TOYOTA RULES OUT CARS SMALLER THAN ETIOS FOR INDIA

K. Giriprakash
The Hindu Business Line (Web & Print Edition)

Nagoya (Japan,): Even as other global car makers are planning to launch several more small cars in India, Toyota Motor Corporation has completely ruled out any move to launch a smaller car other than the compact Etios in the Indian market.

“Toyota has no intention to go lower than Etios,” Toyota Executive Vice-President, Mr Yukitoshi Funo, told a group of visiting Indian journalists on Friday. Mr Funo said that Toyota was not in the small or compact car segment and Etios which has been made only for the Indian market and other emerging markets was the “smallest” it could go.

Etios will be launched on December 1 and will have the 1.2-lt hatchback as well as 1.5-lt sedan petrol versions. The sedan variant will be initially launched which will be followed with the launch of the hatchback three months later.

Mr Funo admitted that Toyota was not well prepared to launch a compact car earlier but with the economy booming in India, it was in fact the right time to launch a compact car for the mass market. He also acknowledged the strength of Suzuki Motors and Tata Motors who he said were “very very strong” in the Indian market. “Globally, we may be big but in India we have to gain the customers’ confidence step by step,” Mr Funo said.

He said even though Toyota has expanded heavily in the US and Europe, but the factors are not relevant in India as it has to build the brand brick by brick in the country.

Mr Funo who is also a member of the Board of Toyota Motor Corporation, said the next launch, which he confessed Toyota was yet to figure out in which segment it will be positioned, will take lesser lead time to introduce into the Indian market. “We have to be very successful with the Etios launch for us to consider launching other models,” he said.

Mr Funo said the company will consider Etios a success only when the local arm has a certain number of backorders even after the Indian manufacturing center has been expanded to full capacity. He expected sales from India to double to about 1.4 lakh units during the first 12 months of Etios launch.

The price of the hatchback version is expected to be between Rs 4 lakhand Rs 4.5 lakh while that of the sedan is expected to be slightlyover Rs 5 lakh.

ASHOK LEYLAND SAYS NO TO NISSAN FOR SMALL CARS

Swaraj Baggonkar & T E Narasimhan
Business Standard (Web & Print Edition)

Mumbai/Chennai: To focus on CVs; Nissan says it’s exploring other tie-ups in compact segment.

Hinduja-promoted Ashok Leyland, the country’s second biggest commercial vehicle (CV) maker, has aborted talks with Japan’s fourth largest auto maker, Nissan Motor Company, for a low-on-cost compact car.

Chennai-based Leyland has traditionally been a strong truck and bus making company. It was talking to Nissan earlier this year to build an entry-level car below the Nissan Micra, that would greatly support the Japanese company’s export ambitions from India.

At present, Nissan has only the Micra in this segment and is keen on additions, as India’s personal vehicle demand is dominated by compact cars to the extent of 70 per cent. Other markets like Europe are also moving to such cars.

Dheeraj Hinduja, the new chairman of Ashok Leyland, said in an interview to Business Standard, “The car project with Nissan is not happening. There is no progress with Nissan on it.”

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of Renault-Nissan, had stated in March that Nissan was in similar talks with Chinese and Indonesian companies, apart from Ashok Leyland for the car, which could be sold for $5,000 (Rs 2.3 lakh).

The Chennai-based company presently wants to limit its focus to its commercial vehicle business, where it is undertaking several projects ranging from development of light to medium to heavy commercial units. This is being done through joint venture companies and in-house.

Hinduja added, “(The) Small car segment is much more challenging, especially the technology. If any partner brings in, we will look into it. For now, we are not discussing with Nissan for the project.”

Nissan
In a e-mail statement, Nissan said, “As we have mentioned earlier, Nissan is seriously exploring to expand its presence and offerings in the cost-centric segment of our industry. We are considering many options and discussing with several partners at this moment of time and nothing has been finalised. Since it’s in a very early stage, we cannot anticipate any final decision.”

Following Volkswagen’s entry into Suzuki last year, through a buy-out of nearly 20 per cent equity, questions have been raised on Maruti Suzuki’s car export relations with Nissan, under which Maruti makes and exports the A-star, rebadged for Nissan as the Pixo to the European market. Nissan sources more than 50,000 units of the Pixo from Maruti every year. With its withdrawal, Nissan would be left with just the Micra in European market, which could result in loss in substantial volumes.

Volkswagen, which does not have much presence in the cost-effective small car segment, is banking on Suzuki for the same. The German company is said to have outlined ‘dozens’ of projects with Suzuki, pertaining to a variety of areas, including small cars.

Meanwhile, Leyland said it was on track to launch light commercial vehicles for cargo and passenger applications under the Nissan joint venture programme, which it had signed in 2008. The first of such vehicles will hit the market in the second half of next year.

Nissan has also signed an agreement with two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto for a sub-Rs 2 lakh car but has restricted itself to just marketing initiatives. Nissan is supposed to market the car, which will debut in 2012, in India and abroad.

TATA MOTORS TO TAKE SAFARI ON GLOBAL RIDE

Chanchal Pal Chauhan
The Economic Times (Web & Print Edition)

New Delhi: Tata Motors, India .s largest automobile company, plans to position its new Safari as a global model catering to different geogrpahies, including Europe. The sports utility vehicle (SUV), expected to be launched early next year, will comply with EuroNCAP safety crash norms. EuroNCAP is a voluntary vehicle safety rating system widely accepted in the European Union.

The new Safari will have features such as traction control with vehicle stability system equipped with multi-airbag in a new aerodynamic body. Automobile component industry officials however say the vehicle may still lack a monocoque chassis which is a standard norm for any modern SUVs.

“We have seen that the current step-ladder frame chassis is more compatible for rugged operations in India. We may not go for the monocoque frame which is available in our new generation vehicles like Indica Vista and Indigo Manza but the new Safari will have all the features to make it a first global vehicle from our portfolio,” said Tata Motors utility vehicles head S G Saksena. Utility vehicle segment grew 21% to 1.54 lakh vehicles in the first half of FY 2011.

The new Safari will borrow a host of technologies from Land Rover SUV. “We are looking at all possible synergies within the group for the new Safari. We will not phase out the current model and it would continue to complement the new vehicle very much like the Sumo does for its next generation Sumo Grande,” Mr Saksena added.