Honda Siel India, in a totally unexpected move, has revised the pricing of the Honda City by Rs 44,000-66,000 depending on the model. No doubt, this move was triggered by the constant fall in the Honda City’s sales figures over the past three months. The company claims that cost reduction is possible through its cost reduction efforts in the supply chain & manufacturing.
Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, said,
“Our R&D function in India (HRAP-I) started working on localization and cost down activities for our volume models from year 2009. In anticipation of bigger volumes resulting in economies of scale from the second half of current year, we have achieved considerable cost reduction and are happy to pass on the benefit to the customers with immediate effect. The Honda City would now start from Rs 7.49 lakhs (ex showroom Delhi).”
Over the past 3 months, the Honda City was evidently losing its sales to the VW Vento and SX4. This constant pressure from the competitors has finally opened the eyes of Honda Siel.
However, is this price reduction enough to bring back the growth considering the fact that two new competitors have entered the market? The Hyundai Verna has delivered a smash hit in the first month of its launch. The soon-to-be launched Ford Fiesta has serious potential to be a promising product. Between so much heat, will the Honda City claim its top spot again?
With petrol prices hitting the stratosphere and thereby becoming more expensive than Jet Fuel and the cost of cars running on petrol sky-rocketing as a consequence, the onus is now on diesel car manufacturers to decrease their delivery period in order to cope with the rising demand.
With the natural advantage of diesel being about 40% cheaper than petrol and about 30% more fuel-efficient also in their favour comparisons between cars running on Diesel and Petrol with cost-efficiency in focus is almost turning into a Hobson’s choice for buyers.
As Maruti’s CGM (marketing) Shashank Shrivastava succintly puts it,
`Diesel cars are seeing a huge demand, much higher than we anticipated. This has almost doubled the waiting on all our diesel models in the past one month’.
But petrol car manufacturers are rising up to the challenge with automakers coming up with Cheaper interest rates as a solution, he says.
`Most petrol cars are coming with interest rates schemes which will offer you at least 2% less than their diesel counter parts. Companies like VW have slashed their interest rates to 6.99% on their petrol cars’.
According to Neeraj Garg , director, Volkswagen Sales India,
`The lower interest rate is a counter-measure to offset the higher cost of ownership of petrol cars. The scheme is into its second week and has increased footfalls in our 71 retail dealerships across the country and has also seen a higher demand for the petrol Vento’.
However, private banks and financial institutions have not reduced their rates. This specific scheme will only be applicable if you take a loan from the car maker directly.
We all know that recent years have been best years for the Indian Automotive market. New products, new technologies, new brands have quite literally flooded the market. Several research studies have concluded that India will be a dominant force in the world automotive industry by 2015.
However, another research study conducted by JD Power Asia Pacific states that India will become the third largest market in the world after China and the US for light vehicles, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) by 2020.
JD Power Asia Pacific Executive Director Mohit Arora -
Our forecast is that by 2020, India will become the third biggest market for light vehicles, that includes passenger cars and LCVs, with total sales of nearly 12 million units
However, this forecast is only true if India manages to resolve its infrastructure, as well as supply chain issues.
According to the report, by 2020, China’s light vehicles market is expected to reach 35 million units, while that of the US will rise to 17.4 million units. India will come third with an output of 11.9 million units which is consists 9.28 million units of passenger cars and 2.69 million units of light trucks.
Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that Suzuki is taking hybrid powertrains very seriously and is working hard to put a Swift hybrid into production in 2013. Suzuki displayed a hybrid version of the previous generation Swift at an auto exhibition in 2009 and that prompted speculation of a production variant. We’re not quite sure if VW has a hand in the hybrid hatchback’ development that hits the Japanese market in about two years from now.
The Swift hybrid will be rechargeable at a household socket and will sport the costly and more efficient lithium-ion battery set. It offers 30 km range and is coupled to a small petrol engine, the displacement of which wasn’t mentioned in the report. The Swift concept car shown in Tokyo 2009 used a 658cc gasoline engine powers the front-drive electric motor, which in turn produces 74hp at the front axle. The power from the engine will not be used directly to drive the wheels at any point. There were some weight saving measures in place like the light weight seats resembling an office chair. The normal Swift has a 4cyl 1.2-liter K Series engine on board.
