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Showing posts from February, 2019

Chinese automaker SAIC may invest $350m in India through its subsidiary MG Motors

China’s largest automaker SAIC Motor Corporation, which is set to enter the Indian market next quarter with the Morris Garages brand, is considering an additional investment of $350 million in setting up a 2nd manufacturing unit. MG Motor has acquired General Motor’s plant in Halol at an investment of Rs.2200 cr to develop C-segment sports utility vehicle(SUV) for its debut in India and plans to launch 4 vehicles over next 2 years. The Halol plant has a capacity to produce 80,000 vehicles of larger make and for subsequent launches it needs additional manufacturing unit. The company would launch SUV Hector, which will take on the likes of Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tuscon. This will be followed by EV model eZS towards the end of 2019 and by 2020 further 2 more new models would be launched. The company has appointed about 50 dealer principals and plans to start operations with 100 sales and service touch points across India. #autojobs4u #SAIC #MGMotors #India #Automobileindustry #Au

Union Cabinet likely to clear Rs 10,000 crore FAME II scheme

T oday the 28th Feb it is expected that Union Cabinet will clear Rs.10,000-crore programme under the FAME-II scheme for promotion of electric and hybrid vehicles, according to official sources. The programme would be for 3 years and would provide subsidies on electric busses, passenger cars to be used by taxi aggregators, three-wheelers and two-wheelers but will exclude private car users. Under the FAME-II, 7,000 electric buses of prices up to Rs 50 lakh or 40 per cent of cost, but only on the basis of operational expenditure (opex) and not capital expenditure (capex) model, will get subsidy. The FAME-II will also provide subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 for 5 lakh electric three-wheelers and 35,000 strong hybrid and electric passenger cars which are to be used by taxi aggregators. About 10 lakh electric 2-wheelers will also get subsidy under FAME-II. The scheme will offer incentives, such as exemption from paying road tax, registration fee, parking charges and cost of setting up of cha

Bengaluru govt plans to make 50% of govt vehicles electric by 2019

The aim is to replace 50% of petrol and diesel vehicles used by the state government staff in Bengaluru to eco-friendly electric vehicles (EV) by 2019 as per state minister for large and medium scale industries. As a part of the implementation strategy the Bengaluru urban development department will also amend the building bylaws to mandate 10-20% parking space for EV charging points along with preferential parking for EVs and adequate signage in the city to guide electric vehicle owners to the nearest e-charging slots. To counter Chinese domination in electric mobility in e-bus sector, home grown govt undertaking BHEL has unveiled a prototype of electric bus with a seating capacity of 43 and single charge run of 150 km and a maximum speed of 75 kmph. It will also have wifi, cctv cameras and LED display board along with GPS. #autojobs4u #Bengaluru #Electricvehicles #Governmentvehicles #Automobileindustry #Automotiveupdates hashtag

FCA India recalls 11,002 Jeep Compass units to update engine software

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India on Monday has called for a recall of 11,002 units of its SUV Jeep Compass for updating powertrain control module (PCM) software to rectify variations that may cause non-compliance with emission norms. The recall will begin in the first week of March-19. The recall is applicable only for its 2-wheel drive version of the model equipped with the 2 litre diesel engine manufactured between 18.02.2017 and 30.11.2018. The recall action is to correct production variations that may cause certain vehicles to exceed the regulatory threshold for particulate matter emissions. To implement this drive, FCA India and their authorised dealers will directly contact affected customers, and confirm appointments at authorised workshops, as well as upgrading vehicles in stock. The software refresh would takes around 15 minutes and will be carried out at no cost to customers. The company has stated that it is not a safety recall and the vehicle as well as its occupa

India's future mobility to be complemented by hydrogen-powered Fuel Cell EVs

The battery electric vehicles (BEV) technology is currently the preferred choice however, supply-side constraints might prove an obstacle in BEV becoming the only technology for electric mobility as India produces close to 4 million passenger cars and roughly about 30 million mobility products. The cell manufacturing itself is concentrated outside India as it does not have reserves of some of the most important raw material such as lithium, cobalt and nickel which are required for battery manufacturing. India will have to continue to be dependent on imports which could compromise economic mandates and constrain the adoption of BEVs and this is where the hydrogen-powered fuel cell EVs (FCEV) could become a complementing technology in the second phase of electrification in India FCEV uses hydrogen gas to power an electric motor. For larger vehicles, India might swerve towards FCEVs, partly perforce due to supply constraints of lithium-ion and partly driven by economic and market for

