Renault and Ondas have announced the signing of an agreement to offer satellite radio receivers in Renault Group vehicles sold in Europe from 2012. This new product will allow customers to benefit from a vast range of digital programmes, topical and advertising-free, and give them access to services in areas such as traffic information, security, vehicle management or even video for passengers. 

Gradually becoming available in all European countries from 2012, satellite radio will give customers the benefit of listening to radio stations specialising in music, news, discussion, sport, traffic or weather, with no advertising and broadcast in the continent's main languages. Moreover, digital data channels will open the way to related services, in the areas of traffic news, security, vehicle management or even video for vehicle passengers. 

Operational in the United States since 2001, where it had won over 19 million customers at year end 2008 (source: SIRIUS XM Radio), satellite radio is available across the whole country. It offers customers a very broad variety of programmes, most usually free of advertising, along with related data, news and entertainment services. Each American operator is currently broadcasting more than one hundred stations simultaneously by satellite, land transmitters and over the Internet. Customers can listen to their favourite programmes not only on in-vehicle radios, but also on individual (personal stereo) and home receivers.

Prabhakar Dev has taken over as Managing Director and CEO of Greaves Cotton. Dev's role will entail overseeing the company's operations and performance while guiding it to retain leadership position in engines and infrastructure equipment – the two core competencies of the company. He will also provide impetus to the company's ambitious growth plans. 

Prabhakar Dev joined Greaves Cotton a year ago and held the position of Deputy Managing Director prior to his new appointment by the Board. Greaves, a Rs. 1350 crore, multi-product, multi-locational company is one of the leading engineering companies in India, with core competencies in diesel / petrol engines and infrastructure equipment. The company sustains its leadership through ten manufacturing units which produce world class products backed by comprehensive marketing and service/parts network throughout the country.

Greaves Cotton Limited rolled out the two millionth light diesel engine from its Aurangabad plant recently. The millionth engine was made in December 2004, the two million mark coming up in a short span of just 4 ½ years. Speaking on the occasion, the company’s Managing Director & CEO, Prabhakar Dev, said, "With an annual production of over 2,50,000 single cylinder light diesel engines, Greaves is already amongst the largest manufacturers of such engines in the world. If we maintain this momentum, I reckon the next million is not too far away". 

Greaves began the manufacture of light diesel engines way back in 1977 and has since set up three more plants and a Technology Centre dedicated to design and develop new proprietary technology eco-friendly diesel engines for automotive and other applications. The Company’s manufacturing plants are equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities, backed by in house R&D. These portable engines are produced in the range of 4 – 11 HP and find applications in automotive, marine, industrial and other uses. Greaves client list includes some of the leading 3-wheeler manufacturers in the country. Greaves has also recently forayed into the manufacture of twin cylinder engines for various applications such as four-wheeled low cost commercial vehicles, gensets and construction equipment.

Ashland Performance Materials, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. has announced that it has commenced production of Aropol polyester resins and Maxguard and Enguard gelcoats in India. The resins and gelcoats are part of the previously announced manufacturing and marketing relationship between Ashland India, a subsidiary of Ashland Inc., and Natural Petrochemicals Private Limited (NPPL) of Gujarat. 

Speaking on the occassion, Bharat Chhabria, country manager (India), Ashland Performance Materials, said, "This is a major step in keeping with our strong commitment to serve the growing Indian market with a local infrastructure and a broad portfolio of high-quality brands supported by our global organization. With local production, a strong team of local technical representatives, and a countrywide distribution network, we are well positioned to meet the needs of composites manufacturers not only in India, but also for customers throughout the region." 

Ashland India Private Limited is headquartered in Mumbai and focuses on Ashland’s performance materials businesses. Leadership of Ashland Performance Materials’ activities in India is managed through its European operations, with local business management in India. Ashland has a long history in India by participating in two Indian joint ventures: Chembond Ashland Water Technologies and Valvoline Cummins.Ashland Performance Materials is the global leader in unsaturated polyester resins and epoxy vinyl ester resins. In addition, it provides customers with leading technologies in gelcoats, pressure-sensitive and structural adhesives, and metal casting consumables and design services.

