SKF India, the Indian arm of the 100 year old Swedish bearing company, SKF, is holding its first ever conference on Wind Energy for its key customers in Chennai. The wind energy sector in India is coming of age, and India is the third largest wind energy producer in the world, and the state of Tamil Nadu is one of the leading production centers. Recognising the growing demand, wind energy is one of the 13 key verticals SKF India is focusing on. Other verticals include Two-wheelers and Commercial Vehicles, Steel, Cement, Pulp and Paper, Power, Oil and Gas, Textiles and Food and Beverage. 

SKF India has invested over 110 crores on capacity expansion in the previous year, and increased production capacity by 50 per cent at their Bangalore plant and 40 per cent at their Pune plant. Similar resources have been allocated for investments to be made this year as well. SKF India is also looking at expanding its product portfolio and manufacturing industrial bearings. In India, the SKF Group started trading operations in Kolkata in 1923 and since then the Group's operations have been consolidated into SKF India Limited. SKF also has an associate company called SKF Sealing Solutions Pvt Ltd providing sealing solutions.

After a lapse of nearly a decade, Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL), leading two-wheeler manufacturer, has forayed again into scooter business, this time gearless and plans to garner about 15 per cent business in the three lakh unit Scooty segment by 2007 end. The company has launched in January 2007 its first sub 100 cc gearless model, Kristal, which it claimed is ‘India’s first Intelligent Scooter,’ and plans to cover all the states by April this year. The four-stroke 95 cc Kristal, since its launch at Chennai early this month, is already inching to the 1000-mark with enquiries from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for the model. 

The model launched in Andhra Pradesh, which BAL senior marketing managers V Vasu and Soumyadutta Gupta, claimed gave the ‘best’ mileage of 50 km a litre for a Scooty category is likely to fuel the growth of the segment. Claiming that the model was country’s first ungeared scooter with front fuelling, the immediate target was to sell about 20,000 units over the next six-nine months. A sleek and aerodynamically designed vehicle available in four attractive colours with the two-tone colour combination, “Kristal is an outcome of consumer feedback expressing the many shortcomings of existing ungeared scooter options,” and the company officials said it is targeting GenNext. Scooter constitutes only three lakh unit of the 8.2 million (82 lakhs) two-wheeler sector. More than 7.5 million (75 lakhs) motorcycles are sold every year in India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with leaders of the automotive industry at the launch of the Automotive Mission Plan in New Delhi recently

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, officially launched the Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2006-2016, of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, in New Delhi recently. The Prime Minister received the first copy of the AMP presented by Sontosh Mohan Dev, Minister for Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, in the presence of Ratan N Tata, Brijmohan Lall, Raghu Mody, President ACMA, Ravi Kant, Vice President, SIAM, L.D. Mittal, President, TMA, H.S. Lheem, and M Takedagawa. Dr. V Krishnamurthy, Chairman, NMCC, Dr. R.C. Panda, Secretary and Dr S Mitra, Joint Secretary, Heavy Industry were also present. 

Later briefing newspersons, Mr. Dev said the AMP has 25 key recommendations focused at attracting an incremental investment of Rs. 1,60,000 to 1,80,000 crores (US $ 35 to 40 Billion) over the next 10 years. The turnover of the industry would be 6,67 000 crores in 2016, 4 times the current turnover. 

A key addition to the earlier document was the setting up of a monitoring committee to regularly review the progress of the implementation of the AMP. A second key element of the AMP was the focus on exports. According to the Minister, while the recent performance of exports of the automotive sector was commendable, a key challenge was to sustain this in the medium and long term. While those firms that are exporting from India and using India as a hub for products must enhance their activity, it was equally important that those companies present in India and not exporting should also initiate action to make India an export base. 

Mr. Mody described the plan as a landmark initiative, and pointed out that many of the suggestions made by ACMA have found place in the AMP. Dr Pawan Goenka, said the AMP, when well implemented, should definitely deliver India as the destination of choice in the global auto industry for design and development as well manufacturing. 