Honda Civic makes a come-back in Indian Market

One of best product from stable of Honda which was discontinued years back is all set to make its comeback in India with new looks, style and performance. Honda has recently announced to close it plant in Swindon (its only car factory in European Union) by 2021 where it builds 1,60,000 Honda Civic a year. At its Greater Noida plant in India, the company has commenced the production of the 10th generation of the Civic and is all set to launch it on Mar 7, 2019. The big addition is that the new Civic comes with a diesel heart and is far more superior over its predecessors on performance and tech wizardry. The pre-launch bookings in 3 weeks has already exceeded company’s expectations and Honda expects to capitalise on the outstanding pre-launch response. #autojobs4u #Honda #IndianMarket #automobileindustry #Automotiveupdates

Piaggio to launch fully electric 3-wheeler in India by mid-2019

Piaggio Vehicles, which is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Italy's Piaggio Group aims to launch a fully electric 3-wheeler in India by the middle of this year. The3-wheeler will be developed in house with some components coming from outside suppliers like the company will be importing lithium-ion battery cells but other components like engine and battery management system would be fully localised. Along with the aim of driving electric mobility the company is also ready with a fuel application mechanism for its product portfolio for transition to BSVI norms. The company has already introduced a water-cooled CNGPG application in mid of last year in all its 3-wheelers offering it advantage for preparedness towards BS VI homologation. #autojobs4u #piaggio #Electricvehicle #Automobileindustry #Automotiveupdates #India

Indian EV shift needs rapid infrastructure push

The electric mobility is gaining traction and for India it opens up new mobility avenues to tap into. It is predicted that by 2030, EVs will constitute a third of all new automobile sales but for this to happen the country need to strengthen its EV charging infrastructure in order to integrate and boost the domestic electric mobility ecosystem. Currently, EVs represent a magnitude of growth never seen before and India is all set to position itself as a leader of the EV marketplace. The current outlook in energy and mobility sectors has recently seen the evolution of several trends that will come to define the direction of their growth for the foreseeable future. There is big scope for charging stations using renewable source of energy. EVs still suffer from a lack of charging points at adequate and strategic locations, thus hampering the potential for its widespread utilization and are the 2nd biggest reason after price for not buying EVs. India needs the transition from a centra

Tata Motors on a lookout for partnerships for its electric mobility business

Tata Motors which had bagged a tender from Energy Efficient Services (EESL) for the supply of 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs), has been working collaboratively on various electric and hybrid vehicle solutions in the commercial vehicle segment along with a dedicated EV platform for passengers vehicles. In order to boost its electric mobility business, Tata motors is exploring good partnership and business models to deliver on electric mobility. The intent is go beyond developing and selling electric vehicles and create an eco-system solutions with the help of its partners. The company is in discussion with Tata Power for charging infrastructure while for components localisation Tata Autocomp Systems and Tata Chemicals have been approached. Tata Reality and Infrastructure is being looked for operations platform and TCS for software and apps. #autojobs4u #Tatamotors #Electricmobility #automobileindustry #automotiveupdates

E-scooter rental services launched at 4 Chennai metro stations

Vogo Automotive Limited, a scooter rental company, has launched its services in the Chennai city in partnership with Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) under which an electronic chipset enabled electric scooter will be available at 4 metro stations here for commuters to ride to neighbourhoods. The 4 metro stations where the E-scooters will be available are Guindy, Alandur, Vadapalani and Anna Nagar Tower on a trial basis. The cost of ride would be Rs.1.20 per minute. To make the entire experience user friendly company has provided Vogo app which can be downloaded from apps stores. The user has to attaché their driving license photo and key in a one time password(OTP) they receive on their registered smartphone to a key box attached to the vehicle to start the ride. To start with the rental services will be available from 6am to 10pm. It will be later extended to other metro stations. #autojobs4u #E-scooter #Chennai #Metrostation #Automotiveindustry #Automotiveupdates

EVI Technologies plans to set up 20,000 charging stations across India

The Electric vehicle charging infrastructure provider EVI Technologies plans to invest around Rs 100 crore in the next 1.5 years to set up 20,000 charging stations (both home and public) across India. EVI Technologies was incubated at the Electropreneur Park funded by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, has also tied up with BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd to set up around 3,000 EV charging stations in Delhi. EVI Technologies started its operations in Jun-2017 and offers its charging stations on lease for private users. It has presence in 16 different locations in 10 Indian states. It has got orders of 50 charging stations from EESL in Dec-2017 which is being currently installed in complexes of several ministries. While EVI will invest to set up those stations that will be leased out, BSES will provide charging connections with tariff set at Rs 5 per unit for stations in the Capital. #autojobs4u #ElectricVehicles #Technologies #ChargingStations #India #automotiveupd