Expected to be launched soon, the Honda Jazz will carry a good amount of local content to start with. The most critical mechanical component of the car, the engine, will be made in India. While Jnaneswar Sen, Vice President (Marketing) of Honda Siel Cars India said that the 'Made for India' Jazz engine would provide the perfect balance between good fuel economy and performance, the engine was developed specially for the Indian market, and has been successfully launched in UK due to its excellent performance. 

Displacing 1198cc, the i-VTEC petrol unit features programmed fuel injection, which delivers a power output of 90PS @ 6,200 rpm and torque of 110 Nm (11.2 kg-m) @ 4800 rpm. Giving impressive fuel economy, the new engine is E10 compatible and has Euro IV emission levels. The i-VTEC regulates the opening of air-fuel intake valves and exhaust valves in accordance with engine speeds. 

By regulating valve opening to match engine speed, the agile i-VTEC engine adjusts its characteristics to realise both superior power and low fuel consumption. With i-VTEC engine technology, Honda is working to ensure environmental responsibility while delivering driving pleasure. Development work for this engine was done in Honda R&D centre in Tochigi Japan.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Continental have concluded an agreement on the co-operation in the fields of the development and production of commercial vehicle hybrid drives. To this end, ZF, as the systems supplier, is in charge of the system integration for the hybrid system; the latter is made up by a parallel hybrid transmission by ZF, a lithium-ion battery accumulator, and system electronics by Continental. Moreover, ZF is - in addition to pure hybrid technology, i.e. transmission, electric motor, and power electronics - responsible for system integration and controlling. 

"The parallel hybrid concept can be implemented in a particularly profitable manner thanks to the utilization of existing vehicle resources in the driveline!" explained Rolf Lutz, Group Executive of the Commercial Vehicle and Special Driveline Technology division, ZF Friedrichshafen AG. 

"With the latest generation of powerful Li-ion batteries, we create the very prerequisites for electrically assisted driving of hybrid buses and trucks." adds Jörg Grotendorst, head of the Business Unit Hybrid Electric Vehicles Continental Division Powertrain. Thus, it is in particular the sensitive inner city areas that, in the near future, can be relieved from pollutant and CO2 emissions.

With the Linea well received and the Grand Punto close to introduction, Fiat-Tata has taken steps towards further strengthening its presence in the Indian market. To create a lifelong experience with every customer and therefore the effort to create after sales service that matches international standards, Fiat-Tata joint dealerships now have a clear brand differentiation for Fiat with the ambience for the Fiat cars in sync with the international imagery. 

At the time of the Linea launch 70 sales and service dealer outlets were operative and within a span of four months the company has added another 9 such dealer outlets. Now the Linea is sold through a 79-strong Tata-Fiat sales and service dealer network with well trained sales and knowledgeable after sales staff. The current network is spread over 50 key cities across the country. The target is to achieve 100 such sales and service dealer outlets by June end. Within these dealership outlets spread across the country, over 550 dedicated trained sales and after sales personnel are available to address customer requirements. By end of June another 200 personnel will be added to further strengthen the response time to customers. 

Fiat has introduced new dealer identity to communicate its strong values and fresh approach. It will also bring a uniform, recognisable image throughout the network. The new dealer identity has been designed to merge together the two brands Fiat and Tata characteristics and values but making both brand images still recognizable.

Coimbatore. BMW India announced the opening of Kun Exclusive, Coimbatore a satellite facility of Kun Exclusive, Chennai, Dealership Partner for BMW India in Tamil Nadu. The facility is located on Aerodrome Road near NK Palayam, Ondipudur and is comprised of a fully equipped workshop and a sales outlet at the same location. The facility covers approximately 5000 sq ft of space that includes almost 500 sq ft of new car display area. 

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Owen Riley, Director After Sales, BMW India, said, “This facility, in partnership with Kun Exclusive, also initiates phase II of our expansion in India and is reflective of BMW’s efforts to connect with customers and prospects across the state to provide high quality services that are at par with international standards.” 

With the Coimbatore outlet, BMW India has now stepped into Phase 2 of its Dealer Network activities. It will further expand operations in 10 additional cities by end of 2010 which will include dealerships in Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana and satellite facility in Coimbatore.