Auto majors PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Proton have entered into an agreement to study possible co-operation between the two . The Letter of Intent was signed in Paris recently by PSA Peugeot Citroën CEO, Jean-Martin Folz, and Proton managing director, Syed Zainal Abidin Bin Syed Mohamed Tahir, in the presence of Thierry Peugeot, chairman of PSA Peugeot Citroën’s Supervisory Board, and by Proton chairman Dato’ Mohammed Azlan bin Hashim. 

The study will focus on a number of diverse areas such as product development, manufacturing, quality initiatives, vendor development, contract assembly and distribution. The areas being studied will focus on offering benefits to both parties in the ASEAN region and elsewhere. The study has a number of objectives with Proton’s goal being to leverage the technological expertise of a major global automobile manufacturer in areas such as product development and quality improvement while at the same time optimising the capacity utilisation of its plants.

Visteon Asia Pacific Inc., leading supplier of electronics, climate and interior automotive systems, has appointed Vish Viswanathan (A.Viswanathan) as managing director of Visteon India. Viswanathan will be responsible for day-to-day management of Visteon's wholly-owned plants in Chennai and Pune, and Visteon Technical and Services Center. He will also oversee Climate Systems India Ltd and report directly to Brian Tait, director, Asia Operations Support. 

Viswanathan has been a key member of Visteon's senior management team in India for almost 10 years. Having initially joined Visteon as general manager, finance in 1997, he went on to become general manager, business planning and then finance director in 2001. Prior to Visteon, he was finance manager of the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Group. Viswanathan graduated with a degree in commerce from the University of Mumbai and holds qualifications in finance, including chartered accountancy, cost accountancy and company secretary. He is also a Certificated Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).

German carmaker, Audi, introduced the Audi Q7 in India recently. The first sports utility vehicle, the Q7 is available to order and displays an ex-showroom price of Rs 61 lakhs for diesel and Rs 77.5 lakhs for the petrol version. The petrol version is powered by 8-cylinder 4.2-litre engine that produces 350bhp while the 6-cylinder diesel engine that produces 233bhp. Andre Konsbruck, executive director (overseas), Audi AG, said, “Indian auto market is very important for our growth strategy. Last year, we had 45 per cent growth in our overseas market which is mainly driven by the Chinese market”. Konsbruck is known to have added, “The 26.6 billion euro auto company is currently mulling opportunities of opening a local manufacturing unit soon because 'the Indian government penalises heavily the import of cars”. 

Forecasting production volume of more than 880 cars over the next year or two, Konsbruck is claimed to have said that he expects the Indian luxury car market to progress tremendously by 2007. Audi sold 105 cars in India in 2005. Stressing on the need to improve the brand image of Audi, Konsbruck is also known to have said that his company has three three exclusive dealership in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, currently, and plans to extend it to eight dealers in some of the country's major cities in the next two years. Rahil Ansari, country manager, India said that the company plans to sell more than 50 units this year. 

BMW announced the introduction of the new BMW Hydrogen 7 recently. World's first hydrogen-drive luxury performance car for everyday use, the Hydrogen 7 has undergone the regular product development process and will be built in a limited series and deployed to selected users in the US and other countries in 2007. It is equipped with an internal combustion engine capable of running either on hydrogen or on gasoline and based on the BMW 7 Series. 

Running in the hydrogen mode, the BMW Hydrogen 7 essentially emits nothing but vapour and unlike fossil fuels and traditional gasoline, hydrogen is available in virtually infinite supply. With the BMW Hydrogen 7, the BMW Group is laying down a marker for sustainable mobility. This car will play a pioneering role in driving forward hydrogen technologies. BMW has gained an excellent reputation for significantly reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by using ultra efficient, yet very dynamic gasoline engines. The BMW Hydrogen 7 is powered by a 260 hp twelve-cylinder engine and accelerates from 0-62.1 mph in 9.5 seconds. Top speed is limited electronically to 143 mph. The BMW Hydrogen 7 also features a dual-mode power unit - controlled at the touch of a button - that can switch quickly and conveniently from hydrogen to conventional premium gasoline.

Mahindra & Mahindra, a leader in the Indian automotive industry, announced its maiden entry into the 7.5 tonne commercial vehicle segment with the launch of the Tourister a 32 seat bus. The bus is a stylish, comfortable and economical offering from the Mahindra International Limited (MIL) and the latest variant of Mahindra’s popular Tourister range of commercial vehicles. 

The Tourister 32 has a powerful engine that comes equipped with turbocharger and intercooler technology, belting out 100 HP @3150 rpm at a maximum torque 285Nm @1600-1800 rpm. It offers maximum speed of 100km/hr, with better pickup and grade ability than its competitors. 

There are three variants to choose from -- 32 Seater, 28 Seater High Back and the 17 Seater Push Back – making it a very versatile people carrier. Passengers are assured of a more comfortable ride quality and safety as the Tourister 32 offers a bigger wheel base that ensures better stability, load distribution and longer tyre life. Some of the features include adjustable steering column, better gearshift, 100 L fuel tank, large rear view mirrors, superior insulation, ergonomic seating and neatly designed driver cabin.

SAE India, a professional engineering society, has come out with an event, which will enable Indian engineering students to design and build an off-road vehicle. Named Baja, the competition is modeled on a globally popular student competition initiated by SAE International (Society of Automobile Engineers). 

Dr. Pawan Goenka, president, SAE India & president- Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “The Baja competition which is to be held for the first time in India, endeavours to inculcate and harness talent to augment design and engineering skills of the Indian students.”