Mr. Ravi Kant said the formal launch of AMP was the culmination of an outstanding government industry partnership. The vision can be achieved through a continuing partnership among OEMs, component manufacturers and the Government. The AMP provides a good framework for manufacturers to develop new products and meet the emergent needs of the mobility of people and transportation of goods and at the same time become a global automotive hub, he added.

With the Discover and Pulsar driving the volumes, Bajaj Auto has indicated that it would replace products in the 100 cc segment with an all-new platform in the second quarter of FY08. According to a press release, the 100 cc segment contributed 45% of sales and the rest comes from the increasingly strong sales of Discover and Pulsar DTS-i platform products. 

The press release further said that Bajaj has finalised product design and specification, and has scheduled pre-mass production trials in FY08Q1. Simultaneously the company would commence motorcycle production at its new Plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand in April 2007, intending to ramp up to the rate of 1 million per year within FY08. Bajaj is also close to achieving its FY 2007 target of approximately 2.85 million vehicles leading to a turnover of about Rs 10,000 crores. The sales figures for the month of January 2007 are as follows:.

Honda Siel Cars India has registered a growth of 31.34 per cent in sales during the month of January 2007. The company, according to a press release, sold a total of 6,013 cars during the month as compared with 4,578 cars sold in January 2006. 

The cumulative sales of the company for the period April 2006 - January 2007 has also increased to 49,312 units, a notable jump from 34,412 units during the corresponding period last year. This reflects a growth of 43.29%. Model-wise break-up for January 2007: City: 3,617; Civic: 1,776; Accord: 393; CRV: 227.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd., (HHML) clocked sales of 8,96,113 units of two-wheeler sales during Q3­ 2006-07, more than 12 per cent higher than 798,302 units sold in Q3 of 2005-06. This has resulted in Hero Honda's market share in two-wheelers going up to 40 per cent from 39.5 per cent in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal. Turnover increased from Rs 2351 crore to Rs 2700 crore, a healthy growth of 15% per cent. 

According to a press release from the company, profit before tax ( PBT) was Rs. 303.43 crore and profit after Tax ( PAT) was Rs 209.18 crores in Q3 of 2006-07 as compared to Rs 382.72 crore and Rs 261.78 Crores respectively in the corresponding quarter of previous financial year. 

Pawan Munjal, MD and CEO, Hero Honda Motors Ltd., said "in this quarter, Hero Honda crossed significant milestones and received recognition from various quarters. We fulfilled our commitment to our customers by providing the latest technology and styling in our five new products launched in Q3 2006-07. Significant investment in marketing, coupled with current levels of raw material prices have impacted operating margins as we had predicted at the time of Q2 results announcement and subsequently."

Tata Motors has reported a total sale of 55,440 vehicles (including exports) for the month of January 2007, a growth of 19 % over 46,635 vehicles sold in January last year. A press release from the company said cumulative sales 4,62,892 numbers was growing by 31 %. 

The company's sales of commercial vehicles in January 2007 in the domestic market were 28,896 numbers, an increase of 36% over 21,301 vehicles sold in January last year. M&HCV sales stood at 17,097 numbers, a growth of 31% over January 2006, while LCV sales were 11,799 numbers, a growth of 44 % over January 2006. 

Cumulative sales of commercial vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal were 2,40,594 numbers, an increase of 46% over last year. Cumulative M&HCV sales stood at 1,39,402 numbers, an increase of 43% over last year, while LCV sales for the fiscal were 1,01,192 numbers, an increase of 51% over the same period last year. 

The passenger vehicle business reported total sales of 22,801 vehicles in the domestic market in January 2007, an increase of 10% over January 2006. The Indica reported its highest-ever monthly sales since launch, at 14,466 units, a growth of 14% over January 2006. The Indigo family registered sales of 3207 units, a decline of 17% over the same period last year. The Sumo and Safari accounted for sales of 5128 units, a growth of 20% over January 2006, with Safari reporting highest-ever sales for any month since launch. 

