NEW DELHI: Japanese carmaker, Nissan India today introduced Micra in new "Sunshine Orange" exterior colour together with an all-black sporty interior. The new colour option is available across the Nissan Micra range including Micra Active versions in India. The compact hatchback from Nissan comes with both manual and automatic transmission priced at Rs 4.55 lakhs and Rs 5.99 lakhs respectively.

Arun Malhotra, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd., said, "The affordable and accessible Micra offers a charming visual appeal with its new "Sunshine Orange" exterior colour complemented by the edgy, European-style all-black interior. These new options come without any price increase. We're confident this package will resonate with Indian customers."

According to the company, Orange is gaining popularity among Indians seeking a stylish new look to their car's exterior. It is also a symbolic colour of the festive season in India. The Micra range is also available in more five more exterior shades including Brick Red, Turquoise Blue, Blade Silver, Onyx Black, Nightshade and Storm White.

The all-black interior in the new Micra includes a black central console with piano black finish, black door trims, and black seat fabric with blue stitching, rendering a stylish European feel. The Micra Active variants will feature a black instrument panel cluster and finisher, black seat fabric and a silver-colour door arm rest finisher.

The Micra comes equipped with Nissan X-Tronic CVT which delivers more mileage than a manual transmission for added value in terms of fuel economy. The Micra comes available with petrol and diesel as the fuel options. The Nissan Micra will be on sale at all 232 Nissan India showrooms across the country. Nissan Micra is the most exported hatchback from India. It is available in more than 100 countries across the globe, and has sold more than 6 million units globally

Source: Nissan India introduces sunshine orange colour in Micra

NEW Delhi: UM International along with Lohia Auto has opened its Sixth dealership in the Pink City Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, to be called The Riders Zone, the new dealership is situated at. B-7, Sethi Colony on Govinda Marg at Rajapark.

Spread over an area of approx. 2100 sq ft, the dealership facility has a showroom with an after-sales service facility to ensure that the customers receive best-in-class pre and post sales ownership experience. The after sales service facility is spread over an area of 1500 sq.ft. and is situated at 19 Sindhi colony at Rajapark.

Speaking on this occasion, Rajeev Mishra Director - UML, said, "This showroom in Jaipur marks our entry in the state of Rajasthan. The state has emerged as a very strong market in the North-Western region for cruiser bikes and the opening of this showroom is a testimony to this fact. We are confident that this state of the art showroom will be able to fulfill the aspirations and needs of our customers with our amazing products and fabulous services. This dealership will house our flagship products like Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports S which has already received an overwhelming response. The prospective customers of UM Motorcycles in Jaipur will be able to discover our products up close and personal at this new dealership."

"We are pleased to be associated with UM Motorcycles, the world's leading manufacturer of cruiser bikes. With this dealership, we plan to bring the best of UM's world-renowned motorcycles in this part of the country. This dealership will serve as a destination for all motorcycling enthusiasts in Rajasthan who wish to experience the world renowned UM cruiser bikes. It is our commitment to provide unprecedented sales and service experience to all the customers of UM Motorcycles." said Mr. Amit Vyas Director, The Riders Zone.

The Renegade Commando is a low-slung cruiser powered by a high powered 280 cc Engine with 25 BHP at 8,500 rpm and 21.8 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm, mated to a six-speed transmission. This lightweight machine has a 200 mm ground clearance and an inbuilt USB charging point. The front disc brakes improve the braking efficiency drastically while radiation increases the engine efficiency. The bike comes with wide handlebars and hydraulic telescopic front suspension and spring rear suspension, which is ideal for a cruiser-segment motorcycle. The Renegade Commando will be available at Rs 1.66 lakhs (ex-showroom, Jaipur).

The Renegade Sports S model will also share the same engine as the Renegade Commando. The Renegade Sports S was much appreciated when it was showcased at the 2015 EICMA in Milan. The Renegade Commando and its sibling Renegade Sports S come with an electric start. An innovative feature called Service Alert Maintenance comes as a standard fitment in both Renegade Commnado and Rengade Sport S. The LED Lights come as a standard in Sports S version. Six-speed synchronized mesh has been added for easy cruising. The front wheel has telescopic suspension while the rear wheel has dual shock absorbers. These motorcycles have a fuel tank of 18 liters with a kerb weight of 172 Kg. The Renegade Sports S is available at Rs 1.56 lakhs (ex-showroom, Jaipur).

 Source: UM Motorcycle opens showroom in Jaipur, Rajasthan

NEW DELHI: In the month of August, twelve carmakers together have reported a growth of 16 percent at 2,55,000 units and it is further expected that Indian car market will achieve 3 million sales in FY17.

The double-digit growth of carmakers is also seen on the incremental sales of top 10 selling cars in August 2016. The cumulative sales of the top 10 cars sold in August are accounted to be 1,40,972 units which is 55.28 percent of the total sales of 2,55,000 units of all the OEMs.

In the 10 best selling car list, Maruti continues to dominate seven slots with Alto, Dzire, Wagon R, Swift, Baleno, Celerio, and Ciaz.

Country's largest selling car Alto has been facing fierce competition from Renault Kwid. The car is seeing continuous fall in sales from past five months. In the month of August, Maruti Suzuki sold 20,919 units of Alto compared to 23,017 units in the same month last year. Sibling Swift is also facing serious competition from elder Baleno.

The compact hatchback from Maruti managed to clock 13,027 units in August 2016 compared to 16,811 units in the same month last year. However, Wagon R climbed one rung up at third position with 14,571 units despite falling sales.

