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FORD TO DRIVE IN CLEAN DIESEL TECHNOLOGY TO INDIA |
Ford Motor Company is planning to extend its clean diesel technology engines to the Ford family of cars in the Indian market. “Alongside clean diesel technology, the company has been working on developing micro hybrids for the global market. Micro hybrids are currently being developed at centres located in New Jersey and Germany. The technology would be ready for the commercial markets in the next couple of years,” Haren Gandhi, manager, chemical engineering department, Ford Research & Advanced Engineering said.
“If you ask me what is the answer for every country's fuel problems, I would say there is no single solution for any nation. If ethanol worked for Brazil, it does not mean it could work for the rest of the world. I was quite excited by the recent discovery of natural gas at the Bay of Bengal. This augurs well for India and would reduce India’s dependence on imports.
The introduction of CNG buses in Delhi is a prime example,” Gandhi said, adding that a multitude of solutions would work for India. If India was producing ethanol, the country should go ahead and blend fuels by five% to 10% to reduce imports, he said.
Mathew Oommen, general manager, product engineering, Ford India said the company was examining the economics of introducing it’s clean diesel engine Duratorq in all its models. “Currently, Duratorq is fitted in Fiesta. There are plans to extend the Duratorq engine family to other Ford vehicles in India such as Fusion, Ikon and Endeavour,” he said, unwilling to give a specific time frame.
Diesel is the way forward. Several countries are seeing an increase in the number of diesel vehicles. Europe is seeing a rapid penetration of diesel passenger cars helped by favorable government policies and evolved diesel technologies |
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M&M TO INVEST Rs. 2,500-cr IN TRUCKS PLANT |
Automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday said it would set up a Rs 2,500-crore greenfield facility at Pune in Maharashtra to manufacture commercial trucks. For this, M&M will use its joint venture with US-based International Truck and Engine Corp. This JV, which would have an initial manufacturing capacity of 2,50,000 units, will produce medium and heavy commercial vehicles as well as other M&M products. Of the total production, 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles will be exported to the rest of Asia and parts of Africa.
The scale of M&M’s commercial vehicle plans will make existing players sit up and take note. The plant would also make new-generation vehicles as well as engines, transmission units and other aggregates at the plant. This would be M&M’s fourth facility in the state, after Kandivli, Nashik (for Logan) and Igatpuri (for engines), said Pawan Goenka, president, automotive sector, M&M. Commercial production of vehicles at the Pune facility was expected to start in two years.
Most of the production is expected to cater to domestic demand. The product mix is not known but the plant will have the flexibility to produce a wide range of vehicles for commercial purposes. Its existing set of commercial market products could be made at this plant too. But key is that in a short span of two years, it will be able to adapt the existing range of trucks from International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) for the Indian market. That could trigger a war of sorts in the Indian commercial vehicle market where Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland are the key contenders at the moment. In recent times, the shift in tonnage has been to heavier trucks, due to better roads, higher throughput and the ban on overloading. These are the segments M&M will most likely target two years hence when the production starts. |
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VIP PLANS TO CHECK INTO LUXURY BAGGAGE |
The luxury baggage segment in India seems to be hotting up. Close on the heels of Samsonite’s decision to enter the luxury category, VIP Industries is planning to foray into the high-end designer luggage segment. The company would also be introducing a new brand in the domestic market for the new range of luxury products. “At present, Louis Vuitton is the only brand that represents this category in India and we see an opportunity there. We may also rope in a foreign partner for design and manufacturing,” said a top official of VIP Industries.
However, the company is yet to finalise its plans. “It is too premature to give any concrete plans. The luxury segment in India is very small. As per estimates, it is about Rs 5 crore and we may consider entering the segment in future. But it may not be under the VIP brand. Besides, we need to look at our manufacturing capacity as well,” VIP Industries director Sudhir Jatia told.
The overall luggage market, he said, was pegged at Rs 850 crore and growing at 15%. “Currently, our focus is on the retail segment. We are planning to relaunch Skybag and Aristocrat line of baggage in the below Rs 1,500 range for hypermarkets and malls,” he said.
VIP, the flagship company of the DG Piramal Group, is expecting to clock revenues of about Rs 500 crore this year against Rs 400 crore last year. They are also awaiting the Mumbai High Court nod for our merger with Blow Plast, which will bring synergies due to integration in operations from manufacturing to marketing.
Recently, Samsonite announced the introduction of a sub-brand, Black Label, with products priced Rs 20,000 upwards. Besides roping in a number of international designers, the company is also planning an exclusive retail network to support the new sub-brand.
Global luxury brand Louis Vuitton (LV), part of the $17-billion Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) group, is also understood to have plans to set up its first manufacturing plant in Asia at Pondicherry through a joint venture with Hidesign. LV brands are present in India since 2004. Prices at the Louis Vuitton store range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. |
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