NEW DELHI: Ingolstadt based luxury car maker Audi has appointed Rahil Ansari as the head of Indian operations effective 1st of February 2017.

Ansari, a person of Indian origin has a broad range of experience at Audi right from sales, after-sales, network development including finance. Ansari currently is the head of global pricing for Audi genuine parts for the after sales division. Ansari took over from Australian Joe King, who moved back to Germany a few months back.

The appointment of Ansari comes at a time when Audi is facing its toughest time in the Indian market. The brand has been hit by tough macro-economic environment on one hand and due to lifecycle change in products at its own end and unavailability of some diesel engine on the other, Audi is likely to end the 2016 with sales decline of over 20% to around 8500 units. 

"I am confident that his diverse global experience combined with the understanding of the Indian market will help to consolidate the brand presence,” said Thierry Lespiaucq, Managing Director, Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited.

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Source :  Audi India appoints Rahil Ansari as head of operation

NEW DELHI: Swedish luxury car major Volvo today launched its new premium hatchback V40 and V40 Cross Country models in India priced Rs 25.49 lakh to Rs 29.4 lakh, respectively (ex-showroom Delhi).

The launch of V40 and the V40 Cross Country today along with the opening of a new facility in Kochi emphasises the company's commitment to garner a 10 per cent segment share in the medium term, Volvo Auto India Managing Director Tom von Bonsdorff said in a statement.

He said the V40 Cross Country was well received when it was launched in mid-2013 and the same with V40 in June 2015.

"With a refreshed look and even more features this version will find traction among young buyers across India," Bonsdorff said.

The V40 and the V40 Cross Country come with sub 2-litre diesel engines with 6-Speed automatic four wheel drive feature.2-litre diesel engines with 6-Speed automatic four wheel drive feature.

Volvo sells a range of luxury models in India, including sporty sedan S60, SUV XC60 and premium luxury sedan S90 among others. It has showrooms in Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata and Vijayawada.

It plans to expand in Lucknow, Pune and Jaipur

 Source : Volvo launches new V40 hatchback & V40 Cross Country

Hyundai Motor India Ltd today said it will hike prices by up to Rs 1 lakh across models from January to offset higher input costs, fluctuating exchange rates and marketing expenses.

"In these challenging year-end market conditions, we are constrained to consider price increase on account of factors like increased input costs, fluctuating exchange rates and increasing marketing expenses," HMIL Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing Rakesh Srivastava said in a statement.

"The proposed price increase will be up to Rs 1,00,000 and will be effective from January 2017 across all models from Eon to Santa Fe," he said.

The company sells a range of passenger vehicles, from entry level small car Eon with a starting price of Rs 3.27 lakh to SUV Santa FE priced at Rs 31.98 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Earlier in the day, Nissan Motor India said it will increase prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 30,000 from next month to offset higher input costs.

The company sells a range of vehicles under the Nissan and Datsun brands starting with entry level small car Datsun Go priced at Rs 3.28 lakh to SUV Nissan Terrano Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Tata Motors had yesterday announced that it would hike passenger vehicle prices by Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 from next month in order to offset increased input costs.

Renault India has also announced plans to increase prices of its vehicles by up to 3 per cent from next month for the same reason.

Earlier, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) had announced hike in prices of its vehicles by up to 3 per cent from next month to offset increased input cost and consistent upward trend in foreign exchange rates. 

NEW DELHI: Hyundai Motor India - Chennai has been bestowed with the "Indian manufacturer of the year award", at the 13th edition of the 'India Manufacturing Excellence Awards (IMEA) 2016' organised by Frost & Sullivan. The first runner up position has been given to Mahindra & Mahindra - Igatpuri.

"Manufacturing is the key driver of economic prosperity and creates more wealth than any other industry. The current challenges of low demand, increasing raw material, and labor cost require organisations to adopt advanced manufacturing practices to become efficient and remain competitive. Adoption of right technologies to take companies to next level of performance, efficiency, and quality will be crucial to sustenance," said Nitin Kalothia, Director, Manufacturing & Process Consulting Practice, Frost & Sullivan.

This year's Manufacturing Excellence awards were presented to 27 companies under three major categories: Indian Manufacturer of the Year Award, Future Ready Factory of the Year Award and Gold Awards.

The Future Ready Factory of the Year Award in automotive sector has ben given to Toyota Kirloskar Motor - Bangalore.

The Gold Award in automotive sector (Mega Large Business) has been received by Eicher Motors - Royal Enfield (Oragadam), followed by Tata Motors - CVBU (Pune). Mahindra & Mahindra, Plant 2 (Nashik) has been awarded the same in Medium Business category.

Source Hyundai Motor gets Frost & Sullivan's Indian manufacturer of the year award

NEW DELHI: In a month when most car makers took a hit on account of the government’s demonetisation move, Maruti Suzuki reported a robust jump in wholesale volumes to corner 52% of the Indian passenger vehicle market. The company’s market share had stood at 46.7% in the year-ago period and at 44% in October 2016.

In November, Maruti Suzuki grew passenger vehicle sales by 14.1% to 1,26,220 units. Challenges in cash availability affected consumer sentiment across manufacturers with passenger vehicle sales inching up by around 2.6% to 2,42,700 units in November. The numbers are wholesale dispatches made to dealerships and do not reflect demand at the retail level.

Industry insiders said barring some major manufacturers who have order backlog on new products, for most companies, retail sales have dropped by 30-50%. A senior industry executive who did not wish to be quoted said: “Car makers who have pending orders managed to increase wholesale volumes.

Maruti Suzuki has a waiting period of up to six months on Baleno and Brezza. At present, consumers are not cancelling existing orders but taking time in deliveries.”

Fresh purchase decisions are also being postponed as disruption in the status quo has affected consumer sentiments. Car makers across the industry are doling out promotional offers and building awareness around use of digital wallets, cheques, credit and debit cards to facilitate cashless transactions.

Maruti Suzuki has maintained it is not expecting any long-term dent on sales because of demonetisation and the resultant cash crunch, as 85-90% of the purchases are funded by loans.

“For Maruti Suzuki, more than 50% of their sales are coming from models such as Ciaz, Ertiga, Baleno and Brezza, which are in high demand. Their product mix and technology offerings, such as mild hybrids and AMT, are strong. This has cushioned the impact," said Puneet Gupta, associate director at analytics firm IHS Markit.

 Source : Maruti Suzuki market share zooms in times of demonetisation