EVs to get Rs.50,000 rebate

The Indian govt is planning to incentivise purchase of electric vehicle by bringing them into the ambit of priority sector lending and lowering of interest rates on loans to make purchase of EVs affordable which would result in rebate of Rs.50,000. As per SIAM high cost (2 to 2.5 times of conventional vehicles) is the biggest factor for slow penetration of EVs. The other bigger challenge is range per charge (EVs have 1/4 that of a conventional vehicle). In FY18, 56000 EVs were sold which was up from 2500 in FY17. Out of this electric 2-wheelers dominated with 54,800 units, up from 23000 units in FY17. Area of concern is electric four wheelers which witnessed a drop from 2000 units at FY17 to 1200 units in FY18. The govt of India is aiming at taking share of EVs to 15% in next 5 years from the current share which is negligible. The major challenge in EV adoption is the charging infrastructure facilities and to address that govt has already issued notifications to facilitate domesti

Volvo plans to lead EV push in India

Ahead of its German rivals, Volvo plans to bring its electrified vehicle portfolio in India luxury car market to take a lead in EV segment. It has already finished plans to locally assemble plug-in hybrid vehicles and is now considering local assembly of electric vehicles in India. The company is would be launching its first plug-in hybrid vehicle assembled locally in India later this year and plans to build a portfolio of half- a-dozen plug-in hybrids and battery-operated electric vehicles in India by 2021 The move has been aided by the GOI decision last month to reduce customs duty on import of components for electric vehicles from a range of 15-30% to 10-15%. In 2018, Volvo had set up a facility near Bengaluru to assemble its vehicles locally in order to compete aggressively in the highly competitive 40,000-unit luxury car market. This move of Local assembly has already helped Volvo, whose three locally assembled models account for 50% of their sales. #autojobs4u #automobilej

The Perfect Match – Find A Job You Love This Valentine’s Day

Roses, bouquets, chocolates are among the favorites  gifts for many of us on Valentine’s Day. Finding the perfect match is an ultimate bliss whether it is your life partner or your career. Searching for the perfect job is like searching for your perfect life partner. To be successful in this search you must be specific and honest about what would suit you the best but at the same time it is important that you have a pro-active approach. You can’t be complacent and wait for the right opportunity to come to you on your own but instead you should be willing to reach out to the right platform to make things happen. It all starts with setting clear objectives of what you want and what you are willing to forego. Most of us have bare minimum items on our wish list of what our ideal partner would be like and the same applies to when scouting for our dream job. #autojobs4u #Valentinesday #Perfectmatch #Dreamjob 

Electric Vehicles share to be 15% of total vehicles in India in next 5 years

The PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) has approved at least 12 measures proposed by a committee of secretaries to help achieve 15% share of EVs in total vehicle sales in next 5 years. However the govt has not formulated a separate comprehensive policy on electric mobility as was being discussed earlier. The objectives of these clearances is to hasten rollout of respective decisions by ministries to provide incentives to manufacturers, buyers as well as electric mobility infrastructure creators. In this regard on 29th Jan-19 the department of revenue had calibrated basic custom duty and GST rates on EVs to make them competitive in domestic and global markets, as well as lowered duties on raw material imported for manufacturing components. The power ministry has issued guidelines for facilitating setting up of charging stations across cities and highways, while the housing and urban affairs ministry has notified an amendment to building code and town planning rules for provisioning of EV ch

Gulf Oil enters into partnership with Mahindra Logistics to strengthen its supply chain

In order to achieve efficiencies in total cost the automobile lubricants maker Gulf Oil has announced that it is getting into partnership with Mahindra Logistics Ltd (MIL) to strengthen it supply chain. In today’s world of business logistics is a key service differentiator for efficient and on-time delivery, in a cost-effective manner to end users. An efficient logistics management ensures a robust yet compact distribution system, which will give operational advantage to companies to meet their customer demand in totality. It also helps in saving cost on warehousing , inventory management, free up the working capital and save on freight cost. A Central Distribution Centre (CDC) has been set up in Chennai with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) to serve the entire product portfolio of Gulf Oil. MLL is the first 3PL company to work with Gulf Oil and will handle this fully compliant warehouse, the first CDC of its kind for them. Gulf Oil has plans to open similar large format warehouses

Fast charging e-vehicles stations in Delhi by next month

The Indian Govt is setting up infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs) in some busy areas of the Capital where cars can be recharged for as low as Rs 30 for a 15-minute top-up. The unavailability of public charging stations is the main reason for range anxiety among users leading to questioning of EV feasibility and with such fast charging setup the same would be addressed. A 15-minutes charge will allow a range of 22 km while it will take 90 minutes to fully charge a vehicle. State-run EESL(Energy Efficiency Services) plans to set up 84 in NDMC area. Users will be able to charge with a mobile app, ElectriFi, and even book a time slot. In the initial phase, charging stations with 15 KW chargers will be equipped with Bharat DC-001, the standard compatible with EV models of Tata and Mahindra, while there will be space and interconnection facility available to accommodate European CCS and Japan’s CHAdeMO in each station. The 15-KW chargers will also be compatible with ele