The company's sales from exports were 3743 vehicles in January 2007 as compared to 4569 vehicles in January 2006, a decline of 18%. The cumulative sales from exports in the current period at 42,487 units have recorded a 7% growth over the corresponding figures for the previous period.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd. (HHML) has reported sales of 297,554 two-wheelers in January 2007, as against 249,450 two-wheelers sold in January 2006. According to a press release, this translated to a 19.3 per cent increase in sales volume over the corresponding month in 2006. The cumulative sales of the company for the period April 2006 - January 2007 stood at 27,78,321.

Car market leader Maruti Udyog Limited sold 62,248 vehicles in the domestic market in January 2007, a growth of 28.3 per cent over the corresponding month last year. January 2007 sales are also the highest-ever monthly domestic sales. The previous highest was 61,141 vehicles in March 2006. (Post budget) In all, Maruti sold 65,341 vehicles in January 2007 including 3093 vehicles of exports. 

In the A2 segment, the company sold a record 44,736 vehicles in January 2007. This reflects a 41.8 per cent growth over sales in January 2006. The previous highest was 38,940 vehicles in October 2006. In the C segment, the sales grew by 40.8 per cent compared to sales in January 2006. 

The sales figures for January 2007 are:

The first Volvo B7r was introduced in the Indian market approximately five years ago. Over a period of time the bus has undergone changes, though largely cosmetic in nature, to further up its appeal. This time around, however, the B7 has received changes that travel deep down under. The B7R gets a new 7.3-litre (D7E) common-rail engine that has an electronically controlled fuel system. Other than meeting the Euro 3 emission norms, the new engine offers several advantages according to Volvo India sources such as better fuel efficiency, reduced exhaust emissions, more power and lower engine noise. Said to be built and supplied by German engine specialist, Deutz, the CRD engine’s latest-generation engine management system, EMS 2 provides extremely precise combustion and it is also vibration-free. 

Speaking at the launch in Mumbai, Jan Vandooren, Head & Vice President - Volvo Buses, South Asia, said, “The new generation of Volvo B7R CRD buses represents a higher level both technically and qualitatively which in turn will promote greater flexibility, better overall economy, higher performance, increased safety and convenience and lower environmental impact. The reaction to Volvo buses across India has been overwhelming, and the future looks highly promising. We believe that Volvo is successfully driving the change in luxury bus travel and is setting new standards for passenger expectations in India.” 

Handling over the keys of the first batch of the new B7R to existing and new Volvo customers like Suresh Sharma of Sharma Travels, Mario Pereira of Paulo Travels, Patel of Sangeet Travels (Hyderabad) and DVV S Raju of Hyderabad, Vandooren further stated, “Volvo buses has decided to further invest in India and has complete body plans. We have to further improve our standards in aftermarket and the countdown has started”. 

Other than the new engine, the new B7R gets ABS as standard. Dashboard is now similar to the one seen on the European models in addition to changes to the electrical architecture, instrument cluster and dashboard switches. “With much of the travel in India done overnight, we paid particular attention towards the lighting system and the B7R gets a new, powerful lighting system.” 

The driver and owner of the new B7R now has a detailed diagnostic information system installed in the vehicle which gives information on the condition of the engine, driveline ABS, brakes etc before making a trip. With facilities to adjust the bus properties according to requirements, the new version helps reduce repair and maintenance costs. 

To aid easy travel over bad surfaces, the new B7R come with a lift mechanism that increases the height of the bus by 5cm and thus the ground clearance. “Taking into consideration the varying fuel quality at different locations we have increased the B7R’s fuel tank from 350-litres to 700 litres. The B7R also gets a completely new reinforced body that complies to the R66 European safety regulations. This was done taking into account instances like roll over in case of an accident,” according to Vandooren. 

Vandooren also said that Volvo would announce hybrid solution in Brussels in March this year.

Riding the continuing buoyancy in the commercial vehicle market and on the back of a 54 per cent increase in vehicle sales, commercial vehicles major, Ashok Leyland has reported a 48 per cent growth in net sale revenue during the quarter ended 31st December 2006, to Rs. 17,775.91 million (Rs. 12,011.77 million). Net profit is at Rs. 1,052.57 million. This represented a 93 per cent growth over Rs. 545.05 million for the corresponding period last year, the company said in a press release. 

