Automotive India News Bureau :

Fiat Chrysler India is offering discounts during the free winter check-up camp.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India is conducting a nationwide free winter check-up camp at its exclusive dealership outlets from December 17-19, 2015.

The car maker will not conduct this camp in Tamil Nadu as FCA is presently focussed on addressing its flood affected customers on priority basis in Chennai and surrounding areas.

Fiat India’s main target of the present winter camp is to ensure its cars are prepared to tackle extreme winter conditions and remain repair free.

Also Read : Fiat injects fresh investments in India to produce Jeeps

The Free winter car check-up programme by Fiat India will include inspections in the areas of Vehicle Charging system, Brakes & Tyres, Heating & Ventilation, Exterior & lighting, Engine Performance, Windshield Wiper Blades, Defroster and Anti-Freeze& Vehicle Fluids.

Kevin Flynn President and Managing Director, FIAT Chrysler India Operations, said, “The routine check-up camps designed by FCA India are customer centric.”

The camp ensures a 10 percent discount on labour and spare parts on mechanical repairs.

The Fiat Chrysler India customers will be informed through all the social media networks to create awareness about the winter car check-up camp.

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Automotive India News Bureau :

Jaguar Land Rover India has launched smart phone-based new connected car option ‘InControl Apps’ in India. 

InControl Apps is a new smart phone integration platform that has been developed in conjunction with Bosch.

The InControl Apps platform transfers the interface from the phone to the in-car infotainment touch-screen, facilitating the users to access popular apps.

JLR and German auto technology major Bosch have worked with leading third party app developers, specifically in India, to enable access to an initial suite of Android and iOS compatible applications.

The platform customized for the Indian market will allow access to popular apps in the country such as NDTV, Hungama, MapmyIndia and Zomato.

Rohit Suri, President, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL), said, “InControl Apps is an exciting new technology addition to Land Rover vehicles and it will enhance the overall luxury experience of our vehicles, providing technology savvy customers a more convenient option to access their favorite apps.”

Vijay Ratnaparkhe, Managing Director, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions said, I am often asked whether phones will integrate with cars or perhaps phones will replace navigation systems. This smart phone integration solution is the best of both worlds.”

Terming the new in-car app as an extremely unique product, Shouneel Charles, Chief Revenue Officer, NDTV Convergence said the company is happy to get into this partnership with Bosch and JLR India who have been great partners over the development of this first of a kind in-car news app in the country.

Hungama.Com’s chief executive officer Siddhartha Roy, said the company is proud to announce Hungama Drive, the in-car version of the leading digital music app Hungama Music in partnership with JLR.

Also Read : Tata owned Jaguar Land Rover to develop anti-pothole connected-car solution

MapmyIndia’s Executive Director, Shivalik Prasad, said, the company has pioneered in-car navigation technology through its maps and navigation products since 2007 in India. MapmyIndia’s alliance with Bosch and JLR India to build a mobile phone based car-synchronized navigation solution is another step to show that the company is further offering new technology for the Indian navigation market.

Expressing his happiness over the new app, Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO of Zomato said the users will now be able to search nearby restaurants and curated collections from the vehicle infotainment system.”

InControl Apps platform is now available on 2016 Model Year Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Discovery Sport. Subsequently it will be introduced in other Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles subsequently.

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Automotive India News Bureau :

India’s Supreme Court has banned the registration of diesel vehicles over 2000cc in the country’s capital – Delhi till March 31, 2016.

Today’s apex court’s verdict has seen has a major blow to the Indian automobile industry, which is dominated by diesel vehicles including in passenger car segment.

The ban is likely affect the sales of utility vehicle manufacturers like Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors as they have a good number of diesel engine driven passenger vehicles.

Delhi accounts for about 7 percent of the overall passenger vehicle sales and the contribution of diesel vehicles is about 2-3 percent of the overall industry volumes.

The SC’s ban is also expected to hit the luxury car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz India, which has more than 10 cars that comes under the purview of the ban. It may be noted that Mercedes-Benz India has been keep rolling out its mega dealerships in the NCR in recent times in order to meet increasing demand for its vehicles in the capital region. The German car maker has 10 retail outlets in NCR.

BMW India has six car models under the banned category. The court order is also likely to put breaks on the sale of popular MPVs and SUVs like Toyota Innova, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio, Mitsubishi Pajero, the Tata Safari and Sumo during the ban period.

The apex court’s order comes in the wake of growing concerns against raising pollution level in Delhi and surrounding areas.

