This year and in the next two years the luxury space will see a lot of action. To start with, Audi India, which holds the third position in the luxury market will start assembling the Q7 models by end of 2012. It will also consider assembling the Q3 -- which was launched on Thursday at the suto expo -- depending on the market response.For the fastest growing company in the luxury space, Audi India had 84 per cent growth in 2011. "India has been a great market for us. We will look at selling 8000 units by end of this year," says Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the board of Audi. The company sold 5511 units in 2011. In another 10 years it aims to sell 50,000 units in India.Second in command, Mercedes-Benz launched a luxury SUV, M-Class, which is priced at Rs 58-60 lakh, and an open top vehicle, SLS AMG Roadster, that comes for about Rs 3 crore. It will also launch the B-Class sometime during the third quarter of this year. The company also showcased the concept A class which is expected to be launched in 2013. The company also launched its new design campaign -- ‘mb. Inspired' to get the sporty look. And the market leader in the luxury segment BMW launched the Mini brand in India with four models -- Mini Cooper, the Mini Cooper S, the Mini Convertible and the Mini Cooper S Countryman -- priced between 24.9 lakh and Rs 31.99 lakh. BMW will be importing these models as completely built unit. It has already started bookings for the brand in India and deliveries will start by March this year. Apart from this, the new BMW M5 was also launched today at a whopping price tag of Rs 95 lakhs. The company also previewed the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Concept. The company will also launch the new BMW 3 series in July 2012.
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This year and in the next two years the luxury space will see a lot of action. To start with, Audi India, which holds the third position in the luxury market will start assembling the Q7 models by end of 2012. It will also consider assembling the Q3 -- which was launched on Thursday at the suto expo -- depending on the market response.For the fastest growing company in the luxury space, Audi India had 84 per cent growth in 2011. "India has been a great market for us. We will look at selling 8000 units by end of this year," says Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the board of Audi. The company sold 5511 units in 2011. In another 10 years it aims to sell 50,000 units in India.Second in command, Mercedes-Benz launched a luxury SUV, M-Class, which is priced at Rs 58-60 lakh, and an open top vehicle, SLS AMG Roadster, that comes for about Rs 3 crore. It will also launch the B-Class sometime during the third quarter of this year. The company also showcased the concept A class which is expected to be launched in 2013. The company also launched its new design campaign -- ‘mb. Inspired' to get the sporty look. And the market leader in the luxury segment BMW launched the Mini brand in India with four models -- Mini Cooper, the Mini Cooper S, the Mini Convertible and the Mini Cooper S Countryman -- priced between 24.9 lakh and Rs 31.99 lakh. BMW will be importing these models as completely built unit. It has already started bookings for the brand in India and deliveries will start by March this year. Apart from this, the new BMW M5 was also launched today at a whopping price tag of Rs 95 lakhs. The company also previewed the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Concept. The company will also launch the new BMW 3 series in July 2012.
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While two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto preferred to create a splash on Wednesday by launching its maiden four-wheeler vehicle, other two-wheeler leaders preferred to stick to their tried and tested fields by bringing in new products on Thursday and Friday. The iconic Vespa looks all set to hit the Indian roads in April this year. This would be the Italian company Piaggio's third entry to India on its own – after its partnership ended with Bajaj and LML. Having re-established its portfolio in leisure motorcycling through a series of new products in last couple of years, legendary motorcycle company Royal Enfield unveiled its cruiser segment offering Thunderbird 500, almost 10 years after the launch of Thunderbird 350 on Thursday. The iconic Harley-Davidson that brought cruiser and touring motorcycle concept to India, on the other hand, will bring two more products to the Indian market by end of this year. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday unveiled seven models, including two international models at the first day of Auto Expo 2012. The Vespa ComebackVespa on Friday launched its Vespa LX 125cc scooter at the Auto Expo. However, the company says it is called just Vespa in India. "We will position the product in the premium luxury segment," says Ravi Chopra chairman & managing director, Piaggio Vehicles. The company may bring additional models to India in a due course of time. Though the price of the product is not yet revealed, the company aims to sell around 30,000 units per annum. The scooter will be manufactured at Piaggio's Baramati plant in Pune, which has an initial capacity of 150,000 units and could be further increased. "We will look at ramping our capacity from 150,000 units to 200,000 units according to the demand," says Chopra.The product will be available through 50 dealership across 35 cities. The company will also