Gross operating margin, at Rs. 1,840.54 million (Rs. 1,160.97 million), has improved 59 per cent while gross profit at Rs. 1,878.40 million (Rs. 1,106.30 million) is up 70 per cent. Financial expenses have been reduced to Rs. 25.65 million (Rs. 79.31 million) thanks to efficient working capital management and control on assets employed. Depreciation is higher at Rs. 332.28 million (Rs. 290.15 million) and profit before extra ordinary items and tax, Rs. 1,546.12 million (Rs. 816.15 million). 

After the extraordinary item of amortised VRS. compensation at Rs. 31.05 million (Rs. 20.84 million), profit before tax is up 91 per cent, to Rs. 1,515.07 million (Rs. 795.31 million). Provision for current taxation is at Rs. 422.40 million (Rs. 207.30 million), deferred taxation Rs. 27.60 million (Rs. 29.90 million) and fringe benefit tax Rs. 12.50 million (Rs. 13.06 million). 

“Our operating margins for the quarter are up 68 basis points, despite continuing pressure from input costs. Volume expansion and the resultant operating economies helped”, commented Mr. R Seshasayee, Managing Director. He, however, cautioned that while vehicle demand remained robust and the Company was targeting a sales growth of over 30 per cent for the year, material costs were not expected to soften.

Pune-based manufacturer of three-wheelers, Kumar Motors has bagged an order to supply three-wheelers to Africa. The company, which has a facility at Pirangoot and Chinchwad is engaged in the manufacture of diesel three wheelers called Agni and Parinda. While the Agni is claimed to be a 1-tonne diesel good carrier, the Parinda is a diesel-powered rickshaw. The Agni and Parinda are powered by a fully integral 9hp, single cylinder IDI (Lombardini) diesel engine that meets Bharat Stage II emission standards. 

The vehicles are mounted on a strong tubular chassis and structured around a high-tech aerodynamic and scientifically designed driver’s cabin. While the Pune city dealer, Alkesh Parekh and Ketan Parekh is said to be suppliers of steel raw material like structural tubes, etc, to Kumar Motors, other suppliers to the company are said to be Tata Johnson Controls for seats, Pricol for instruments, Dunlop for tyres, Lumax for lighting equipment, Exide Industries for battery, KBX for braking system and Atultemp for windscreens.

Speaking at the inauguration of a dealership in Pune city recently, Balachandran C S, general manager (marketing & sales), Kumar Motors, said, “The full chassis gives better road holding and instead of handlebar we are giving the driver a steering wheel, switchgear and gearshift like in a car. Compared to the Ape, the load space is as much as Minidor, and at a very competitive price”. The Agni is priced at Rs 1.44 lakhs approximately and the Parinda is priced at Rs 1.5 lakhs approximately. 

Speaking about the export enquiries, Balachandran said, “The automotive industry in India is growing at a rapid pace. We are now technologically sound in manufacturing world-class vehicles and we have reasons to rejoice. Firstly, the opening of this dealership and secondly, the export order from a dealer in Africa.” While Balachandran did nor reveal the name of the dealer and said that the vehicles will be supplied to East African countries and that there is an agreement for 1500 vehicles for March 2008 worth roughly US$ 3 million, he added that his company has also received export enquiries from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other Asian countries. “Export markets demand low sulphur diesel technology.” 

“Apart from exports, we at Kumar Motors are aggressively expanding the dealership network across the country. We already have 65 dealerships in 7 states. We will be launching two new dealerships in Rajasthan very soon.” Added Balachandran, “We have a 5000 vehicles per month manufacturing capacity. We currently manufacture 400 vehicles per month and plan to reach 500 vehicles by April 2007 and clock 12,000 units sale in 2007-08.”

PTC, the Product Development Company, has announced that Federal-Mogul Corporation, a global supplier of automotive components, systems and modules for original equipment manufacturers and the aftermarket, has adopted Windchill PDMLink and Windchill ProjectLinkÔ for strategic product lifecycle management (PLM). 

