HMSI will launch 100cc bikes priced between Rs 40,000 and 45,000 later this year. HMSI president and CEO Shinji Aoyama said: “We are developing a new 100cc bike for India. It is the largest segment, and we want to tap this entry-level market with aggressive prices and innovative product. Our bike will be entirely different from the current breed of 100cc bikes.”

The 100cc segment is currently dominated by Honda’s joint-venture partner Hero Honda, with the Munjals as Indian partner. Half of Hero Honda’s 36 lakh annual sales comes from the 100 cc segment.

Mr Aoyama said the company is working on products to minimise cannibalisation with Hero Honda’ 100cc range. “We are not looking at high volumes, but want to satisfy customers looking for quality and products, and avoiding any direct competition with Hero Honda,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pune-based Bajaj Auto, which exited the 100 cc segment two years ago, plans to re-enter the segment to boost falling sales. Bajaj had moved away from the 100cc segment and instead launched an all new 125 cc platform called DT-Si under the XCD brand to attract entry-level customers.

After sales dropped 23% to 12.86 lakh two-wheelers in the last fiscal, Bajaj plans to launch an ultra-low cost bike in the 100 cc range to compete with the bikes as well as with ultra low cost car. It has already set up a production base in China, and is looking at importing bikes to India. The company has exported these Chinese made bikes to Nigeria and other African markets and will introduce this bike in India in next few months

The range comprises multi-axle trucks, tractor-trailers, tippers, mixers, and special application vehicles. Besides India, they will also gradually be introduced in South Korea, South Africa, the SAARC countries and the Middle East.

Ratan N Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, said, “The developing infrastructure in India makes it possible for transporters to reap the benefit of trucks with higher power, speed and carrying capacity. The new range from Tata Motors will meet those needs. It will also help us penetrate international markets more effectively and competitively.”

The managing director of Tata Motors, Ravi Kant, said, “The range is an output of collaboration across the Tata Motors family, supplemented by inputs from partners across the world. This approach has enabled us to harness appropriate expertise and develop relevant products faster than ever before.“

The product has been jointly developed by Tata Motors and its two subsidiaries, Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company in South Korea and the Tata Motors European Technical Centre in the UK. The company has harnessed the best of inputs and technologies — in styling, engines, transmission, suspension, chassis frames, fabrication and dies — from partners based in countries like Italy, Germany, Sweden, the US, Japan and South Korea.

Variants and specifications
The range offers a higher power-to-weight ratio translating into faster turnaround time, better reliability and durability, and resulting in higher revenue generation for the transporter than is the norm now. The versatility of the range meets several needs:

Tractor-trailers and multi-axle trucks for long distance transportation
Rigid trucks for short distance distribution
Tippers, mixers, cranes for construction and mining
Special applications like reefers, bulkers, and tip-trailers
Capacity: The capacity of the trucks can be from 10 tonne to 75 tonne gross combination weight (GCW), to meet a wide mix of usages.

Power trains: The power train option stretches from 150ps to 560ps, with suitable engines, transmissions and axles of different makes. Additional features on offer include automated transmissions and air suspension.

Vehicle tracking: Every truck will have global positioning system for effective vehicle tracking as standard fitment.

Comfortable cabin options: The spacious air-conditioned cabs come in three different lengths (day, rest and sleeper), three different heights (flat, low-dome and high-dome roof) and in two different widths. While there are two trim levels, features include reclining seats, adjustable steering wheel, seat belts and arm rests (for both the driver and co-driver) for driver comfort and safety. These features are designed to induce longer and more trips and safer driving.

Safety and emission
The range is designed to meet stringent safety norms of the markets that it will be sold in. In terms of emissions, the range is Euro-III and Euro-IV complaint, while being Euro-V ready.

After Tata Nano (ultra low cost car.) tata is doing a good job in automobile world.

There are certain factors that you will not be able to change such as your age and gender or even where you live and work, but you can take advantage of low cost auto insurance by following a few straightforward guidelines that can influence your chances of qualifying for lower rates. The most frequent discount is given for good drivers, those who maintain a good driving record with no traffic infractions or accidents for at least three years. Some companies may require five years, but you’ll need to check with your own insurer.