look at forming exclusive Vespa owner's club at the later half of the year. Piaggio also showcased its popular MP3 hybrid motor at the Expo. Royal Pursuit For Royal Enfield, the cruiser motorcycle that sports an all-black unit construction engine — the one that we see on the Classic 500 with fine-tuning for the cruiser — has got a new look with appealing low-beam and high-beam twin projector headlamps, a bulkier 20 litre fuel tank, rear disk brake and fatter 41mm forks. "We will launch the Thunderbird 500 by the end of the first half of 2012," Chief Executive Venki Padmanabhan said. "We listened to the needs of highway cruisers in India and covered improvements on a variety of fronts – range, ergonomics, looks, braking, night riding visibility, luggage carriage capability, even clothing and accessories," he added.With annual sales of 75,000 units, Thunderbird 350 contributes about 12,000 units to the total sales. The company will continue to sell the existing 350cc model, with the new Thunderbird 500 positioned as an extension of the brand.That apart, taking the tradition of motorcycling further, Royal Enfield also launched riding gear including biker apparel, anti-fog and UV protection eyewear, boots and helmets.With leisure and cruiser motorcycling culture gaining momentum in India, international players like Harley Davidson are making their presence felt. In India, Royal Enfield wishes to spread its culture and such boosters will certainly help.Expansion SpreeThe iconic brand Harley-Davidson that brought cruiser and touring motorcycle concept to India will bring two more products to the India market by end of this year."We will bring two more products to India by end of 2012 and we will also look at setting-up three more dealerships by 2013," says Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley- Davidson India. The company at present sells 15 models in the country through its existing seven dealerships. It will add three more showrooms by end of this year in Kochi, Kolkata and Jaipur.Harley Davidson on Thursday launched the expansion of its Complete knock down (CKD) facility which is at Bawal Haryana. The facility will now locally-assemble models -- FXDB Street Bob and FXDC Super Glide Custom, earlier CBU models -- at a price starting from Rs 9.95 lakh and Rs 11.5 lakh, which is much lower than their earlier starting price of Rs. 13,995 and Rs 15.45 lakh respectively.With this move, the company will assemble five motor bikes in total out of the 15 products available in India.Harley has around 40 per cent market share in the luxury motor bike segment today and hope to maintain the same by next year. "We are growing at 25 per cent year-on-year with more than 1000 bikes on road today. We are happy the way the segment is growing and by end of 2013we would look at maintain our market share in the segment," says Prakash.Revving To Take On Competition Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is optimistic about overtaking its competition once its third plant in Karnataka is operational."Once the capacity goes up with the new plant in Karnataka, we will be in a better position to compete," says Keita Muramatsu, president & CEO, HMSI, India. The company is looking at ramping up its current annual production capacity of 2.2 million to 4 million vehicles by mid-2013.HMSI on Thursday unveiled seven models, including two international models at the first day of Auto Expo 2012.The models include 110cc mass motorcycle Dream Yuga, CBR 150R, CB Shine (2012 52), CBR 250R (2012 model) in mass production motorcycle; Dio in automatic scooter, VT 1300CX, new CBR 1000RR Fireblade in big bike portfolio. The CBR 150R is expected to be priced below Rs 1.2 lakh.The CBR 250R on the other hand is expected to be available for sale in dealerships from February this year.This year the company's strategy would be to expand its two-wheeler business in India by rapidly expanding production and launching cutting edge products at a competitive price points.
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Ashok Leyland, known largely for its large 12-15 ton trucks has reinvented itself in making a multi utility van called the Stile. The Stile is the same as the new Nissan Evalia, but will not have the same features as that of the Nissan. Nissan is the technology provider for Ashok Leyland, who quickly localised the car by 90 percent. The engines and a few other components come from abroad. "We believe the corporate and city cab markets could use this vehicle," Dr Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman of Ashok Leyland. The JV partner Nissan and Ashok Leyland plan to bring a host of new products in three years."The next 18 months we will focus on selling 3 products launched with Nissan," says Sumantran. The JV also launched the 6 ton category Partner truck, which has stylised cabins and a 120 hp ZD30 DDTi Common Rail Diesel engine to power the vehicle.Earlier in September 2011, they had launched the Dost sub one ton vehicle. The sub one tonne category is the fastest growing category with a 30 percent growth year on year and the market is around 220,000 vehicles, which is dominated by Tata Motors with close to 1,45,000 units sold.Sources from Nissan add that the Stile as Evalia sold more than 100,000 vehicles globally and the Dost as a commercial vehicle sold more than 200,000 vehicles. The JV has invested Rs 2400 crore and plans to produce 140000 cars.Ashok Leyland is another partner of the Renault Nissan Alliance and part of Carlos Ghosn's frugal engineering strategy.