Windchill, the PTC content and process management solution, enables collaborative product development while helping companies control data and processes. As a long-time user of PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER, the selection of Windchill extends Federal-Mogul’s existing relationship with PTC and enables them to realize the value from an integral product development system. 

“Federal-Mogul is growing on a global basis and the need for strong internal and customer collaboration grows with it. By adopting Windchill as a common software platform capable of integrating with the range of product design systems used by our customers, we will be able to harmonize our internal processes and adopt best practice while retaining the flexibility to meet all our customers' needs,” said Huw Pegler, Engineering IS Director, Federal-Mogul. “By strengthening our program management processes using PTC’s Windchill, we expect to achieve significant performance improvements in our product development process, resulting in faster time-to-market and increased competitive advantage.” 

“Optimising product development processes in a globally distributed environment is a common challenge for today’s manufacturing companies,” said Martin Walters, director, product and market strategy, PTC. “Windchill provides a superior solution for managing complex data in this environment and enables effective collaboration, allowing companies like Federal-Mogul to reap tangible benefits from their technology investment.”.

Sunam Sarkar (Corporate Strategy and Marketing, Apollo Tyres Ltd.) along with Satish Sharma (Chief India Operations , Apollo Tyres Ltd.) unveiling the Internationally Renowned Regal Range of truck and bus radials at the Bus World.

Tyre major, Apollo Tyres, unveiled the first of the Regal brand of truck and bus radial tyres – Transport RS (front axle) and Transport RD (drive or rear axle) – at the business-to-business exposition, Bus World, India, taking place in Mumbai. Regal is a globally renowned brand of radial commercial vehicle tyres since 1995, used extensively in the African continent, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia. 

The Regal brand is produced in Apollo’s manufacturing unit in Dunlop, South Africa, and now in Baroda, India. Some of the major fleet owners (150 to 500 trucks and trailers) in these geographies are sole users of Regal Transport as tyre for their entire fleet of vehicles. 

The Regal Transport radial tyres provide higher mileage, generate lower heat and are fuel savers. Due to the use of a specially designed tread compound, they also provide greater safety, better steering response and traction. The tyres have a longer road life, being compatible to a higher number of re-treading cycles. While the products would be available across India, Apollo expects the Southern and Western markets to be key, given the comparatively higher rates of radialisation here. 

The company has also put in a dedicated team of techno-commercial experts, called Forza, to work closely with customers to bring down operating costs.

(L to R) James W. McGill (Vice President, Asia Pacific Region, Eaton Corporation), Alexander M. Cutler (Chairman & CEO, Eaton Corporation) and Craig Arnold (Senior Vice President and President, Fluid Power Group, Eaton Corporation.

US-based diversified industrial manufacturer, Eaton Technolgies is setting up a medium and heavy-duty truck transmission and components plant at Ranjangaon near Pune. The facility will be spread across 60,000 sq feet and is scheduled to go on stream by the end of 2007. The new facility will house machining, heat treatment and assembly operations and is expected to employ 120 people. Production will be sold domestically and will also serve Eaton’s global truck customers. 

Eaton entered India in 1999 with the global acquisition of Aeroquip Vickers, which had two facilities in Maharashtra (Mumbai and Pune) under the name of Vickers Systems International. The Mumbai facility was integrated into the Pune operations in 2002. Eaton established an engineering centre in 2003 at Pune to do high-end engineering work for Eaton’s business segments. In 2004 Eaton took over Powerware from Invensys. 

The expansion of the hydraulics operations in India is part of Eaton’s strategy to become a hydraulics systems leader in the Asia Pacific region. Plans are to increase employment by 250 people and add 40,000 sq feet of manufacturing floor space by 2010. The facility is an Eaton Centre of Excellence for gear pumps and is being expanded to commerce manufacturing of steering control units and hitch valves. 

