle

now being sold is a SUV compared to the one-fifth share a year ago

Growth in the 125-150cc segment is even higher than the 35 per cent expansion seen in the 250-350cc motorcycle segment whereRoyal Enfield is a dominant player The overall motorcycle market has grown about six per cent so far during FY17 to 85 millionunits The entry level (75-110cc) segment more than half the domestic market has declined 16 per cent to 498 million unitsaccording to data with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers

ampldquoThe mid-segment is showing good growth while the premium end of 100cc bike market is sluggish People are trading up to125-150cc range as they see better value Our new launches like Avenger and V15 (in the 125-150cc space) have done well for usThese have brought growth momentum in domestic volumesamprdquo said Sumeet Narang vice-president (marketing) formotorcycles at Bajaj Auto

V15 was launched by Bajaj Auto in March 2016 and the Pune-headquartered company sold about 180500 units duringApril-December period The company also rolled out the Avenger (in October 2015) with a 150cc engine for this segment and it hassold about 109400 units during April-December 2016 Pulsar another motorcycle from the company is the largest sellingmotorcycle in this segment with 30 per cent share

ampldquoWe have plans of refreshing the Pulsar with new colour and specificationsamprdquo said Narang

After a sluggish November and December following demonetisation Bajaj was seeing better demand for motorcycles in Januaryhe added With three key products in the 125-150cc space Bajaj is the leader here with a 60 per cent share

Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha is another leading player in this segment with about a one-fifth of the market All the threeproducts (FZ R15 and SZ) from the company in this segment are showing growth These three products have grown 13 per cent to211000 units

Roy Kurian vice-president (sales amp marketing) at Yamaha said this segment had picked up five years ago but could not sustain themomentum and all growth went to the 100-110cc segment ampldquoThis time it looks like a natural growth Customers are nowwilling to spend little more especially in the urban markets

I expect this segment to double in three yearsamprdquo

With its two products (CB Unicorn and CBR 150R) Honda Motorcycle and Scooter has about 11 per cent share in this segment

httpwwwbusiness-standardcomarticlecompanies125-150cc-segment-vrooms-ahead-of-others-in-bike-market-117012900860_1html

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E-Bikes

The changemaker Ridge e-scooter S M UmairThe Hindu(Jan 30)

The general perception about Electric Vehicles (EV) is that they will come in future to change the way we commute The fact thatthese vehicles are eco-friendly has a lot working in their favour All thanks to Tesla that future doesnamprsquot seem so distant nowIn the US Tesla is finding hard to meet the bookings order and is trying to fasten its production line

However in India electric vehicles still arenamprsquot the order of the day Launch of Okinawa electric scooters recently was a stepahead even though the tendency is that we still shrug it off here taking EVs as too futuristic The near absence of buzz in the mediafor electric vehicles in general and electric scooters in particular is suggestive of our lagged pace in this direction

Okinawa Autotech Private Limited with the launch of its Ridge scooter at a price of acircsbquosup143702 is trying to make its mark TheOkinawa company started its operations in 2015 and this is its first product on offer ampldquoBeing an Indian company our vision isto be a leading electric two-wheeler manufacturer by offering a solution to the daily commuting needs of the consumeramprdquo saidJeetender Sharma spokesperson of the Okinawa brand

Fast chargingThe scooter can speed up to 55kmhr with normal charging to take four-six hours There is a fast charging system available as wellwhich promises to charge your vehicle within one to two hours Once fully charged the vehicle has a range of 80-90 km The Ridgeis powered by 800 watt and has a loading capacity of 150 kg There are unique utility features like anti-theft alarm digitalspeedometer central locking smart controller and eco and power mode of operations The alloy wheels tubeless tyres andtelescopic suspension are to aid the riding in rough terrains

ampldquoOur mission is to alter the belief that e-automobiles canamprsquot match the power speed and efficiency of traditional petrolvehicles We have prepared a detailed State-wise expansion plan and will be following up the Ridge scooter with other scooterswhich will have unique features such as accident detection app-enabled vehicle maintenance amprdquo said Sharma

Lagging behindWhile the world is moving ahead at a fast pace there are changes in mobility that are being worked upon with many revolutions inthe time to come Using hydrogen gas as fuel automated cars vehicle connectivity and interactive safety systems are some of thetechnological innovations which we might witness later We are probably a decade or more away from completely revolutionising

the ways of transport However EVs arenamprsquot that futuristic There have been some options in the Indian market for quite sometime now But we are still in the search of a popular one

The launch event came to a close after a brief presentation on the expansion plan of the company The target of setting up 450dealerships in the next three years and expanding in the field of research and development looks promising Electric vehicles arehere to stay but emphasis will be on better performing electric vehicles Till then you may want to figure out the feasibility andpracticality of Ridge e-scooterhttpwwwthehinducomlife-and-stylemotoringThe-changemakerarticle17109450ece

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Components

Allied Industries

Ceat Apollo Tyres among others who signed Rs 105 lakh cr MoU in Andhra Pradesh CR SukumarThe Economic Times(Jan 30)

Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh the Southern India state that secured top rank in World Banks ease of doing business apart fromdouble digit growth has signed memorandum of understanding for Rs 1054 lakh crore of investments announced chief minister NChandrababu Naidu

Addressing the 23rd CII Partnership Summit at Visakhapatnam on Saturday Naidu thanked administration that strived hard towardsstabilising the economy through improving various performance parameters helping the state more than double MoUs from lastSummit

During the last Summit the Southern India state had signed 328 MoUs for Rs 467 lakh crore of investments and claims to havesucceeded in converting over 40 per cent of them into reality

The top firms that had signed MoUs this time around include ONGC GAIL HPCL and REC Others include IOCL GMR RamcoEssel Infra ILampFS LEPL Ventures Next Orbit NSL Mining Drone Defence Ceat Apollo Tyres Tata Chemicals Wipro HindustanLNG Shree Cement and Chettinad Cement among others

Naidu said the latest 665 MoUs singed during the two-day Summit should help generate over 22 lakh new jobs Thanking theinvestors for overwhelming support he hoped to further improve the states performance in attracting investments during next yearsinvestor summit

This shows the inherent strengths of Andhra Pradesh and the confidence of investors on our governance said Naidu vowing tostrive towards further improving Andhra Pradeshs ease of doing business rankings to emerge among the top 10 global destinationssoon

The chief minister assured quality and uninterrupted power water land and infrastructure to the industries apart from corrupt-freegovernance and all approvals within 14 dayshttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustryandra-attracts-rs-10-5-lakh-crore-investment-commitments-at-partnership-summit56846942