Each team will have to design and build a prototype of a rugged single seat, off-road recreational four-wheel vehicle intended for sale to the non-professional, weekend off-road enthusiast. SAE India will provide the required engine to the participating teams. The competition is open to any SAE student member team studying in undergraduate engineering college in India with age above 18 years and having a permanent driving license. The completion consists of a total of 1000 points spread across different static tests and dynamic tests such as mechanical design, engineering and sales presentation, acceleration, hill climbing, pulling event, maneuverability and finally 4 hours of endurance run.

Only 25 teams from various engineering colleges would be selected through a screening process. The team’s willing to participate should register before 31 December 2006. The official registration will open on website www.saeindia.org from 1 February 2007 and close on 1 March 2007.

CEAT, one of India's leading tyre manufacturing companies, has unveiled the Mile XL range of truck tyres. The Mile XL, according to the company, can be run for longer distances at higher speeds without a break, unlike normal tyres, which require regular breaks to cool down. 

Automobile manufacturers in India have announced plans to invest Rs 11,000 crore in the past nine months, according to the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Santosh Mohan Dev. He disclosed this information at the at the 2006 Annual Convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers that took place recently.

A draft Automotive Mission Plan (AMP), unveiled by the Minister, envisages a turnover target of $145 billion by 2016 for the industry and an annual growth rate of 15 per cent. This would double the share of the industry in the GDP to over 10 percent, creating 25 million new jobs, he added. 

Mr Dev said the automotive sector was one of the government’s thrust areas, and added that there was a two-pronged strategy for increasing exports and achieving global standards. The first was the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) project to create world-class testing and accreditation facilities. This Rs 1700-crore project will be in place by 2008.

The second, the minister said, was streamlining policy and building synergy between the government and industry. Government has had extensive dialogue with industry while preparing AMP 2016. It needs wider public debate so that it is complete, acceptable and inclusive. 

President, SIAM, and vice-chairman, Bajaj Auto, Madhur Bajaj, described the AMP as an important initiative in making India a global auto manufacturing hub. The AMP has identified interventions needed by the government and industry sustain double-digit growth and make India the destination of choice for design and manufacture of automobiles and components. 

Member, Development Council for Automobiles and Allied Industries, Anand Mahindra, said an investment of $35-40 billion would be needed in next 10 years to achieve the goals of AMP. Most of this would come from industry and was four times more than what has been invested in the last 16 years.

He said the auto industry should be considered as an infrastructure sector that would allow it to avail tax holidays, concessional finance and duty on plant equipment and one-stop clearance for FDI. The government needed to build last mile connectivity between ports and the five identified automotive manufacturing hubs in the country.
The industry needed additional measures to boost competitiveness, said Mr Mahindra. These included rationalizing taxes and a three-tier duty structure and setting up auto component parks and virtual SEZs. Changes were needed on the labour front as well by creating a Second National Labour Commission and a Supplementary Uemployment Benefit Fund. “The industry will build the corpus for this fund,” said Mr Mahindra.

Tyre major CEAT, as part of its Sri Lankan venture, has commissioned the country’s first radial tyre plant. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayae, along with Paras K Chowdhary, Managing Director, CEAT Ltd., India, inaugurated the plant, located at Kelaniya near Colombo. 

Set up with an initial capital of SLR 350 million, the plant will have an initial installed capacity of 26,000 tyres per month. Built alongside the existing plant in Kelaniya, it will produce T-rated steel-belted radial tyres with high durability polyester carcasses and unique tread patterns designed for Sri Lankan roads. CEAT will initially manufacture nine different sizes of steel belted radials for cars and vans, branded 'Formula 1 Steel' and 'Rhino', respectively including the popular 175/70 R13 & 185/70 R14 sizes for cars, & 185 R14 and 195 R15 sizes for vans. 

The features of the products, to be rolled out of the new plant, include a centre rib that provides improved steering and handling capabilities, while the parallel 'see through' channels aid water removal. Parabolic grooves in the tread pattern provide increased traction and better grip to prevent spinning and enhance braking.

CEAT Sri Lanka already has a market share in excess of 50 per cent in the segments in which it operates. It also plans to export light commercial vehicle (LCV) and passenger car radials from the plant to the Indian market, taking advantage of the FTA between India and Sri Lanka. 

Automotive major, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) has been assigned 'Governance & Value Creation Rating (GVC) Level - 1' rating by CRISIL for Corporate Governance Practices. This is the highest rating in the category. The rating indicates that “the capability of the firm with respect to wealth creation for all its stakeholders while adopting sound corporate governance practices is the highest.” 

Commenting on the announcement, Keshub Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, said "Mahindra & Mahindra has always believed in fair, transparent and responsible practices in dealing with all its Stakeholders which include Shareholders, Lenders, Customers, Suppliers, Employees and Society. The Company has been associated with good governance long before legislation and regulation was mandated for the same.”

Fiat has started shifting operations from Kurla to Ranjangaon. The new plant is located in an Industrial Development Zone, which provides various advantages in terms of utility services, infrastructure and logistics. 

Commenting on the development, Giovanni De Filippis, Managing Director, Fiat India Pvt. Ltd., said, “Our decision to shift production activity from Kurla to Ranjangaon is based on the objective of achieving cost efficiencies to the business by offsetting the locational disadvantages at Kurla. Mumbai has locational deterrents like octroi and high flooding during monsoons. We also see clear advantages of being in an industrial development zone like Ranjangaon. This will improve Fiat’s position to penetrate the market even more competitively.” 

Fiat’s development activities at the Ranjangaon plant has gained momentum in the areas of infrastructural facilities, utilities services and logistics. Recruitment to staff the plant has also commenced.