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Automotive India News Bureau :

Vector Consulting Group VCG), a management consulting firm, released a book to address issues in the Indian automobile industry.

Arvind Balaji, President, Automotive Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has launched the book ‘Apparent in Hindsight’  at ACMA’s western region meet  recently in Pune.

The book delves deep into the issues faced by the companies in the Indian  Automotive industry.

It closely examines and challenges the fundamental assumptions that have held since time immemorial and guides the management of these companies in purchase, distribution, sales and operations.

VCG said the book is also a commentary on the cathartic state of much haloed improvement techniques being employed by companies for decades – large and small alike, with little improvement to show for the humongous efforts being put in.

The book presents the practical way to improve the state of affairs of such companies which is extremely powerful because it is very simple.

Written as a story of two key managers of a company – the narrative follows their personal and professional struggles as they deal with conflicts and contradictions that life is presenting to them and their attempts to surmount their problems

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Polaris India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based off-road vehicle giant Polaris Industries, said it is targeting to set up 200 Polaris Experience Zones (PEZs) in India by 2020.

PEZ is off-track zone, where the off-road vehicle enthusiasts can enjoy the ride of international standard Polaris off-road vehicles.

Addressing a media conference today in Bangalore, Pankaj Dubey, Country Head & Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt Ltd, said, “Currently there are 46 PEZs in India. We are looking to expand it to 200 PEZs by 2020.”

Dueby said the first PEZ was set up in Chennai in 2013 covering five acres. In two years now, the company could see 46 PEZs, which shows the growing popularity for All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). Currently the company has 15 dealerships across the country to sell Polaris ATVs.

In total, Polaris off-road vehicles are displayed or driven in 63 places across the country. The PEZs are owned and run by third party entrepreneurs.

The adventure loving entrepreneurs can make good profit with the business models offered by Polaris, he said.

The investment to set up PEZ starts from Rs 15 lakh with three Polaris ATVs.

Unveiling new business models for entrepreneurs, Debey said the company has three business models viz Kids Track, Kids cum Adult Track and Professional Track. While Kids Track can be operated with three Polaris off-road vehicles, the Kids cum Adult Track requires five Polaris ATVs. The Professional Track model can be operated with 10 vehicles.

The Concept is to have “Fun while you Earn“, Dubey added.

Hard-core adventure and motorsports enthusiasts will be able to experience the thrill of riding power sport vehicles from Polaris on these tracks.  PEZs are pitched for all the adventure enthusiasts who love to go off-road with their dirt bikes or race on uneven terrain.

Polaris Experience Zone generally covers an area of around half acre plus within or outside the city and houses a cafeteria allowing the riders to explore the outdoors in a fun, new, exciting and adventurous way. The design parameters of these PEZs comprise of rocks, slush, mud and sand to provide unique Off-Roading experience.

Also Read : Eicher Polaris pumps in Rs 350 Cr to roll out Multix

An entertainment license is a first pre-requisite to set up a PEZ.  Polaris India not only provides the track design/layout for the PEZ, but also offers branding support, upon purchase of three ATVs for the zone. Execution of the civil work for the PEZ is the only responsibility of the entrepreneurs to carry out.

PEZ is a perfect get away for both corporate and families. These PEZ offers rides at an extremely competitive price range from Rs 350 to Rs 500 and these ATVs can be driven by both male and female and cater the need of all age group from 6 to 80-plus years.

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Renault-Nissan officials handing flood relief fund to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalaithaa

Automotive India News Bureau :

Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has its manufacturing facility near Chennai, has donated Rs 1 crore to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s public relief fund to assist people affected by the floods in Chennai. 

The Alliance entities are also working with local NGOs to provide disaster relief as well as allocate funds raised through spontaneous employee contributions for the people affected in Chennai floods.

In a press note, the company said it has already donated Rs 500,000 to the office of the Joint Director of Industrial Health and Safety and to the local Lions Club.

The donation has helped in procuring relief material in Tambram and Kancheepuram districts, which are closest to the Renault-Nissan Alliance factory, the company added.

Also Read : Renault Kwid records 25k bookings in 10 days

The Renault Nissan Alliance has also set up separate Employee Relief Fund to provide assistance to employees those who suffered losses.

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Honda Cars India, the Indian subsidiary of Japanese car maker Honda, launched Honda Connect, an intelligent and advanced information platform for its customers.

Honda Connect provides advanced connectivity and connects the customer, car, his family and Honda.