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TAL to create mkt for robots in India Umesh M AvvannavarDeccan Herald(Jan 29) Bengaluru TAL Manufacturing Solutions a 100 subsidiary of auto major Tata Motors believes that robots sales will be exploredanytime like smartphone sales in India

Talking to DH on the sidelines of IMTEX 2017 TAL Manufacturing Solutions Chief Operations Officer - Robotics Amit Bhingurdesaid ampldquoAfter the successful launch of 10kg robot in March 2016 in amplsquoMake in Indiaamprsquo programme in Mumbai thereis a huge demand for below 10 kg robots We are creating the market and we are the first company to launch indigenous productswhich are easy to handle and maintainamprdquo

As of now India imports all its robots from different parts of the world Around 2300 robots were imported last year

On production capacity Bhingurde said ampldquoWe anticipate an explosive growth Right now we have a capacity of 3000 robotsper year and we have planned to augment the capacity to 10000 depending on the market requirementamprdquo

These robots are produced at Tata Motors Campus Chinchwad Pune Till date the company has invested over Rs 20 crore in

research and development At IMTEX 2017 TAL has showcased the compact BRABO 2 kg robot It will be launched in April at aprice range of Rs 475 lakh to Rs 5 lakh

TAL BRABO is directed towards change in not only to the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) but also to Tier II and Tier IIIsuppliers who can automate their facilities by deploying robots which will complement the human workforce by taking over dulldangerous repetitive and dirty jobs

TAL BRABO will focus on automotive electronics logistics food packaging pharmaceutical and other industries

When asked how different is the product when compared with its competitors he said ampldquoWe are 30 lower in price and weprovide a complete solution compared to othersamprdquo

ampldquoA majority of OEMs have big robots however the suppliers are working manually there is no automation level and hencequality and consistency is not there By supporting the various industries we are also expanding our product portfolio which will helpmore manufacturers realise the benefits available from robotic technologyamprdquo he added

On sales projection he said ampldquoWe have 500 leads in the pipelineamprdquohttpwwwdeccanheraldcomcontent593654tal-create-mkt-robots-indiahtml

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Emissions Environment

Finance amp Insurance

Oil Lubricants amp Alternative Fuels

News Magazines

Nissan GT-R outlines India map on lakebed Autocar India(Jan 29)

Nissan Motor India is set to enter the Limca Book of Records for the worldamprsquos largest-ever outline of a country map with aNissan GT-R

In celebration of Indiaamprsquos 68th Republic Day the sportscar carved out the approximate map of India spanning three squarekilometres on the dry surface of the Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan

Speed and precision were critical to accomplish this precision act Nissan chose Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan as the location for therecord attempt due to its level and dry lakebed surface stunning vistas and soil which is soft enough to leave a deep impression tobe captured by camera drones high above

The GT-Ramprsquos precise and crisp responses enabled the car to manoeuvre through the twists and turns to trace the complexproportions of Indiaamprsquos landmass on the sandy surface in a dry section of the lake

With major turns and bends along the periphery the GT-Ramprsquos renowned driving performance power and handling was put toits ultimate test At the helm of the vibrant red GT-R was professional rally driver Rahul Kanthraj who piloted the car to achieve therecord

To ensure accuracy the map was created by plotting the co-ordinates on a GPS device and multiple laps were done to approximatethe actual map The results were captured on video with drones and onboard cameras

The dimensions of the map were about 3km in length and 28km in width with a total outline periphery of 147km Officials from theLimca Book of Records were on site to validate the process Once certified this unique record will be included in the 2018 edition ofthe book expected to be published in June 2018httpwwwautocarindiacomauto-newsnissan-gt-r-outlines-india-map-on-lakebed-404050aspx

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New Toyota Supra to carry Gazoo name Autocar India(Jan 29)

Toyota will launch its 2018 Supra under the name of its newly launched road performance arm Gazoo

The boss of Gazoo Racing Koei Saga told our sister publication Autocar UK at the Monte Carlo Rally where Toyota was fieldingits new Yaris WRC cars that producing such a halo hybrid model was a dream of his He also suggested that Gazooamprsquos roadcar team was already making use of the brandamprsquos racing hybrid powertrain technology

Saga refrained from revealing what Gazooamprsquos range-topping model would be but earlier inside information has suggested thatthe Supra was already planned to be launched under the Gazoo moniker It isnamprsquot yet known whether this will be as the GazooSupra or Toyota Supra Gazoo

Saga suggested that more hybrid Gazoo models were on the cards in the future by emphasising the importance of hybridpowertrains to his division He cited Gazoo Racingamprsquos hybrid motorsport models which include its World EnduranceChampionship LMP1 racer and hybrid-V8 Prius that competes in Japanamprsquos Super GT 300 class

The first production Gazoo model to be sold in Europe will be a hot version of the Yaris hatchback Set to be revealed at theGeneva motor show in March it is expected to have a 15-litre turbocharged petrol engine thatamprsquoll produce more than 210bhpThe car will be available as a three-door model only

Saga hinted that a plan to launch more road-going Gazoo models in Europe after this was already in place When asked if hewanted a full range of Gazoo models to be produced for the market he said ampldquoof courseamprdquohttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-newsnew-toyota-supra-to-carry-gazoo-name-404052aspx

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Maruti Vitara Brezza bookings cross 2 lakh mark Autocar India(Jan 29)

Maruti has announced that total bookings for its compact SUV the Vitara Brezza have crossed the 2 lakh unit mark The milestoneachievement comes nearly a year after the popular model was revealed to the public at the Auto Expo in February last year beforebeing launched the following month

The Brezza has proven to be a very popular model in the segment with waiting periods for the car rising to as high as nine monthsfor certain variants within a few months of its launch Sales quickly crossed the 50000 unit mark in October last year despite themodel seeing a price hike in the preceding months The Brezza went on to end the year with cumulative sales crossing the 85000units mark

To heighten the appeal of its compact SUV Maruti introduced the iCreate customisation programme for the Brezza late last yearoffering prospective customers the chance to personalise their cars prior to taking delivery

A rival to the Ford EcoSport and Mahindra NuvoSport the Brezza was quick to establish itself as the segment bestseller replacingthe EcoSport within a few months of its launch The compact SUV has been a hit amongst Indian buyers as it ticks all the rightboxes in terms of cabin space equipment safety and fuel economy

Maruti is expected to add a petrol variant to the Brezza line-up sometime this year in a bid to further widen the appeal of thecompact SUV to buyers not looking for a diesel modelhttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-newsmaruti-vitara-brezza-bookings-cross-2-lakh-mark-404056aspx