The report adds that the hybrid variant will cost 500 thousand yen (about 2.8 lakh rupees) over the petrol model with export plans in place later in the decade.
Thanks to Ghiboo.com, we’re able to show you another spyshot of the Toyota Innova facelift that makes its entry at next month’s Indonesian International Motor Show. Alongside the new Innova, the Fortuner facelift is likely to be exhibited. Indonesia is one of the top markets for IMV platform derivatives (Innova, Fortuner and Hilux).
It is only a matter of time before the Innova debuts in India, but we’re not sure if the facelifted model will land here during the festive season.
Details are still hard to come by but a source has told Ghiboo.com that the new Innova will be more expensive than the outgoing model, but won’t reveal by how much. The prices will be made official on the 22nd of July when the show begins. We expect TKM to mimic the pricing strategy of its Indonesian counterparts.
Missing the festive season will mean that the Innova cannot not be show-cased at the Auto Expo next year. We don’t expect to see revisions to the Innova’s drivetrain and minor changes to its interiors are also anticipated. Maruti, Nissan and General Motors are working on family MPVs for market introduction in 2012.
On a trip down coastal Karnataka a few days back, ardent IAB reader Venkatesh Shreyas spotted the new Jetta in a parking area. He walked towards it, had a good look at the interiors and has shared his experience using a camera. Last June, Venkatesh mailed us snaps of W201 and Xylo pickups testing in Ooty.
As we reported right after the Passat launch, the new Jetta is expected before the festive season missing BlueMotion technology. Unlike its bigger brother, it will touch down with both petrol and diesel engines. The diesel will almost certainly be the 2-liter TDI carried over from the Passat with less power and torque. Customers will be provided with Manual and Automatic transmission options.
Off topic – The Jetta is sold as Vento in Argentina.
The Vento connection is not just in the name. If you look at the front-end, it feels like you’ve zoomed in a photograph of the Vento. The side profile is boxy and Vento-like. The Jetta sits under the Passat in the VW lineup and locks horns with cousin Skoda Laura and outsiders such as Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Cruze, Renault Fluence and Honda Civic. If Volkswagen manages to price the Jetta in 14-16 lakh rupee price range, it will set the cat among the pigeons.
click through to see spyshots
The blogosphere is swarming with news of a possible year-end launch for the Hyundai HA (codename), a 800cc hatchback that will sit under the Santro. The HA will sport a new design which Hyundai hopes will attract Alto and Nano customers. Using a 3cyl engine producing about 50 bhp, the HA gets a 5-speed manual transmission. Overlap with select Santro variants will be unavoidable but we’re told the Santro will stay in production even after the arrival of the HA. We’re not going to see a diesel engine on the HA, but alternate fuels like CNG and LPG are likely down the road.
We don’t have a clear idea about the car’s shape as Hyundai uses heavy camouflage on the mule. Reader Sarun who snapped spyshots did tell us he was looking at a car combining the i10 and Santro’s design. The overhangs will be tight and the car will be shorter than i10.
What will Hyundai call this car? As it has no history like Verna or Elantra and is at the price point of Alto, should it be called i5 (many Hyundais have multiples of 5 on nameplates)? Or will Hyundai go for a traditional naming methodology? Three popular cars at the bottom of the pyramid have register-friendly names ending with “o” (Santro, Alto, Nano), so maybe then Mahindra can help 
We dug into the international Hyundai model range and felt Excel, Matrix (our pick) and Stellar were names Hyundai can use for the mini HA in India if they have the rights to do so.
Do you have any suggestions for Hyundai’s branding team?
click through to register your pick
After the Tata Nano, Ford Figo will be the next car India will export to Sri Lanka. Ford has appointed Future Automobiles, a subsidiary of Softlogic Holdings as its exclusive dealer in Sri Lanka. Ford says the demand for cars, similar to other South East Asian countries, will rise in Sri Lanka. It sells the Ranger, Everest (Endeavour), Focus and Fiesta exported from Thailand and Europe.
Back in 2007 Ford had pulled out of the country due to poor demand for its products. In its second innings, it hopes the improving Sri Lankan economy will have a good appetite for Ford cars. Sales is predicted to catch up next year and it hopes to capture 15% market share in the next few years in all segments it is present in.
Last year Ford said it will export the Figo to 48 countries including African countries and the Caribbean islands.