The Honda Connect platform also supports Connected Car features enabled by a “Connected Device” easily integrated with the car, making the customer’s ownership experience more safe, enjoyable and convenient.

Honda Connect is an automotive application for smart phones to form closer connection with users. Using smartphones, Honda Connect’s diverse features provide convenient access to detailed information about Honda vehicles and other services.

Speaking on the new connected car solutions, Katsushi Inoue, President & CEO, Honda Cars India, said, “Today technology has become an integrated part of our lives. The development of Honda Connect is part of our mission to create innovations that best suit digital-based life styles of our customers.

Honda Connect backed Connected Car features will provide Honda customers important information about their car even when they are away.

Also Read : Honda Cars India October sales up 52%

This “Connected Device” has been developed by Minda i-Connect and the solutions is being offered  to all new customers of Honda Jazz, Honda City and Honda CR-V at an introductory price by Honda’s accessory business subsidiary – Honda Access India.

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), the Indian subsidiary of Japanese auto giant Toyota, won the Frost & Sullivan’s “Indian Manufacturer of the Year Award 2015” for its manufacturing capability and global competitiveness.

The award acknowledged TKM’s facility as the one to have manufacturing excellence with global standards.  For the award, 104 companies were shortlisted and 96 of them were assessed.

Commenting on the award, Raju B Ketkale, SVP Manufacturing, TKM, said “The recognition of the Indian Manufacturer of the year comes as great inspiration for all of us at Toyota. The conclusions drawn from the unique assessment model by Frost & Sullivan has helped us get a better insight of the strengths and areas of improvement in our manufacturing process.”

The Global Manufacturing Excellence Model captures the manufacturing plant’s operational performance across 13 parameters including Business results, Inventory management, Innovation adaptation, Internal competence, Operational flexibility and Supply chain management.

Also Read : Toyota Kirloskar bags Best Energy Kaizen Award

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Indian commercial vehicle giant Tata Motors has showcased three new specialty vehicles suitable to use in local body functions at Municipalika 2015, which was organised in Jaipur, Rajasthan from December 9-11, 2015.

Tata Motors’ municipality range of vehicles showcased include at the expo include the Tata Ace Desilting Machine with BS IV specification, the Tata Ace Zip_1.25 CuM Hopper Tipper BS III and the Suction (5KL)-cum-Jetting (4KL) machine on Tata LPT 1613/42 Truck BS III and BS IV.

The vehicle maker said these vehicles cater to the needs of urban local bodies and other municipal corporations in the collection and transportation of the waste, with best-in-class maneuverability and fuel-efficiency.

Sanjay Bhatia, Head Marketing – Institutional Sales, Tata Motors Ltd. said “We at Tata Motors are delighted to display three new vehicles from our municipal rage at Municipalika. Through this trade expo, we are leveraging the huge opportunities in Rajasthan housing and urban infrastructure development segments.”

The Tata Ace Desilting Machine is suitable to clean manholes and wetwells upto a depth of 40 ft. It has Hydraulic tiltable hopper capacity 0.5 Cum and its powerful engine churns 16 HP@3200 RPM having max torque of 3.8 mkg @ 2000 RPM with minimum turning circle diameter of 8.6m and better operating economics with 20 litres grab bucket.

The Tata Ace Zip_1.25 Cu.M Hopper Tipper is used to move house hold garbage and is ideal for door-to-door garbage collection, especially in narrow lanes. Its engine churns 11.3 HP@3000 RPM having max torque of 3.16 mkg@1600-1800 RPM.

Suction (5KL)-cum-Jetting (4KL) machine on Tata LPT 1613/42 Truck is a Truck Mounted Mobile Unit suitable to dislodge and remove obstructions and blockages from sewer lines by a High Pressure Water Jetting System and suctioning the Sludge / slurry from sewer manholes, septic tanks and gully pits.

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Automotive India News Bureau

Nissan India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese car giant Nissan, will hike price of its Nissan and Datsun range of models in order to meet raising input costs. 

The prices of all Nissan and Datsun models in India will increase by upto 3 percent. The upward price revision will be effective January 2016.

Arun Malhotra, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India said, “The price increase is to offset the increasing input costs. The revision of prices will soften the negative impact and help the company stay competitive.”

Nissan India, which has portfolio of two brands like Nissan and Datsun, has products across hatchback, MUV, SUV and sedan segments in the country. Nissan along with its global alliance partner Renault has a manufacturing facility and a R&D Centre near Chennai.

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