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2017 KTM RC390 review test ride Sherman Hale NazarethAutocar India(Jan 29)

In 2014 we saw the dawn of the RC era from KTM These single-cylinder motorcycles were punching way above their weight limitsThey invoked a sense of hooliganism in anyone that decided to straddle these machines It was that perfect combination of rawperformance aggressive and unique styling and really sharp handling that made the RC series really stand out For 2017 KTM hasrefreshed the RC siblings the RC200 gets some minor changes while the RC390 gets some more substantial changes

The smaller sibling in the RC range gets a set of new graphics and a BS-IV compliant engine A short spin on the 2017 RC200revealed that this motorcycle remains relatively unchanged although the new graphics do lend a breath of freshness to themotorcycle

Where the major chunk of changes has happened is with the RC390 While the slipper clutch has been carried over from the 2016model the 2017 model also gets ride-by-wire technology revised graphics a revised exhaust unit improved brakes and a Euro-IVcompliant engine But how does all this translate into the real world

As with the RC200 the new graphics on the RC390 really add to the sporty and aggressive look of the motorcycle if that was evenpossible The bright orange of the inner fairing the added dash of colour to the tail end and the revised decals are quite striking andreally make the motorcycle stand out And lets not forget thanks to the new side-slung exhaust the new RC390 also gets a revisedbelly-pan This new belly-pan is less bulbous than before and its new narrower design addresses the issue on the older motorcyclewhere the belly-pan would scrape the ground during hard cornering With this new design you can expect the foot-pegs to scrape

the ground before the belly-pan does

The rest of the body-work remains relatively unchanged It however does get a 12mm bump in seat cushioning which is noticeableto the naked eye But this is solely for the purpose of added comfort on longer stints in the saddle the seat height remainsunchanged at 820mm The new RC390 also gets adjustable levers for that added bit of usability and comfort

Now in order to meet the new Euro-IV emission norms KTM had to ensure lower emission levels without losing out onperformance This has resulted in a weight-gain of 7kg for the RC390 which is not really evident when riding the machine

The ride-by-wire throttle now uses throttle inputs to send data to the ECU and calculates the amount of fuel-air mixture that needsto be sent to the combustion chamber and variates the spark-timing accordingly What this results in is more efficient use of fueland a throttle that is less sensitive to heavy inputs This translates to a smoother transition from off the throttle to whacking it backwide open which helps a lot when leaned deep into corners The power is delivered cleanly and in the process becomes moreusable And the shorter throttle travel thanks to the ride-by-wire means you can access that power in the higher revs more easily

While these changes may not be immediately noticeable they do allow the motorcycle to now be Euro-IV compliant And the newstainless steel underfloor pre-silencer meets a side-slung cylindrical aluminium absorption silencer which compliments thatAlthough the exhaust note remains more or less the same as the older model as does the 1785mm of ground clearance

While the 2017 model still produces a peak power output of 43hp at 9000rpm from the 373cc unit torque figures have gotten a1Nm bump and now peaks at 36Nm produced at 7000rpm This increase however is not noticeable when riding the machine Theextreme levels of heat produced by the engine remain unchanged though And this is immediately noticeable once the motorcycle isat a stand-still

The PASC anti-hopping slipper clutch helps reasonably well for hard downshifting And it also keeps the lever light and easy tooperate The 6-speed gearbox remains unchanged and the power is delivered smoothly to the redline although the RC390 feels alot better when in the right gear Holding low speeds in higher gears does make the motorcycle feel a bit out of its element

Where one major improvement has taken place is with the brakes The older model did sort of lack in this department but the newbrakes compensate for that brilliantly Not only does it get a 20mm increase in diameter for the front brake making it 320mm now italso gets a 1mm increase in the size of the master-cylinder which is now 13mm This has resulted in phenomenal stopping powerFrom the initial bite to eventual hard-braking the brakes feel strong and confidence-inspiring This with the Bosch 9MBtwin-channel ABS kicking in cleanly to avoid any untoward drama

Another small change on the 2017 model is the tyres Although it retains the grippy Metzeler M5I tyres the new tyres have a lowerspeed rating it has gone down from a 66W to a 66H What this means is that the new H rated tyres are good for speeds up to210kph So the speedo-indicated 168kph that we saw on our track-test is well within the safe limit And grip levels remain as goodas before so this is not really an area of concern

The 2017 RC200 is priced at Rs 172 lakh and the RC390 comes with a tag of Rs 225 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) For only Rs12000 bump in pricing the 2017 RC390 does get a whole new lot of goodies Although in the real world it doesnt translate into toomany changes in the dynamics of the motorcycle So while the 2017 RC390 is priced well and is still a whole lot of fun to ride wefeel KTM could have pushed this bike a little bit further and made it even better While KTM hasnamprsquot mentioned anything yetthe 2018 model could be just that

Price Range (in lakhs)

Ex-showroom price Rs 225 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

Engine

Type 3732cc single-cylinder 4-stroke liquid cooled

Borestroke 8960mm

Power 43hp at 9000rpm

Torque 36Nm at 7000rpm

Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm

Ground clearance 1785

Chassis amp Body

Construction Steel trellis frame

Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc

Anti-lock Bosch 9MB two-channel

Economy

Tank size 10 litreshttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-reviews2017-ktm-rc390-review-test-ride-4040590aspx

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Next-gen VW Golf GTI to adopt mild-hybrid tech Autocar India(Jan 30)

Volkswagen is set to introduce a mild-hybrid powertrain to its next-generation Golf GTI With the new powertrain the carmakerpromises to boost performance and refinement while reducing fuel consumption and emissions when compared with the currentmodel

The adoption of an advanced 48V electrical system and integrated starter motor on the new hot hatchback is part of a powertrainoverhaul that will be reflected across the whole Mk8 Golf line-up The changes are also set to make the new model the mostpowerful series-production Golf GTI yet

Although the new Golf GTI is still three years away from its introduction in international markets sources close to Volkswagenresearch and development boss Frank Welsch have revealed to our sister publication Autocar UK that the initial performancetargets point to a power output similar to the 265hp of the limited-edition Golf GTI Clubsport

The new Gold GTI will continue to use an internal combustion engine ampndash Volkswagenamprsquos familiar turbocharged 20-litrepetrol unit However the introduction of the 48V electric system will allow the four-cylinder engine to receive comprehensivemodifications Itamprsquos likely that the exhaust gas turbocharger of todayamprsquos model will make way for an electrically-operatedcompressor that offers improved low-end response and a broader plateau of torque for added flexibility