Eaton’s truck group is into design, manufacture, and marketing of powertrain systems and components for commercial vehicles. Around the world, Eaton offers drivetrain components, systems, safety products and service tools including manual and automated transmissions, hybrid power systems, clutches, collision warning systems with adaptive cruise control and mobile resource management solutions. Eaton’s fluid power business is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of a comprehensive line of reliable, high efficiency hydraulic systems and components for use in mobile, industrial and aerospace applications.

“Behr India, a 60:40 joint venture between Behr Gmbh & Co. KG, Germany, and Anand Automotive Systems commissioned a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Chakan near Pune recently. The plant, spread over ten acres, has state-of-the-art production equipment imported from Europe and will produce HVAC modules, engine cooling modules, heat exchangers including radiators, charge air coolers, condensers and visco fan drive systems for the auto industry. 

The new facility, which has seen both the partners invest US$ 12 million in this project in 2006 and envisage an additional investment of US$ 5 million in 2007, is expected to employ 500 people at the end of 2007 and is considering the possibility of introducing other new products. 

While sources close to Anand Automotive Systems point at semi-auto and auto climate control systems, the company, most of all, aims to achieve a turnover of US $ 90 million in 2007 expecting an increase of 50 per cent by 2010. 

Behr India was set up in 1997 as a joint venture between Behr and Anand Automotive Systems with a facility at Chakan to cater to the domestic and export customers employing around 400 people with a sales turnover of US$ 65 million in 2006. The company has an independent air conditioning assembly line for customers like Tata Motors, M&M, Mahindra-Renault, GM and MAN-Force Motors. It also has a Nocolock facility to manufacture heat exchangers like evaporators, heaters, condensers, radiators and charge coolers with an annual capacity of 1 million units.

“India is the future and we want to be a part of it”, said Jan Vandooren, Vice President, Volvo Buses, at the grand inauguration ceremony of the Busworld India Exhibition 2007 – a unique initiative by the Busworld International Limited in association with Inter Ads Limited. His expression was generally echoed by one and all present at the ceremony. 

Guido Vileghe, President, Busworld Internaional, said, “Busworld is more than just an exposition. It creates a platform for constructors, manufacturers, suppliers of spare parts and accessories with potential customers from all over the globe.. He further elaborated, “Busworld has the ambition to encourage innovations and to support them, to have an eye for and to provide opportunities for new techniques such as alternative fuels, fuel cell buses, hybrid buses and to offer solutions for specific problems concerning city-buses and tourism-coaches.”

“It’s all about 3 ‘I’s – Innovation, Incentives and Infrastructure,” said Paul Laoramane, President, International Road Transport Union. “Innovation is required to develop more effective technical measures and operating practices to reduce environmental impact. Incentives are to encourage faster introduction of best available technology and practices and Infrastructure is for the free-flowing traffic, without which any measures taken are rendered useless. It is also imperative to remove bottlenecks and missing links,” concluded Laoramane. 

The Busworld India 2007 exhibition, the ultimate destination for a plethora of information on bus manufacturing accessories and services, will be open till February 1, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon. Key players from the bus manufacturing industry such as Volvo, Force Motors, JCBL, Ruby Coach Builders, Apollo Tyres, J K Tyres, TVS, ICICI Bank, etc., are participating in the mega event. 

Luc Glorieux, General Manager, Busworld said, “Since Asia is the largest market for the bus industry, this city of opportunities – being the commercial capital of the country – hosting an Exhibition of this grandeur is only obvious.” 

“India is the second largest market – China being the leader – for the bus manufacturing industry and hence it is only relevant that Busworld Exhibition 2007 is happening in India. The first time the Exhibition was held in Delhi two years ago,” informed Rajan Sharma, Managing Director, Inter Ads Ltd., while thanking all the participants. 

The wide array of exhibitors comprises bus/chassis/spare parts/accessories/tyres/seat manufacturers, coach builders, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), bus interior and paint decors, flooring, product designers, audio visual/air conditioning/upholstery/dash board manufacturers and financial institutions.