Automakers recalling vehicles to replace faulty air bags

Takata Corp. of Japan is under fire for manufacturing potentially deadly air bag inflators resulting in massive vehicle recalls for replacement from all major automakers. Takata used the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate the air bags. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high humidity and cycles from hot temperatures to cold. In the latest round, Subaru is recalling 826,144 vehicles, including various Forester, Legacy and Outback models from 2010 to 2014. Mercedes is recalling 288,779 vehicles from model years 2010 to 2017. Volkswagen is recalling 119,394 vehicles, including Audi and Passat models from 2015 to 2017. BMW is recalling 266,044 vehicles from 2000 to 2004 model years and the 2007 to 2015 model years. Tesla is recalling 68,763 Model S vehicles from 2014 to 2016 and Ferrari is recalling 11,176 vehicles of various models ranging from 2014 to 2018 model years. Ford, Honda, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler already released their 2019 Takata

Tata Motors reports Rs.26,961 cr loss in Q3

As a one-time exceptional non-cash charges for asset impairment of 3.1 bn pounds at JLR, has led to Rs.26,961 cr loss in Q3 to Tata Motors. Consolidated revenue for Q3 rose 5% YoY to Rs.77,001 cr. The auto firm had posted a profit of Rs 1,214.60 cr in the year-ago period. Jaguar Land Rover performance has been impacted by challenging market conditions particularly in China and inventory corrections. As per JLR’s Jan announcement, it plans to achieve £2.5 billion of investment, working capital and profit improvements by March 2020 and has suggested reduction of its global workforce by 4,500 people. These decisive actions are aimed at making business “Fit for Future” by stepping up competitiveness, reducing costs and improving cash flows. Under its “Charge and Accelerate” transformation programme the auto major plans to create an efficient and resilient business, enabling JLR to counter the multiple economic, geopolitical, technolo gical and regulatory headwinds presently impacting

ITES policy to introduce intelligent transport system in the country

In the wake of increasing road accidents, the NITI Aayog is working on introducing ITES enabled intelligent transport system in the country. India is fastest growing automobile market with a spurt in passenger traffic which needs big ideas to tackle the issues like road safety. In the last 3 years, conscious efforts in streamlining road safety have brought down the rate of road accidents and related issues by more than 5% but it is not enough. The country needs a massive data collection drive to maintain registry of people to regulate driving practices. Various initiatives towards safe transportation are underway where the idea is to have seamless, connected, shared, digitalised and zero-emission free mobility. These various initiatives would be introduced in a very India unique feature that would be implemented in all the cars by July 2019. #autojobs4u #automobilejobs #ITES #NITIAayog

Renault India's MD Sumit Sawhney to move global role

As per reliable sources, starting 1st March, Sumit Sawhney the current Renault’s India MD would be heading global operations for the French carmaker. Sawhney has been the longest serving MD of a leading MNC in India and has completed his 6 years as head of Indian operations during which he made Renault’s the highest selling European brand in India led by the success of Kwid. He played a key role in making Kwid a success, paving way for the company to make a comeback amidst tough challenge from the Maruti and Hyundai in compact car segment. Venkatram Mamillapalle, heading purchase function in Russia for the Avtovaz-Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance would be taking over from Sawhney. #autojobs4u #automotivejobs #RenaultIndia

76% of Employers in India plan to increase or maintain their headcount

76% of Employers in India plan to increase or maintain their headcount In spite of increasing adoption of automation, 76% Indian employers plan to increase head count, while the global figure stands at 87 per cent as per a report by manpower group. Total 19,000 employers in 44 countries were surveyed for impact of automation on job growth in next 2 years. The general outcome is that the companies that are digitising are growing, and that growth is producing more and new kinds of jobs. Organisations that are already automating tasks and progressing their digital transformation are most confident of increasing headcount. The report further noted that the global talent shortages are at 12-year high and new skills are appearing as fast as others disappear. The net impact is that up-skilling is on the rise and 84% of companies plan to up-skill their workforce by 2020, up from just 21% in 2011. #autojobs4u #automotive #employers

Passenger Vehicle Performance - Jan’19 Vs Jan’18

Passenger Vehicle Performance - Jan’19 Vs Jan’18 OEM JAN'19 JAN'18 %growth M aruti Suzuki 1,39,440 1,39,189 0.20% Hyundai 45,803 45,508 1% M&M 22,399 22,360 0% Honda 18,261 14,838 23% Tata 17,404 20,055 -13% Ford 7,700 9,450 -19% Toyota 11,221 12,351 -9% Renault 5,825 6,919 -16% Jeep 1,267 2,106 -40% Nissan 3,146 4,208 -25% Volkswagen 2,803 3,401 -18% FIAT 60 45 33% Skoda   1,232 1,270 -3% FCA 1,327 2,151 -38% #autojobs4u #automobilejo