Additionally the integrated starter motor will allow Volkswagen to provide the front-wheel-drive Golf GTI with a so-called boostfunction in which an electric motor mounted in the front section of its standard-fit seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearboxsupplements the combustion engine in Performance mode

Late last year Michael Mayer director Volkswagen Passenger Cars India had hinted to us in an exclusive interview that thecarmaker could get the Golf GTI to India as the countryamprsquos hot hatch market matureshttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-newsnext-gen-vw-golf-gti-to-adopt-mild-hybrid-tech-404055aspx

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2017 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm kicks off today in Delhi Autocar India(Jan 30)

The 15th edition of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm will be flagged off from New Delhi today which will see competitors traversingthrough the Thar Desert over 2000km and six days

The competitors will travel to Hanumangarh from New Delhi for the first transport stage the latter being the starting point for therally Over the next few days competitors will head to Bikaner and Jaisalmer before crossing the finish in Jodhpur on February 4th

As always the competitors will be classified into four categories ampndash Xtreme NDure Moto and Xplore with the Xplore categorybeing offered the option to participate either on all six days or opt for a shorter duration (first three or last three days)

The night leg which debuted in 2015 will return for a third year running ampndash with competitors battling the darkness of the nightover 150km in and around Jaisalmer

Driving in Team Maruti colours Suresh Rana will look to defend his title from veterans like Sandeep Sharma and Aabhishek Mishrawhile in the moto category all eyes will definitely be on C S Santosh who recently finished his second Dakar Rally and will competeagainst over 40 riders to defend his title

Commenting on the 15th edition of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Mr Vinay Pant AVP Marketing Maruti Suzuki India said ampldquoAtMaruti we are passionate about motorsports and consistently aim to provide the fans with an opportunity to relive the fun and

excitement through pioneering motorsport rallies The journey of Desert Storm has been remarkable since its inception in 2003 Theterrain is extremely thrilling and will challenge the combination of man and machineamprdquohttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-news2017-maruti-suzuki-desert-storm-kicks-off-today-in-delhi-404062aspx

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Tata Zest AMT long term review third report Autocar India(Jan 30)

Being based in Pune with an office in Mumbai means frequent trips back and forth at least a couple of times a month to wrap upmy bit for the magazine My primary means of covering the 310km round trip for the past few months has been the Tata Zest I gotthe car from an ex-colleague who was using it before me and while it shows 22353km on the odo as I write this report Iamprsquomresponsible for putting only about the last couple of thousand kilometres on it

Itamprsquos been a faithful companion on my Mumbai trips and I really appreciate the fact that it packs the 13-litre Quadrajet dieselmotor and that too the 90hp one Itamprsquos got plenty of torque on tap for quick overtakes at highway speeds and whenyouamprsquore cruising with minimal throttle input itamprsquos a real slow sipper as well Out on the Mumbai-Pune expressway iteasily manages 19-20km to the litre while the overall mileage (which also includes a fair amount of city driving) is just a tad underthe 17kpl mark

This XMA variant features the F-Tronic AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) gearbox and Iamprsquom impressed at just how fuelefficient the car is However I have a fair bit of gripes regarding the way this AMT works Normally for any automatic or AMTgearbox one would assume that the moment you get off the brake after slotting it into amplsquoDamprsquo the car would startcreeping ahead No such luck here as the Zest doesnamprsquot budge without throttle input Thatamprsquos not a problem ifyouamprsquore just setting off but if youamprsquore trying to inch along in bumper-to-bumper traffic or worse manoeuvring it in tightparking spaces youamprsquoll find modulating the power quite tricky And when driving briskly though the tiptronic mode is a savinggrace to a certain extent the shifts are just too slow You get a pronounced head-nod each time the car shifts up and frankly it getsannoying really fast Quite a shame considering that itamprsquos a fairly decent handling machine Sure it rolls around a bit butchucking it around the bends isnamprsquot really a scary affair And the ride quality is pretty good too

Speaking of reliability twice weamprsquove had the intercooler hose pop off its mounting ampndash once when I was driving and againwhen my colleague was before me Now this isnamprsquot a catastrophic failure but once that hose pops you lose turbo pressureand the car goes into amplsquolimp-homeamprsquo mode Itamprsquos an easy fix if you have a pair of pliers to work the hose clip butyou really need to let the engine cool down before you reach for that hose Itamprsquos not an easy reach either Recently the carwas sent to the company to sort this issue out and so far Iamprsquove done three trips to Mumbai and a whole lot of driving aroundPune without the problem recurring Letamprsquos just hope it stays that way Fingers crossedhttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-reviewstata-zest-amt-long-term-review-third-report-404054aspx

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International News

General Motors to cut 625 jobs in Canada move some work to Mexico ReutersSee this story in The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Toronto General Motors will cut 625 jobs at its auto assembly plant in Ingersoll Ontario by the end of July as it moves someproduction work to Mexico the president of Canadas largest auto workers union said on Friday

The union blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mexicos cheaper labor costs for the job losses which it calledunjustified given strong sales of the Chevrolet Equinox crossover and GMC Terrain sport utility vehicle assembled in the southernOntario plant

This came right out of left field said Jerry Dias president of the Unifor union This nothing to do with Trump but it has everythingto do with NAFTA

US President Donald Trump who has vowed to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico met with the chief executives of theBig Three US automakers earlier this week urging them to build more US plants and invest less in Mexico

General Motors Canada notified Unifor in advance about the labor impact from phasing out older models and shifting production ofa new Equinox model said spokeswoman Jennifer Wright in a statement

General Motors has been planning the Terrain move for years but only recently decided to end assembly of an older version of theEquinox at Ingersoll said Sam Fiorani vice president of global vehicle forecasting with AutoForecast Solutions

The job cuts were somewhat surprising given General Motors investment of some C$800 million on upgrades to produce a new2019 Equinox model said Tony Faria a University of Windsor professor who studies the industry

He added that all automakers pare costs where they can however

As companies move their operations somebodys going to win within the NAFTA region and somebodys going to lose And heresa case where we lose Faria said

Ingersoll was not part of a four-year labor deal the union negotiated with General Motors Canada last September which securedC$554 million ($422 million) of investments for other plants The Ingersoll contract expires in September said Dias who expectsnegotiations to begin in late summer

Everything weve been led to understand is that by concentrating the Equinox production on our Ingersoll facilities everything wasgoing to be fine Dias said

There is a solution They should halt plans immediately to shift the Terrain to Mexico

