Finolex Cables has entered into a joint venture agreement with J-Power Systems Corporation (JPS) of Japan, a joint venture between Hitachi Cable and Sumitomo Electric Industries, to offer complete turnkey solutions in Extra High Voltage (EHV) cable systems in India and abroad. The JV will be called as Finolex J-Power Systems Pvt Ltd and is expected to be established January 2008. 

Offering complete services of turnkey installation and connectorization of the complete circuit along with the supply of power cables and accessories (jointing kits), the JV will be equipped with state-of-the-art production facility such as VCV (Vertical Continuous Vulcanising) tower to produce high voltage XLPE (Cross Linked Polyethylene) insulated Power Cables. Speaking on the occasion, 

Deepak Chhabria, managing director of Finolex Cables said, “This is a significant development for Finolex. It is a matter of honour that global leaders in EHV cable business have partnered with us. With this Finolex completes its Electric Cables Product range from the lowest voltage grade of 48 Volts in Auto Cable to the highest voltage of 500,000 Volts in Power Cable segment. Finolex is the only company in India with this unique distinction”.

Telco Construction Equipment Co. (Telcon), a joint venture of Tata Motors and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co (Japan), has announced a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for earthmoving and construction equipment along with R&D centre at Kharagpur in West Bengal to upgrade its capacity and capability to meet the burgeoning demand for construction equipment in the country. The construction of the facility will commence shortly. 

Telcon will invest about Rs. 600 crores in the facility, to be completed in three phases. The first phase will be completed by March 2009, and the final phase by March 2011. In addition, a vendor park will be set up on a 90-acre plot for about 20 strategic partners, who will separately invest about Rs500 crores. The entire operation, including that of Telcon and its partners, is expected to generate over 1000 direct jobs. The company already has two manufacturing facilities in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and Dharwad (Karnataka).

Cummins Turbo Technologies has announced the creation of of a new, world-class turbocharger manufacturing facility in Pithampur near Indore. While the new facility is a further indication of Cummins Turbo Technologies’ strategy of expanding its interests in India, the company acquired the remaining interest in a joint venture partnership in which it had been involved since the mid-1990s. 

Built with an initial investment of US $15million the facility will include buildings, land and working capital spread over 80,000 square-foot and generating up to 300 new employment opportunities over the next few years. The plant will focus on manufacturing high-horsepower turbochargers, providing turbochargers for both domestic and global markets. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2008 with production starting in the third quarter of 2008. Interestingly, the new facility is around 70 kms from the Dewas facility and is therefore expected to help Cummins better integrate its activities. 

Glyn Price, Vice President and General Manager-Asia Businesses, Cummins, said, "Pithampur will be the most advanced manufacturing facility of Cummins Turbo Technologies anywhere in the world. We are proud of our operations in India. Our facility in Dewas has expanded and is now operating at full capacity. Pithampur will work in tandem with Dewas to enable the company to better meet demand from the domestic as well as global markets".

‘TATA Green Batteries’, a brand of Tata AutoComp GY Batteries (TGY), a joint venture between Tata AutoComp Systems Limited and GS Yuasa, Japan, has already made an impressionable mark in the highly competitive automotive battery market within less than a year of its launch. In order to meet the market demand as well as to fuel its aggressive growth plans, TGY Batteries is scaling up its production at the Pune facility, thereby enabling a production capacity of 1 million automotive batteries by FY 2008-09. The company plans to further expand this capacity to 2 million automotive batteries by 2010. Reflecting on this, Mr. Yogesh Dhawan, Chief Executive Officer, Tata AutoComp GY Batteries (P) Ltd. said, "'Tata Green Batteries' has received a stupendous response from across the country within a short span of time. The unique Calcium–Calcium technology has set a benchmark within the industry. We are confident of continuously innovating and offering the best of battery solutions to the discerning Indian customers. The response generated has further strengthened our conviction to develop a robust brand bringing value to the customer and thereby capture a good market share in the next 3 years." 

Highlighting the unique consumer benefits of Tata Green batteries, Mr. Rajeev Malik, Head – Marketing, Tata AutoComp GY Batteries (P) Ltd, said, "The Calcium-Calcium technology based Tata Green Batteries has generated favourable mind share amongst the consumers. The key benefit of the technology is that it replaces traditionally used hazardous chemical elements by harmless calcium alloy. This ensures that the batteries are high on performance as well as environmentally clean, inoffensive and safer under the hood of cars." 

The state-of-the-art technology used in the Tata Green Batteries enhances the battery life as its distinctive design minimizes water loss and cuts down battery water evaporation, eliminating the need to top-up water up to 100,000 kms, a first amongst Indian batteries. The Calcium-Calcium technology also reduces self-discharge, increases storage time and provides best protection from acid spillage and sparks. This ensures high starting power even in extreme ambient temperatures of below -18 degree C to 75 degree C. The alloy composition of Tata Green batteries ensures "self-switching off" when not in use thus imparting longer battery life and shelf life as compared to traditional batteries; high levels of vibration resistance on all types of Indian roads; ability to withstand extreme temperatures; higher cranking power for instant starts; truly maintenance and hassle free performance making it a ‘value for money’ proposition for the consumers.

