With almost all luxury carmakers present in India, the absence of Lexus has been a talking point for a while now. With numerous rumours over the years, nothing turned into reality but all of that is set to change as Toyota has reportedly decided to launch its luxury brand Lexus in India, sometime in early 2017. Along with a reported entry of Lexus in India, we also have an official statement from Toyota Kirloskar Motor, which doesn't accept but doesn't deny the arrival of Lexus either. A company sp

okesperson said, "It is true that we are studying introducing Lexus to India. However, we would like to refrain from commenting on details such as timing, models etc., as it relates to future product plan."

It's not the first time that Toyota has made a decision to launch Lexus in India. Back in 2013, there was news of Lexus coming to India as an imports operation but an unfavourable import duty rate of 100%, meant that car imported by Lexus wouldn't be price-competitive since its German rivals already had assembly operations here.

Fast forward to today and the import duty hasn't been cut but hybrid/electric vehicles attract significantly lesser import duties. Lexus is looking to take advantage of this relaxation through a strong portfolio of hybrid vehicles. In addition, the recently announced FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles) will incentivise hybrid vehicles up a maximum of Rs 1.38 lakh, bringing down the selling-price further. As a result of these policies, Lexus should be able to price its vehicles close to its German rivals, while being able to claim higher fuel-efficiency and lower emissions. In addition, these hybrid vehicles from Lexus would also be exempt from the NGT's (National Green Tribunal) ongoing crackdown on diesel vehicles, especially those equipped with an engine larger than 2,000 cc.

Autocar India has claimed in its report that Lexus will first launch its LX 570 SUV, which is based on the Land Cruiser SUV. This would be followed by a lineup of 

1. hybrid models including http://www.duangwatch.net/s and sedans. The performance of Lexus should be interesting to watch unfold as it would also indicate how well luxury-segment customers are willing to accept hybrids and a shift of engineering focus from performance and comfort to efficiency.www.sitewatches.com

The KTM brand is emerging as a serious contender to the Harley Davidson motorcycles in the global market. The brand is jointly owned by Bajaj Auto and KTM AG of Austria. The gap between KTM and Harley Davidson bikes in the global markets is not so wide as it existed earlier, said Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj.

Bajaj said KTM is now at the number two slot. In 2015, KTM sold 1.81 lakh bikes while Harley Davidson sales were at 2.66 lakh. “Ten years ago, KTM sold 65,000 units. This year, KTM will have sales in excess of 200,000 units and further reduce the gap with Harley Davidson,” Bajaj said. Every third KTM sold across the world in the US, Japan, France, Australia and Brazil is made by Bajaj Auto, he added.

The KTM is a niche super-sports bike and Bajaj says it has an 80% share of this market in India. A lot of this growth for KTM this year onwards will come from their joint foray into the emerging markets in the south. Bajaj and KTM have decided to go together in the ASEAN markets and will expand the KTM brand into the emerging markets, Bajaj said.

They have been working on this for the last one year and are deciding on which product to take to this market, he added. Bajaj Auto and KTM entered an agreement in March this year to establish the KTM brand in Indonesia, the largest market in Southeast Asia.

Bajaj Auto holds 48% stake in KTM AG of Australia through Bajaj Auto International Holdings, a 100% subsidiary based in the Netherlands. The company has invested R1,219 crore and KTM has a market cap of R10,020 crore. Bajaj is planning a blitzkrieg of KTM products this year, including bringing the Husky brand to India. Last year, Bajaj Auto manufactured 69,532 units of the KTM Duke at its Chakan plant. Of this, 30,362 units were sold in the domestic market through the Pro-Biking network, while 38,926 units were exported to KTM and KTM distributors. In 2015, KTM motorcycle sales grew 32%.

Eicher Motors, manufacturing the Royal Enfield, is all set to invest Rs 600 crore this fiscal in a new plant, product development and in the R&D centre. The company also said production capacity will touch 9,00,000 units by fiscal 2018 end.

 Speaking to reporters at the company's facility at Oragadam, near Chennai, Siddhartha Lal, managing director and CEO, Eicher Motors, said by end of the current year, total capacity will be around 6,75,000 units, which is more than two lakh units compared to last year.

The first phase of Vallam Vadagal facility, which will be 7 kms from the Oragadam facility, will be ready by September 2017. This facility will take the company's total capacity to 9,00,000 units.

Portion of the proposed Rs 600-crore investment will go into the facility, while the balance will be towards proposed new engineering centres at Chennai and the UK and for product development.

 Lal said the company will be operating in 2 or 3 platforms, while there will be some delete and add.

 The recent addition was Himalayan platform. The company started rolling out products and is currently selling around 1,000 units a month. The company hopes to increase it as the product will be available across dealerships.

 Lal said RE focus would be 250-750cc and besides the Indian market, the company will focus on South East Asia and Latin America.