General Motors said earlier in January that it would invest an additional $1 billion in its US factories in 2017 and move some partsproduction from Mexico to the United States

($1 = 13123 Canadian dollars)httpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustrygeneral-motors-to-cut-625-jobs-in-canada-move-some-work-to-mexico56824937

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General Motors Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance ReutersSee this story in The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Detroit General Motors and Honda Motor are expected on Monday to announce an expansion of their collaboration on fuel celltechnology development people familiar with the plans said following a notice of a press conference

General Motors and Honda on Friday said two senior executives would hold a news conference in Detroit with MichigansLieutenant Governor Brian Calley

Mark Reuss General Motors executive vice president for global product development and Toshiaki Mikoshiba chief operatingofficer for Hondas North American region are scheduled to make an important advanced technology announcement thecompanies said The statement did not elaborate

Honda and General Motors formed an alliance in 2013 to develop next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storagetechnologies aiming for the 2020 time frame

Vehicles powered by fuel cells earn credits for automakers under federal and state rules aimed at reducing emissions ofgreenhouse gases that allow them to sell larger petroleum-fueled vehicles that typically earn higher profits

General Motors has been working on hydrogen as a fuel for cars for more than half a century It created a test car using hydrogen ina modified Chevrolet Corvair in the mid-1960s

Honda in December began leasing its hydrogen fuel cell Clarity Fuel Cell in Southern California

Fuel cell vehicles combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity which runs a motor Unlike lithium-ion battery electricvehicles a fuel cell vehicle already has a driving range nearing that of conventional gasoline-powered cars and trucks according tothe Union of Concerned Scientists

The lack of hydrogen fueling stations and the high cost of development are among the obstacles to high volume sales of suchvehicleshttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsauto-technologygeneral-motors-honda-to-announce-fuel-cell-technology-advance56825003

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GM Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance Bernie Woodall ReutersSee this story in Financial Chronicle

General Motors Co and Honda Motor Co are expected on Monday to announce an expansion of their collaboration on fuel celltechnology development people familiar with the plans said following a notice of a press conference

GM and Honda on Friday said two senior executives would hold a news conference in Detroit with Michigans Lieutenant GovernorBrian Calley

Mark Reuss GMs executive vice president for global product development and Toshiaki Mikoshiba chief operating officer forHondas North American region are scheduled to make an important advanced technology announcement the companies saidThe statement did not elaborate

Honda and GM formed an alliance in 2013 to develop next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies aiming

for the 2020 time frame


GM has been working on hydrogen as a fuel for cars for more than half a century It created a test car using hydrogen in a modifiedChevrolet Corvair in the mid-1960s



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Volkswagen recalls nearly 600000 Audis in US AFPSee this story in The Economic Times(Jan 29)

New York German carmaker Volkswagen will recall nearly 600000 vehicles in the United States most of them its premium Audibrand over defects that could lead to fires or airbag malfunctions

However no fatalities related to the problems have yet occurred in the country the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) said on its website yesterday

The US recall comes after a series of incidents in China and Israel in 2016

Dealerships will carry out the necessary repairs and replace parts free of charge the carmaker said

A corrosion problem that could prevent airbags from deploying affects more than 234000 Audi 2011-2017 A5 models it said

Faulty coolant pumps that can overheat and cause fires were installed in more than 342800 Audi A4s A5s A6s and Q5s producedin or after 2012

Another 5901 Audi A4 A6 Q7 and Q5 2017 and 2018 models risk faulty airbag deployment and seat belt problems

Among Volkswagen brands the 2017 Golf and the 2016 e-Golf as well as the 2017 Tiguan all suffer from the same potentialdefects

The NHTSA did not specify whether the defective airbags were made by Japanese firm Takata which is at the center of the mostcomplex and largest defective product recall ever conducted in the United Stateshttpeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsinternationalbusinessvolkswagen-recalls-nearly-600000-audis-in-usarticleshow56845992cmsVolkswagen recalls nearly 600000 Audis in USThe Times of Indiahttptimesofindiaindiatimescomautomiscellaneousvolkswagen-recalls-nearly-600000-audis-in-usarticleshow56860553cmsVolkswagen recalls nearly 600000 Audis in USThe Financial Expresshttpwwwfinancialexpresscomindustryvolkswagen-recalls-nearly-600000-audis-in-us527014

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Volkswagen ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn sticks to denial of early knowledge of scandal ReutersSee this story in The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Berlin Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn maintains that he did not learn of the carmakers manipulations ofemissions tests earlier than VW has officially admitted his lawyer said in a statement

Prosecutors in Braunschweig earlier on Friday said they are investigating the former Volkswagen CEO over suspicions of fraudciting indications that Winterkorn may have known about the cheat software sooner than he has said publicly

For now Winterkorn is sticking with the statement he made before a German parliamentary committee of inquiry (into the scandal)on January 19 a Frankfurt-based lawyer for Winterkorn said in an emailed statement

In that hearing Winterkorn refused to say when he first learned about systematic exhaust emissions cheating but said it was noearlier than Volkswagen has officially admittedhttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustryvolkswagen-ex-ceo-martin-winterkorn-sticks-to-denial-of-early-knowledge-of-scandal56824519

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German watchdog suspected VW scam on CO2 emissions- report ReutersSee this story in The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Berlin Germanys motor industry watchdog raised suspicions Volkswagen was using prototype vehicles to lower carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions in tests in 2015 soon after the carmakers manipulation of diesel emissions tests was uncovered the BerlinerZeitung newspaper reported on Saturday

The newspaper quoted the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) as telling VW in a November 2015 email it would choose testmodels randomly and appoint new experts to carry out testing because of doubts about the independence of the companys CO2testing regime

VW has to give a declaration that they (vehicles submitted to tests) comply with standards for serial production models and werenot subject to change in any way the newspaper quoted the KBAs email as saying

There was no immediate comment from a VW spokesman or the German Transport Ministry which is home to the KBA

It was not clear in Saturdays report whether the KBA remains concerned about the transparency of the carmakers CO2 emissionstests

VW admitted in November 2015 that besides rigging diesel emissions tests it had understated the fuel consumption and CO2emissions of about 800000 vehicles only to announce a month later that follow-up tests had shown the CO2 irregularities affectedless than 40000 carshttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustrygerman-watchdog-suspected-vw-scam-on-co2-emissions-report56834218

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Mercedes-Benz redesigns its global product range reveals first images The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Sindelfingen Mercedes-Benz designers have restyled its global product range of upcoming compact class generation and hasrevealed the first indication of the Aesthetics A sculpture in an official press statement