A transmission concept from Britain’s motor racing heartland will soon arrive in India with the promise of reducing operating costs. Known as the Zeroshift technology, it improves the efficiency and performance of the vehicle powertrain by minimising momentum loss during gearshifts. This is through allowing gear changes in ‘zero’ seconds with no interruption of torque to the driven wheels across the entire spread of gear ratios. According to Zeroshift Limited’s India regional manager, Rajeev Ranadive, “the presently manufactured manual transmissions can be automated using Zeroshift technology so that the plant can be used to produce an automatic transmission.” 

It presents a mechanically superior, cost-effective alternative to torque-converter-based automatic transmissions, which are expensive because they are made in high-cost countries in the West, and then attract a duty on import. Especially for a truck manufacturer, in-house assembly would cost a fraction of the price of an automatic transmission or automated manual transmission imported from a North American or European supplier, Ranadive said. A Zeroshift-automated transmission promises a marked improvement in fuel efficiency over a manual transmission, because no fuel is wasted while changing gear. Considering that the cost of fuel can amount to several times the price of the truck over its lifetime, this translates into significant savings from the perspective of lifecycle costs. 

Ranadive revealed that it is working on some projects in India, and that designs for one manufacturer had reached a “very advanced” stage. Importantly, it has also decided to source components from India, and is looking at licensing the patented technology to a manufacturer here for supply globally. “We want to make all the Zeroshift components - drive hubs and electronics - in India,” Ranadive said. The company will start scanning for suppliers by end-February. “If it is not possible to identify a partner who can meet our manufacturing specifications we will try and set up our own plant, most likely in Pune,” he said. “It is also possible to have engineering and development activity shifted to India to lower the development cost,” he added.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.(M&M) through its subsidiary Mahindra Forgings Global Limited based in Mauritius has acquired 90.47% stake in Schoneweiss & Co. GmbH., a leading company in the forgings sector in Germany. Schoneweiss is a family-owned German company with over 140 years of experience in the forging sector. It is one of the top five axle beam manufacturers in the world and specialises in suspension, power train and engine parts. The company has forging capacity of 50,000 tpa and turnover of Euro 90 mn (for CY 2005). Its customers include DaimlerChrysler Group, MAN, Scania and Volkswagen. Schoneweiss has three manufacturing plants in Hagen and Gevelsberg, Germany with a total manpower of 550 people. 

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, M&M, said, "This acquisition creates for us a strong European base as it is fully harmonious with our existing presence in Germany through Jeco AG. We are now well on the path to capitalise on and consolidate our position towards becoming a globally significant player in the forgings business. Also by expanding Mahindra's 'Design to Delivery' bandwidth in the components space, Schoneweiss would be a huge step in the Mahindra's evolution as the first fully integrated auto component provider from India." 

Hemant Luthra, President, Systems and Technologies Sector (Systech), and Member of the Group Management Board, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, "Schoneweiss is highly regarded for its technical abilities and deep customer relationships with some of the marquee names in Europe. Together with Jeco, it creates a complementary and synergistic business platform. We hope to derive benefits across the various Systech entities from this acquisition. More importantly, we will be able to offer our customers across various geographies a comprehensive suite of products and technical skills." He added, "This is furthering our strategic goal of being an auto component player with capability in design & engineering, adding value for our stakeholders." 

Kotak Investment Banking, Mumbai and M&A International GmbH, Kronberg, Germany advised Mahindra & Mahindra while InterFinanz, Dusseldorf acted as consultants for the Schoneweiss Group.

The Busworld India Exhibition 2007, which is the ultimate destination for a plethora of information on bus manufacturing accessories and services, is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from January 30 to February 1, 2007, at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon. 

The Exhibition offers a ready terminus and an opportunity that is only welcome for the customers and decision makers to brush-up their knowledge on the latest developments and interact with the exhibitors from all over the world. The mega event will see participation from more than 68 companies such as Force Motors, Volvo, Apollo Tyres, J K Tyres, TVS, etc. 

The wide array of exhibitors will comprise bus/chassis/spare parts/accessories/battery/tyres/seat manufacturers, coachbuilders, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), bus interior and paint decors, flooring, product designers, audio visual/air conditioning/upholstery/dash board manufacturers and financial institutions.