If you’ve shopped for a car lately, you’ve probably read the various consumer buying guides and are aware that a car’s government safety rating for crash tests can influence the price of the car itself. But it can also influence the insurance rate along with the car’s repair track record. The cost of repairs as well as incidents of thefts and accidents for a particular car model can affect the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage.

The auto insurance industry has compiled decades of data regarding driver and car profiles. Whether you personally fit into a high risk profile doesn’t matter to the insurer. So if you’re a 24 year male who opts for a shiny red Mustang, then the chance of you obtaining a low cost auto insurance policy is pipe dream. This is true even if you’ve been driving safely since you turned 15 and haven’t had single blemish on your driving record.

Just by raising your own out-of-pocket cost, known as a deductible, before a claim for insurance will be paid, you can lower your premiums by quite a bit. This is an effective way to obtain your own low cost auto insurance without even having to switch insurers. It makes sense to then use your savings to fund the amount of your higher deductible and set it aside. Then you can enjoy the peace of mind that you’ll have the deductible in hand while being able to see immediate savings.

You can get low cost auto insurance if you’re more of a weekend or occasional driver or fall within the limits for a low mileage discount, make sure you let your insurer know. Even drivers who use their cars on a daily basis but not for commuting to work can sometimes fall within this category. You may also want to drop comprehensive and collision coverage once your car gets older to save even more money.

To assist you in locating a low cost auto insurance policy, it would be a good idea to search using any of the rate quote services that are now available. To get a quote for a car make or model, you simply answer a few questions concerning your driving history along with the car information and in seconds you can have quotes from several companies. If you’re shopping for a car, this can be a tremendous help in deciding what will fit within your budget.

And it is going to very difficult to decide for the ultra low cost car.

So u have to take decision accordingly.

This was despite a drop of 20 per cent in sales of units during the last quarter of F09. Bajaj Auto saw total sales at 440,269 for the quarter as compared to 552,588 units.

The company, which had reported a profit of Rs 120 crore during the same quarter in F08, is looking to sell most of the current years’ output in the domestic market itself as export demand will be flat, senior company executives said today. They added that a softening of input prices during the last quarter helped in improvement of margins.

Income from operations dipped by 10 per cent to Rs 1,787 crore for the reporting quarter ended on March 31, 2009 as against Rs 1,984 crore posted in the year-ago period.

Excise duty payout was minimised as the company increased production at its excise-free plant at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Unlike its arch-rival Hero Honda which has penetrated the rural market actively, Bajaj Auto will keep its focus largely on the urban two-wheeler buyer. Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of the company, said that Bajaj Auto will not pursue the rural market aggressively unless it has a product which can serve that market.

“We don’t have a product which will reach the rural segment. We have to get our product right and that will hopefully happen with the launch of the mid-segment bike due to be launched in July,” Bajaj said.

Bajaj Auto will be launching a mid-segment bike (perhaps in the 115cc-135cc category), which will be very crucial for the company’s future prospects as most of the volumes are expected from this segment alone.

The company also appeared bullish on its new venture in China where it has started production of a low-cost bike, built mainly to serve the Chinese market as well as underdeveloped two-wheeler markets like Nigeria. It will export about 14,000 units of the low-cost bike to Nigeria while 20,000 units will be sold in China itself.

In addition, face-lifted versions of the Pulsar, which is Bajaj’s flagship model, are expected to improve sales in the domestic market. Thereafter, a three-wheeler cargo and passenger carrier will be launched in August and December respectively. It will also launch a four-wheeler cargo carrier by next year.

Ultra Low-cost car by 2011

Rahul Bajaj today said the company was optimistic about sticking to its earlier deadline of 2011 for the completion of the project.

“This should be the car that no other car major can develop due to the extensive low-cost engineering features it will have. It would be suicidal to develop a car which is not different from what is already there in the market. We have to position the car correctly,” Bajaj explained.

When asked about the delay in signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Renault and Nissan, Bajaj said branding of the car has delayed matters.

“The issue of brand has delayed the signing of the MoU. Branding is the key and it cannot be Bajaj-Renault-Nissan together,” he said.