The new design featuring edges and creases and indentations and recesses in the sheet metal presents the vision of a saloon carin the compact car segment

Form and body are what remain when creases and lines are reduced to the extreme We have the courage to implement thispurism says Chief Design Officer of Daimler AG Gorden Wagener

In combination with perfect proportions and sensual surface design the upcoming generation of the compact class has thepotential to herald a new design era Design is also the art of omission the days of creases are over

Rather than modifying the basic shape with lines and creases the Mercedes-Benz designers employ sweeping surfaces at anglesto each other to contour the body design with light and shadow and to emphasise the proportions

Aesthetics A has a three-box design and is thus also a sign of new forms in the compact class because outside of Germany andEurope classic saloons are also very much in demand in this segment

The Aesthetics A sculpture is a continuation of a series of sculptures from Mercedes-Benz which to date comprises the worksAesthetics No 1 (2010) Aesthetics No 2 Aesthetics 125 (both 2011) and Aesthetics S (2012)

Dr Dieter Zetsche CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said Good design is about much more than simplycreating beautiful products It combines functionality with fascination and gives brand values a distinctive form We are delightedthat our design team under the leadership of Gorden Wagener is among the best in the industry because the excellent global salesof our vehicles is ultimately also due to their outstanding designhttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewspassenger-vehiclecarsmercedes-benz-redesigns-its-global-product-range-reveals-first-images56826822Mercedes redesign starts new lap with shark-tooth hatchbackBusiness Standardhttpwwwbusiness-standardcomarticleinternationalmercedes-redesign-starts-new-lap-with-shark-tooth-hatchback-117012900019_1htmlMercedes Aesthetics A sculpture previews next-gen compact car designAutocar Indiahttpwwwautocarindiacomauto-newsmercedes-aesthetics-a-sculpture-previews-next-gen-compact-car-design-404058aspx

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Tesla Motors explains cancelled order with German supplier SHW ReutersSee this story in The Economic Times

(Jan 29)

Berlin Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc said it cancelled a large order with Germanys SHW because the supplier failed to meetits contractual obligations and Tesla did not want to put the production of its new Model 3 sedan at risk

Tesla boss Elon Musk has warned in the past he would fire suppliers and reorganise internal teams who fail to meet target dates forproduction of the upcoming Model 3

On Thursday Tesla confirmed it was the customer that cancelled a 100 million euros ($107 million) order with SHW and denied ithad anything to do with the new US administration

The loss of the order sent shares in SHW which assembles pumps and engine components as well as brake discs to a four-monthlow on Tuesday

German media reports said the cancellation resulted from political pressure after US President Donald Trump met chief executivesincluding Tesla boss Elon Musk on Monday

Tesla said the order was cancelled because the suppliers product did not meet its technical standards

Teslas policy is to terminate any supplier that is unable to meet their contractual milestones or violates their non-disclosureagreement the carmaker said by email on Friday

We have to be firm in this regard in order to keep the Model 3 program on schedule and prevent plot spoilers Tesla said

SHW said on Tuesday its customer was disgruntled over the technical specifications for axle-drive pumps which failed to meet itsrequirements but SHW said it did not accept the reason

($1 = 09359 euros)httpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewsindustrytesla-motors-explains-cancelled-order-with-german-supplier-shw56830301

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Specs amp Features of Skoda Kodiaq Sportline variant released The Economic Times(Jan 29)

Mlada boleslav Czech carmaker Skoda Auto has released the specifications features and pictures of new Skoda Kodiaq Sportlinevariant ahead of the SUVs world premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show to be held from March 7-19 2017 It will beavailable in two petrol and two diesel engines

The soon-to-be presented Skoda Kodiaq Sportline comes with features designed to provide pure driving pleasure

The side view of each of the Skoda Kodiaq models is characterised by short overhangs their sloping roofline that is visuallyextended by a line in the D-pillar and the tapered rear The protective side trims of the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline are body-coloured Itcomes with 19-inch alloy wheels in a special new design as standard As an option 20-inch wheels are also available

The Skoda Kodiaq Sportline is based on the Ambition trim level Additionally it is equipped with sports seats (driveramprsquos sideelectronically adjustable including memory function) with Alcantara covers and silver-coloured stitching

Furthermore the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline comes with the following standard equipment - electronically adjustable and foldable wingmirrors with dip and memory function as well as Boarding Spot (lights in the wing mirror which shine onto the floor) rear-view mirrorwith rain sensor and dip function a Maxi DOT display and LED ambient lighting for the interior which can be set to one of tencolours

The Skoda Kodiaq Sportline is available with all-wheel drive as standard

Adaptive Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) is available as an option for the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline Electronically regulated damperscan be set by the driver to one of three modes Comfort Normal and Sport

With a ground clearance of 194 mm it can even negotiate larger bumps It has a ramp angle of 197 degrees the approach anddeparture angles are 220 and 231 degrees due to the short overhangs claims the automaker

The SUV has a wide range of driver assistance systems among which the new functions include Trailer Assist Blind Spot Detectwhich warns of any vehicles in the blind spot and Rear Traffic Alert which monitors traffic coming from the sides and behind whenmaneuvering etc

The Crew Protect Assist function which closes windows and the sunroof in the event of an impending accident and tensions theseat belts of the front seats works in conjunction with the improved Front Assist function which includes the City Emergency Brakeand predictive Pedestrian Protection functions

The Area-View system is also a first for the brand the surround-view cameras which are located in the front and rear sections aswell as in the wing mirrors come with wide-angle lenses and allow views of the area immediately surrounding the vehicle to bedisplayed on the monitor

The Skoda Kodiaq Sportline is equipped with all the modern infotainment systems which include - a 92-inch monitor a Wi-Fi

hotspot a LTE module automatic Emergency Call function and mobile online serviceshttpautoeconomictimesindiatimescomnewspassenger-vehicleuvspecs-features-of-skoda-kodiaq-sportline-variant-released56829934Skoda unveils Kodiaq Scout and Sportline versions coming to India this yearHindustan Timeshttpwwwhindustantimescombusiness-newsskoda-kodiaq-scout-and-sportline-versions-unveiled-ahead-of-geneva-motor-showstory-ls9DD0IGcJArwiyWQj2XjOhtml

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Ford braces for $600 million Brexit currency hit says its Europe chief ReutersSee this story in The Hindu(Jan 29)

Paris Fordamprsquos 2017 earnings will be hit by a delayed currency impact of at least $600 million from Britains vote to leave theEuropean Union the US carmaker told Reuters putting last yearamprsquos record European profit levels beyond reach