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There is also a possibility that the company can manufature cars for the Chinese market with a local partner in that country.When the Mahindra's picked up a 70 per cent stake in SsangYong Motor for 522.5 billion Korean won, it was only a matter of time that they would use the Korean company's platforms in India.The company showcased and announced that that SsangYong's sport-utility vehicle Rexton will be available in the market in the second half of 2012 and the Korando C SUV will be in by 2013. "These SUVs will be CKDs," says Pawan Goenka, President Automotive Sector in M&M. He also said that they were working on 2 platforms from the SsangYong stable, he said that the average investment for a platform would be more than Rs 700 crore and that the Mahindras would plan something more than that in a couple of years.These Korean SUVs will also be sold as CKDs in Brazil and Russia.There is also a possibility that the company can manufature cars for the Chinese market with a local partner in that country. The Mahindras are the largest SUV maker in the country with a 65 percent market share in the 300,000 market.
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The iconic brand Harley-Davidson that brought cruiser and touring motorcycle concept to India will bring two more products to the India market by end of this year."We will bring two more products to India by end of 2012 and we will also look at setting-up three more dealerships by 2013," says Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley- Davidson India. The company at present sells 15 models in the country through its existing seven dealerships. It will add three more showrooms by end of this year in Kochi, Kolkata and Jaipur.Harley Davidson on Thursday launched the expansion of its Complete knock down (CKD) facility which is at Bawal Haryana. The facility will now locally-assemble models -- FXDB Street Bob and FXDC Super Glide Custom, earlier CBU models -- at a price starting from Rs 9.95 lakh and Rs 11.5 lakh, which is much lower than their earlier starting price of Rs. 13,995 and Rs 15.45 lakh respectively.With this move, the company will assemble five motor bikes in total out of the 15 products available in India.Harley has around 40 per cent market share in the luxury motor bike segment today and hope to maintain the same by next year. "We are growing at 25 per cent year-on-year with more than 1000 bikes on road today. We are happy the way the segment is growing and by end of 2013we would look at maintain our market share in the segment," says Prakash.
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Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is optimistic about overtaking its competition once its third plant in Karnataka is operational."Once the capacity goes up with the new plant in Karnataka, we will be in a better position to compete," says Keita Muramatsu, president & CEO, HMSI, India.The company is looking at ramping up its current annual production capacity of 2.2 million to 4 million vehicles by mid-2013.HMSI on Thursday unveiled seven models, including two international models at the first day of Auto Expo 2012.The models include 110cc mass motorcycle Dream Yuga, CBR 150R, CB Shine (2012 52), CBR 250R (2012 model) in mass production motorcycle; Dio in automatic scooter, VT 1300CX, new CBR 1000RR Fireblade in big bike portfolio. The CBR 150R is expected to be priced below Rs 1.2 lakh. The CBR 250R on the other hand is expected to be available for sale in dealerships from February this year.This year the company's strategy would be to expand its two-wheeler business in India by rapidly expanding production and launching cutting edge products at a competitive price points.
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After growing at a whopping 140 per cent Volkswagen India has committed an additional investment of Rs 2,000 crore for the Indian market. In 2009, they had already invested around Rs 3,800 crore. It launched the new Touareg and the Beetle. It showcased the hybrid concept XL1 on Thursday. "There is a need to bring fuel efficient and alternate drive train cars this decade," says Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of Board VW Technical Development.This concept is supposed to run 100 kilometres per litre. It is a 2 cyclinder TDI (diesel) engine with a 7 speed DSG gearbox. It also has a Lithium Ion battery that runs 35 kilometres on pure electric charge. "The committment is also to the environment, that is the message of blue motion technologies," says Hackenberg. He adds that India can have more vehicles that are affordable from the VW stable in the future, cars like the VW UP- the new economyhatch- launched in Europe make a lot of sense. VW hopes to catch up with General Motors, Ford and Toyota in the race to becoming the number one foreign OEM by 2013.
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