Bajaj Auto and Renault’s plans of launching an ultra small car to take on Tata Motors’ Nano may get delayed once again as a new set ofdifferences over branding crops up between the two partners.

Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto told a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that there are issues over branding and a final joint venture agreement has still not been signed.

The development is an ominous sign for the joint venture as more than a year has passed since the MoU was inked with a lot of fanfare by Mr Bajaj and Mr Carlos Ghosn, chairman of Renault and Nissan. The formal deal was supposed to be signed in November last year but was pushed back.

Both partners are already sparring over the design, positioning and some technical specifications of the new car. ET, in March, had said that Mr Rajiv Bajaj had ordered scrapping of the work done so far on the project, and had demanded major modifications in design, positioning and other

details. This development is likely to make the combine miss 2011 deadline for launching the car, ET had said. Tata Motors‘ Nano, launched in April this year, has already received bookings for over two lakh vehicles and the car is likely to hit the road some time later this year.

The latest set of differences over branding has the potential to further delay the launch, affecting the ambitions of both Bajaj and Renault. A successful launch is important for Bajaj to reposition itself as a complete automobile company rather than a motorcycle manufacturer. On the other hand, India is crucial to Renault’s plans of driving sales and expanding global market share in the backdrop of declining growth in the western world.

Hyundai to Bring Out Ultra Low Cost Car

When Tata Nano was expected to be launched in 2008, there was frenzy over this car. Tata Motors and Ratan Tata actually made the global auto industry and the customers across the globe believe that there could be an ultra low cost car well under $2500. Next came the announcements for other ultra cheap car out of which the most prominent one was from Bajaj Renault Nissan’ competitor to Nano. However, the car project has already hit several road blocks to make it to the set deadline of 2011.

“It is abundantly clear that the Indian automotive industry will have arrived as a leader on the global automotive stage by 2020,” IBM said in its study ‘Automotive 2020 Clarity Beyond Chaos’.

The study, which interviewed 125 executives of original equipment manufacturers, component suppliers and their parties in 15 countries, said India would continue to cast a long shadow on the dynamics of redistribution of work across the global automotive landscape.

“The Tata Nano showed India’s ability to innovate. It has increased India’s stature in the global automotive stage,” IBM Automotive Industry vice-president Global Leader Sanjay Rishi said. India would play a significant role in rebalancing of core product development vis-a-vis application development, he added.

The study highlighted abundantly available young technical manpower as one of the primary drivers for the redistribution. The country could be a leader in innovation toward service-based offerings, both for the domestic market as well as for the global market, it added. “Global innovation demands for electronics and embedded software system provide an unparalleled opportunity for India to extend its knowledge of information technology process. These skills are projected to be in high demand by 2020 and would provide an as yet untapped avenue for growth,” IBM said.

It added the country has a strong argument to be a key hub of product development, innovation and manufacture of the green, intelligent, connected vehicle of the future.

“As ecosystems collide, there exists an opportunity for business model innovation. Most of this innovation is service oriented and India’s established experience in services is a unique strength one that must be leveraged or lost to other economies poised to compete,” the IBM study pointed out. Rishi, however, cautioned that Indian OEMs and component suppliers have a long way to go to reach the level of the current global leading automobile companies in terms of technical prowess.

He said as Indian OEMs strive to become competitive technologically, the challenge would be to create and sustain leadership talents.

“The key question would be how would India attract, retain leadership talent and would it be able to provide the same to global OEMs,” he said.

Rishi added going forward there would be more alliances, technical partnership and joint ventures between Indian OEMs and global auto manufacturers although there would be place for wholly-owned subsidiaries to operate in the India market.

Yes Maruti 800 ruled the market near about 25 years. But Tata launched his new Nano to compete with this. Already Tata got so many bookings for nano.They never imagined this much bookings. Now new business strategy also given by Tata Sky. According to news

“The Nano customers will also get a discount of Rs 500 on installation of tata sky and the offer will be on from April 9, 2009 to May 14, 2009″

But there will be Opportunites & Challanges for these small cars. According to me government should increase the road tax for 4 wheelers. I know this statement will make people angry but I did not find any other way. If u have just give comment on this.