The company will no longer benefit from currency hedges that had been shielding it from the poundamprsquos slump since the June23 referendum Ford of Europe boss Jim Farley said

ampldquoWhen Brexit happened we were fully hedged for the first quarter with the stronger pre-Brexit exchange rateamprdquo MrFarley said

ampldquoAs we enter the rest of the year especially the second half we now face the full effects of the weaker sterlingamprdquo

Ford is Britainamprsquos biggest engine maker as well as its top-ranked car brand by sales with a 12 market share

Exiting EUThe UK government has said it will trigger the two-year process for exiting the EU by the end of March

The pound hit a seven-year low against the euro in October and remains almost one-fifth below its value at the end of 2015 whenuncertainty over Brexit began to weigh

Sterling slumpSterlings slump is the ampldquoonly major headwindamprdquo Ford currently faces in Europe Mr Farley said

ampldquoWe think it could be upwards of $600 million this yearamprdquo

Mr Farley was speaking a day after Ford published 2016 results that included a record $12 billion European profit while reiteratingthat this years global earnings would be lowerhttpwwwthehinducomtodays-papertp-businessFord-braces-for-600-million-Brexit-currency-hit-says-its-Europe-chiefarticle17111150ece

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Economy

Indian rupee staged an incredible comeback against the US dollar PTISee this story in Deccan Chronicle(Jan 29)

Mumbai The Indian rupee staged an incredible comeback against the US dollar after its relentless downtrend for the sixth straightweek and ended higher by a solid 15 paise at 6803 despite the outlook for the greenback remaining highly bullish

It has been a rather quiet holiday-shortenend trading week for the home currency though it largely shrugged off the early volatilityamid growing optimism ahead of the annual budget with concrete policy measures to attract robust foreign flows Fresh unwindingof long dollar positions by banks and exporters alongside revival in foreign capital inflows mainly aided the rupee pull back

A spectacular rally in domestic equities which helped stocks to post their highest weekly gains in nearly eight months lending furthersupport to the recovery momentum Foreign funds and overseas investors continued their portfolio buying spree and infused USD15880 million during the week also bolstered sentiment

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market the local unit resumed substantially higher at 6805 against last weekend level of6818 But the recovery shortlived as the currency market reacted sharply to global developments after US President DonaldTrumpamprsquos reaffirmation of his protectionist stance sparked fresh concerns about the impact on funds flows to emerging anddeveloping economies

It kept descending after a brief range-bound period and hit a low of 6823 owing to month-end dollar demand However the localunit made a smart rebound afterwards to climb a high of 6801 before ending at 6803 revealing a smart gain of 15 paise or 022per cent

The rupee had depreciated by a whopping 76 paise during the six-week downtrend line -- the longest falling spell since November

2015 The dollar index a measure of the US currency against a basket of peers ended modestly lower at 10056

In worldwide trade the greenback ended little changed as a downbeat report on US fourth quarter growth dampened optimism overthe outlook for the economy despite positive consumer sentiment data amid caution ahead of FOMC meet next weekhttpwwwdeccanchroniclecombusinessmarket280117indian-rupee-staged-an-incredible-comeback-against-the-us-dollarhtml

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Market zooms 848 points for the week ahead of Union Budget PTISee this story in Deccan Chronicle(Jan 29)

Mumbai The market rebounded sharply marking highest gains not seen since eight months for the week as the benchmark Sensexgarnered 84796 points to 2788246 while the broader Nifty finished well above the key 8600-level

The holiday-truncated expiry week saw the poised action by bulls taking control over the market momentum with investor eyeingnext weeks budget defied the negative corporate results in some of the key index heavy-weights while the market gained strengthenfolding a pre-budget rally

The global market also lend support to the domestic sentiment with US wall-street hitting fresh all-time record highs of 20000-markit was further aided by massive buying by FIIs showing renewed interest of Indian equities

Also the January derivative expiry saw the strong roll-overs to February series as investors opted for longs amid tinge ofshortcovering eyeing Union Budget on hopes of business friendly measures

The Sensex jumped 84796 points or 314 per cent to settle at 2788246 It hovered between 2798039 and 2696358 during theweek The Sensex lost 20356 points 075 per cent last week

The NSE Nifty 50 index also rallied by 29190 points or 350 per cent to settle at 864125 it moved in a range of 867270 and831950 The Nifty fell 51 points or 061 per cent previous week The market was closed on thursday 26th January for RepublicDay holiday

Across the spectrum buying was led by Consumer Durable PSUs OilampGas Bankex Auto IPOs Power Realty Teck HealthCareFMCG IT and Capital Goods The broader midcap and smallcap companies shares also put-up steller showhttpwwwdeccanchroniclecombusinessmarket280117market-zooms-848-points-for-the-week-ahead-of-union-budgethtml

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Trumponomics Rupee is better placed globally Mayur ShettyThe Times of India(Jan 30)

Mumbai The rupee is seen to be better placed compared with other emerging market currencies as the Indian economy is lessvulnerable to protectionist policies expected from US President Donald Trump

After Trumps election victory the rupee has outperformed several emerging market currencies The rupee continues to be a betterperforming currency and is at or above the median level of change in a set of 17 currencies We believe that the rupee will be drivenmore by fundamentals than an external US shock US policies are more likely to affect countries like Mexico and China which maybe expected in the next six months said Madan Sabnavis chief economist CARE

On Friday the rupee recovered from the red to end marginally higher at 6804 against the dollar up from the days low of 6823 andmarginally stronger than Wednesdays close of 6808 Forex dealers said increased demand for the dollar kept pressure on therupee but a higher opening in the domestic equity market helped the currency recover According to Sabnavis if currencymovement during the fiscal is viewed separately for the period before US elections and after the rupee has fared well in both Itwas at the median of 17 countries up to November and was above the median level subsequently he added

Half the currencies had declined by more than 5 in the first period The renminbi was also affected and fell by over 5 up toNovember However it declined moderately by over 07 subsequently The ruble real Taiwan and Hong Kong dollars were bestperforming with appreciation witnessed in both the periods

Future movement will be driven more by fundamentals in the balance of payments rather than this external influence Also theMexican peso in particular will be affected the most as of now while the renminbi will be under pressure depending on the policyactions taken by the US with regards to Chinese trade and investment According to a report by Nomura emerging markets aregenerally starting from a weak position to fend off `Trumponomics The report says that India is among the few emerging marketsthat could gain President Trumps warmer tone towards Russia has increased expectations that sanctions may be lifted or relaxedbut we do not expect it to happen this year India too could benefit as President Trump seems to believe that a nuclear India is thereal check to Pakistan the report saidThe only negative for India would be the immigration curbs that could hurt the IT industry