Dzire, the compact sedan, is also witnessing a steep decline in sales in last few months. The carmaker sold 15,766 units of Dzire in August 2016 compared to 18,718 units in the same month last year.

The South Korean carmaker, Hyundai grabbed two positions in the list at 5th and 7th with Grand i10 and Elite i20. Out of all the top 10 models, Hyundai Grand i10 has continuously seen month on month growth.

According to industry experts, the compact hatchback is mostly liked by the young buyers who are working and have disposable income. These particular buyers give preferences to looks, design and feature car which is missing in the segment. Hyundai sold 12,957 units of Grand i10 in the month of August 2016 compared to 10,255 units in the same month last year.

French carmaker Renault's best seller Kwid continue to grow strong month on month at the sixth position. For the first time, Kwid has crossed 10,000 sales mark ever since the launch. Kwid which competes with the likes of Alto and Eon is mostly favoured by young and first time buyers. With recent addition of 1.0L engine, Kwid will further intensify the competition with Alto K10.

While the Japanese carmaker Honda cars India which had two models City and Jazz at 8th and 9th position in August last year has been replaced by Baleno and Celerio in the same month this year.

The prime reason behind the fall in sales of Honda Models is due to the recent change in sales strategy of the carmaker which has moved to pull from push strategy. On another hand, Celerio and Ciaz reported positive sales in August 2016. Celerio slipped down two position at ninth slot despite increase in sales. While Ciaz continue to hold the tenth position at 6,214 units.

Source: Top 10 selling cars in August: Renault Kwid crosses 10k sales mark

NEW DELHI/DETROIT: Ford Motor Co has shelved plans to produce a new compact car family designed mainly for emerging markets like India and China, industry sources said, reflecting disappointing sales of mainstream models in the world's fastest growing car markets.

 India and China were expected to be the main manufacturing hubs for the new B500 range, slated to begin production in 2018 and to include a premium sedan, hatchback and sport utility vehicle (SUV), two sources with direct knowledge of Ford's plans told Reuters.

The automaker had also planned to build its new models in Brazil, Russia and Thailand, one of the sources said.

Ford's decision, communicated to its suppliers in July, follows a similar move by General Motors to postpone the launch in India and China of a new $5 billion family of compact vehicles, said two sources familiar with GM'S thinking.

Ford's programme is on ice because of muted demand for some of its small and mid-sized hatchbacks and sedans in India and China, where SUVs and "crossovers" combining the hatchback and SUV have proved increasingly popular.

The cost of upgrading plants to produce the new cars would also be prohibitively high, the sources following Ford said.

All of the sources declined to be named as they have not been cleared to discuss the plans publicly.

Ford declined to comment on the development.

"We are constantly evaluating opportunities to better meet the needs of consumers and do not comment on speculation about future product programmes," a Ford spokesman said in a statement. 

SHIFT TO SUVS

That said, Ford has invested over $2 billion in India and plans to spend more to set up a global engineering centre in the southern city of Chennai that will help tweak products for the local market and more swiftly adapt to changing consumer trends.

The carmaker is also ramping up exports, including to Europe, to maximise usage of its two plants in India.

 "India is a key market for us in Asia Pacific," said the spokesman, adding that the carmaker is committed to introducing new products and technologies in the South Asian nation. 

But instead of the more ambitious plan for the key markets of India and China, Ford will focus on updating existing models and develop and build more SUVs and crossovers, moving away from sedans and hatchbacks, according to two separate US sources with knowledge of the company's plans. 

That would allow the carmaker to boost profit margins. 

"The global shift to crossovers makes competing in small cars a tough proposition for GM and Ford," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at US-based AutoForecast Solutions. 

"It makes more sense for them to refresh older products now, harness lower development costs in China in the mid-term, and move toward small crossovers over the long haul."   

Chinese buyers have flocked to SUVs, as they grow wealthier and are often restricted to one vehicle in major cities, at the expense of contracting sedan sales.   

SUV sales rose 52 per cent last year, although a glut of new model launches in the segment is already leading to discounts and lower margins.  

Growing competition in the small SUV segment from local Chinese carmakers is also putting more pressure on pricing. 

SETBACK FOR "MAKE IN INDIA" 

The retreat by Ford and GM is a setback for India's "Make in India" push to become a global manufacturing powerhouse, including in the auto sector.

Retooling the assembly line to build the B500 vehicles at Ford's plant in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, would have meant an investment of more than $100 million and created manufacturing jobs as it cranked out more cars.  

Ford and GM have struggled to crack emerging markets in Asia, where competition from Japanese, South Korean and now Chinese automakers is fierce.  

GM shut production in Indonesia owing to its modest market share, and Ford also plans to close its operations in the Southeast Asian nation, as well as in Japan and Australia.  

Dearborn-based Ford is now looking at each country in the region in terms of long-term profitability opportunities, said another source familiar with Ford's plans, while noting India remains a tough place to make money.

India's passenger car market, where sales rose 7 per cent last fiscal year to 2.8 million units, is dominated by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor Co with their extensive line-up of cars and vast dealer networks.

Maruti and Hyundai control two-thirds of the market whereas Ford's share in India, set to be the world's third-largest car market by 2020, has stagnated at about 3 per cent.

Until Ford finalises an alternative plan, the shift in strategy could leave gaps in its car portfolio in India, that today sits at the two ends of the price and size spectrum.

In the meantime, Ford is increasing its focus on driving down costs by sourcing more parts locally and using more common features across models to achieve economies of scale. 

Source: Ford shelves compact car programme for emerging markets, setback for India