The Volvo Group has signed a letter of intent with the Indian vehicle manufacturer Eicher Motors Limited regarding the establishment of a new Indian joint-venture company. According to the letter of intent, the joint-venture company will hold Eicher Motors Limited’s entire truck and bus operations and the Volvo Group’s Indian sales operations within trucks. Motorcycle production will not be included. For its part, the Volvo Group will provide US $ 350 million to the joint-venture company through transferring its Indian truck dealer and service network to the company, valued at US $ 75 million, and contributing US $ 275 million in cash. The cash contribution means that the joint-venture company gains highly favorable financial resources to be able to initiate an aggressive focus on the heavy segment. 

As a result of the transaction, Volvo receives a direct ownership in the joint-venture company of 45.6petr cent. Since Volvo also intends to acquire 8.1per cent of Eicher Motors from the majority owner, Volvo gains an ownership interest, directly and indirectly, of 50per cent of the joint-venture company. The joint-venture company will have its production mainly concentrated to Eicher Motor's current plant in Pithampur near Indore. 

The joint-venture company will have about 2,300 employees and the operations within the joint-venture company that come from Eicher Motors had sales in 2006 of about SEK 3.0 billion and operating income of SEK 128 million. The operating margin for the period was 4.2 per cent. The parties’ intent is to immediately combine and establish a joint service and dealer network for trucks in India, while initiating joint projects within product development and purchasing. "Eicher is an ideal partner for Volvo on the Indian market," says Volvo Deputy CEO Jorma Halonen, who is responsible for the Group’s expansion in Asia.

Yamaha Motor India has rolled out two of its flagship models, the Super Sports YZF - R1 and the Torque Sports MT01 in the Indian market. Combining technological superiority with artistic brilliance, Yamaha India is the first two wheeler company to introduce this genre of super sports and torque sports performance bike in India. Signifying the launch, Tomotaka Ishikawa, CEO and MD, Yamaha Motor India said, "The rising number of big bikes enthusiasts coupled with increasing income levels makes India one of the most important markets for Yamaha".

R C Maheshwari, CEO, Commercial Vehicle Business, Bajaj Auto, poses with the new technology RE GDi autorickshaw 

Bajaj Auto has announced another breakthrough engine technology with the launch of the highly fuel efficient and low emission RE GDi autorickshaw. This vehicle incorporates the latest in gasoline technology – the Gasoline Direct injection (GDi) engine, to achieve substantially lower emissions than even the alternate ‘clean’ fuel CNG vehicles. Designed and developed by Bajaj Auto's R&D, the technology ensures not only a cleaner environment but also delivers low operating cost to the autorickshaw owner. Bajaj Auto presented the innovative new GDi technology at their corporate headquarters in Pune. 

The economy version of the new vehicle would cost around Rs 92,000 while the standard one is priced at Rs 1.40 lakh. The company will roll out the manufacturing of these rickshaws from its plant at Waluj. The new technology vehicle will be sold in a phased manner starting from January 2008 in Pune and will then be launched in Trivandrum and Mangalore. 

“The RE-GDi delivers a substantial 33 per cent better fuel efficiency than the conventional RE rickshaw and drastically reduces emissions with virtually no visible smoke. The emissions are also comparable or lower than the alternate clean fuel engines using LPG/CNG,” said Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto. R C Maheshwari, CEO, Commerical Vehicle Business, Bajaj Auto, stated that the company would also encourage replacing conventional engine with the new in the next eight months. “With this latest gasoline technology, concerns of local governments, state bodies and NGOs on autorickshaw emissions should no longer persist. We would like to suggest the authorities to accept GDi vehicles in the category of environment-friendly vehicles,” he added. 

Stating that the product has a good export potential, Bajaj said that it would be restricted to the domestic market for the next couple of years. The direct injection of fuel as a fine mist controlled precisely with an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) avoids escape of unburnt fuel into the exhaust and drastically reduces emissions. The emissions per km on the RE GDi Autorickshaw is 25% lower for HC+NOX (Hydrocarbons and Nitrous Oxides) and 50% lower for CO (Carbon Monoxide) than the RE autorickshaw. Bajaj Auto currently has the widest range of 2 stroke gasoline, 2 stroke LPG, 2 stroke CNG, 4 stroke gasoline, 4 stroke LPG, 4 stroke CNG and Diesel 3-wheelers in its stable that sell about 25,000 vehicles per month of which almost half is exported.

Thailand could become an important eco-car production centre, according to plans by Suzuki, Tata Motors, Nissan and others, news reports stated in Bangkok. India's Tata Motors has its own plans for Thailand, intending to produce 35,000 pickups per year with an investment of 1.3 billion baht ($42 million) despite fierce competition in the world's second-largest pickup market after the US. 

Tata has also marked the country as its regional hub for eco-cars, the Bangkok Post reported. Suzuki plans to produce 138,000 environment friendly vehicles annually in Thailand with an investment of 9.5 billion baht ($316 million) while fellow Japanese automaker Nissan plans annual production of 120,000 units. Environment friendly cars currently account for a tiny slice of the burgeoning Asian car and truck market, making them mostly prestige products for manufacturers, but industry strategists see them as becoming much more important as market demand climbs and environmental issues become more urgent. Japan's Toyota and Mitsubishi have also claimed investment incentives from the Thai Board of Investment to produce green vehicles. Until now, only Honda had been granted such a tax break for investments of 6.7 billion baht. Thai rules require a firm to make at least 100,000 vehicles a year that can run for at least 20 km per litre of fuel to receive the tax breaks.