Of the 23 emerging markets there are only four in our leaders camp -India Indonesia Philippines and Peru -while there are 12laggards and seven in the middle the report said The leaders are the markets that are expected to perform better

According to a Nomura survey 67 of respondents believe it is either extremely or somewhat likely that the US will imposetargeted tariffs on China Mexico is singled out as the most exposed Over time we believe US trade protectionism could bestrongest against Asia Although the US trade deficit with China dwarfs that of Mexico China also masks Asias massive supplychain the report saidhttptimesofindiaindiatimescombusinessindia-businesstrumponomics-rupee-is-better-placed-globallyarticleshow56863504cms

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NURC Industry Updates contain editedtruncated text of Industry-specific news as it appears in various select dailies and websites These are NOT full stories unless otherwisespecifically mentioned The stories contained herein are informational only and no representation is made or warranty given as to their content reliability truthfulness orusefulness User assumes all risk of use It be clearly understood that NURC updates do not claim to and neither mean to replace the Print or the Internet editions of variousnewspapers whose articles are featured therein For the best and complete news reading NURC urges its readers to read the full text of the stories from the Newspaperswhose credits are given after the headline and visit the related website whose URL is given below the text matter of each news item

NURC News Update - AUTOMOBILES

News on Indian Auto Industry Copyright 1999 NURC MediaNext Pvt Ltd

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Powered by Enablingbiz Esoluttions

International NewsGeneral Motors to cut 625 jobs in Canada move some work to Mexico

General Motors Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance

GM Honda to announce fuel cell technology advance

Volkswagen recalls nearly 600000 Audis in US

Volkswagen ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn sticks to denial of early knowledge of scandal

German watchdog suspected VW scam on CO2 emissions- report

Mercedes-Benz redesigns its global product range reveals first images

Tesla Motors explains cancelled order with German supplier SHW

Specs amp Features of Skoda Kodiaq Sportline variant released

Ford braces for $600 million Brexit currency hit says its Europe chief

EconomyIndian rupee staged an incredible comeback against the US dollar

Market zooms 848 points for the week ahead of Union Budget

Trumponomics Rupee is better placed globally

Closing

Industry

Union Budget 2017 Auto Inc awaits tax exemptions rural boost amp scrappage scheme Amit MudgillThe Economic Times (Web Edition)(Jan 29)

New Delhi Amid weak demand environment the auto sector is likely to see a host of announcements aiming at boosting consumersentiment that may revive auto sales after a tepid December quarter

Experts believe that the government may announce rural-focused schemes in the wake of looming state elections while it couldincrease income tax exemptions in the Budget scheduled for next week All this could boost consumer sentiment and result inhigher sales of two-wheelers and personal vehicle whose sales degrew 2-5 per cent in the quarter gone by

A boost to hybrid or electric vehicle and an introduction of a scheme to scrap truck older than 15 year old is also in the offing feelexperts They though see low probability on any change in the tax structure given the impending goods and services tax (GST)

ampldquoConsidering the likely GST implementation from July we do not expect any changes in indirect taxes However we expectan increase in income tax exemptions and higher allocation toward rural-focused schemes Lower income tax and the focus on ruralmarkets could put two-wheeler industry back on the growth pathamprdquo said Motilal Oswal Securities in a note

ampldquoThis coupled with the benefit of normal monsoon and 7th Pay Commission could drive two-wheeler volume CAGR of 10-12per cent over FY17-19Eamprdquo the brokerage said

The brokerage is positive on Hero MotoCorp TVS Motor and Mahindra amp Mahindra (MampM)

Binay Singh and Satyam Thakur of Morgan Stanley are expecting the government to incentivise electric or hybrid vehicles throughduty exemptions For this the foreign brokerage is expecting details on possible extension of the FAME program andannouncement incentives for electric vehicles MampM and Maruti Suzuki could benefit from any such announcement

The market would be looking into details relating to incentives timeline and process for the fleet modernisation or scrappageprogram which could benefit players such as Ashok Leyland Tata Motors and Eicher Motors

Experts noted that the commercial vehicle volume growth was flat in the December quarter even as it stood 6 per cent YoY up inthe first nine months of FY2016-17 Motilal Oswal Securities believes that the introduction of scrappage scheme could boost growthfor CV players to 15-18 per cent compounded annually from 12 per cent at present Ashok Leyland and Bosch are a play on anysuch announcement the brokerage said

During April-December period the auto industry produced a total 19236932 vehicles including passenger vehicles commercialvehicles three wheelers two wheelers and quadricycle against 17925959 in the year ago quarter registering a growth of 731 percent


ampldquoWe believe the budget to be positive for the industry and expect Maruti to emerge as beneficiary considering its large marketshare and Pan-India presenceamprdquo Angel Broking said in a note

There may also be scheme incentivising those with plans to phase out of older commercial vehicles (CV) That may turn positive for




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Economy










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Closing







PLEASE NOTE



















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E-Bikes










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Components

Allied Industries









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News Magazines









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Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


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International News
















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(Jan 29)











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Economy










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Closing







PLEASE NOTE


















Top











Top










Top














Top

E-Bikes










Top

Components

Allied Industries









Top












Top




News Magazines









Top








Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE












Top










Top














Top

E-Bikes










Top

Components

Allied Industries









Top












Top




News Magazines









Top








Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE


















Top

E-Bikes










Top

Components

Allied Industries









Top












Top




News Magazines









Top








Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE









Top

Components

Allied Industries









Top












Top




News Magazines









Top








Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE













Top




News Magazines









Top








Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE












Top







Top


















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE



















Engine


Borestroke 8960mm



Transmission

Gearbox 6-speed

Dimensions

Wheel base 1340mm


Chassis amp Body


Weight 147kg (dry)

Suspension

Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE







Front USD forks

Rear Monoshock

Brakes

Front 320mm disc

Rear 230mm disc


Economy


Top








Top









Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE








Top






Top

International News
















Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE













Top











Top











Top











Top






Top








Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE












Top











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Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE














Top










Top


(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE







(Jan 29)











Top















Top












Top

Economy










Top









Top









Top

Closing







PLEASE NOTE








Top












Top

Economy










Top









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Closing







PLEASE NOTE









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Top









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Closing







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Closing







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Indian Auto Industry Update · experts. They though see low probability on any change in the tax...

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Transcript of Indian Auto Industry Update · experts. They though see low probability on any change in the tax...