Source: Eicher Motors to invest Rs 600 crore this fiscal

PUNE: Pune-based motorcycle maker, Bajaj Auto is pinning its hopes on the newly launched V15 and the yet-to-be-launched Pulsar 400 to drive its domestic growth over the next few quarters.

The 150cc V15 is positioned in the commuter cum entry level sports/ performance segment, where the motorcycle maker has failed to capture the imagination of the masses, of late. The company has only a market share of 5% in this segment compared to its overall domestic motorcycle market share of 19%.

"In the value segment, our market share is quite low. V15 is the single biggest opportunity for us to better our share in the value segment. We will launch a new SKU from same platform over the next 18 months at a gap of every six months," said Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Limited.

The company has been buoyed by the initial response for V15, which seemed to have struck an emotional chord with the masses. The company says that its fuel tank assembly contains metal from India's flagship aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant (now decommissioned and broken down).

Rajeev said that the company has sold more than 1 lakh units of V15 since its launch. Domestic sales of motorcycles for Bajaj Auto turned the corner in the last financial year, after three successive years of progressive decline. FY 2016's domestic sales of about 1.9 million motorcycles, though higher than the previous year, was however lower than FY 2012's domestic sales of over 2.5 million motorcycles.

Also in the first quarter of the FY 2017 that ended June 2016, the company sold over half a million motorcycles within India, 13% higher than the same year ago period. However, its overall growth was dragged down by weak demand in Nigeria and Egypt. Over the quarter ended June 2015, the company's motorcycles exports plunged 17%.

Given the global uncertainties like lower oil prices, Bajaj Auto is hoping to improve its domestic market share to compensate for the likely loss from the exports market.

The company will also soon be launching the premium motorcycle Pulsar 400, which Rajeev believes will have the same "revolutionary" effect that Pulsar 150 and 180 cc motorcycles ushered in for the company in 2001.

"We believe it will disrupt the market," he said addressing the annual shareholders' gathering in Pune on Wednesday.

In terms of exports, Rajeev indicated that the company will look at the south east Asian markets, where the company sees an opportunity to sell a million motorcycles every year.

However, the company has no plans to re-enter the scooter market where much of the two-wheeler growth in urban areas is coming from. "We don't have any plans to re enter the scooter segment. Monthly domestic motorcycle market is 8-9 lakh units per month. Bajaj does some 1.5 lakh motorcycles per month. So there is a potential to address the remaining 7 lakh market. Scooter market is 4,00,000 per month and so it is logical for us to chase the motorcycle market than the scooter market," he added.

On a standalone basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs 978 crore in the three month's ended June 2016 crore against Rs 957 crore, a year ago.

Bajaj Auto's cash position improved further to Rs 10,701 crore end June 2016 against Rs 9,085 crore at end March 2016. Despite this the company did not announce any dividends or bonus, a move that disappointed a section of investors.

Source: Bajaj Auto hopes to rev up its domestic sales with V15, Pulsar 400

NEXA, the premium automotive sales channel of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), completed one year of operations today. Launched in July 2015, NEXA aims to sell the premium vehicles in the carmaker's portfolio and offer consumers as well a premium buying experience. Present cars sold through NEXA are the S-Cross and Baleno, both of which have accounted for more than 1,00,000 units of sale in the 1st year of its operation. In the same time-frame, the NEXA channel has also expanded its team of Relationship Managers to over 3,500. Maruti Suzuki's premium retail chain is now open across 94 cities in India through 150 centres. Going forward, the company plans to expand this number further to 250 outlets by March, 2017.

While the S-Cross has not managed to be a great success, the Baleno made a great debut and continues to command a waiting period till date. With more models slated to join the NEXA showrooms in the coming years, Maruti Suzuki expects 15% of the company's sales to come from it. In the first year itself, NEXA accounted for about 10% of the total domestic sales by Maruti Suzuki. The company also claims that the NEXA initiative has been successful in bringing new customers to the brand and that 51% of NEXA customers were not Maruti Suzuki customers at the point of making the purchase.

Celebrating NEXA’s first anniversary, “NEXA has been created to address the needs of a new and growing segment of Indian customers. These customers are well travelled, digitally savvy and frequently experience five-star hospitality. They value personal touch and pampering in their purchase and ownership experience. Over half (51 per cent) of the customers who bought cars at NEXA were not customers of Maruti Suzuki at that point, indicating that through NEXA, we are able to attract new categories of customers.”

Elaborating on the road ahead for NEXA, R S Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales said “To further enhance the purchase and ownership experience, we plan to provide customers enriching experiences beyond the showroom as well. We will curate new experiences around fashion & lifestyle, music and travel. These experiences will touch the lives of customers through international music festivals, fashion/styling sessions and long distance drives. Rather than limit ourselves to selling cars, our aim is to forge relationships over the period of ownership.”