India

Wild Ass Rumor of the Day: Mahindra (and Mahindra) to Buy Hummer?

By Frank Williams
June 16, 2008 -

As Mark Phelan pointed out, GM would dearly love to unload the unloved HUMMER brand on some overseas sucker investor. The rumor mill is gristing the idea that India's Mahindra and Mahindra may scarf the tree hugger's least favorite vehicle of all time, ever. It seems only natural; the company's been building the AXE, a Humvee knockoff, for the Indian Army. Just-Auto cites an anonymous "senior official at M&M" who told them "Mahindra is very keen on acquiring the Hummer, because of many reasons, but I can't go into all of them but for one it is the most seen vehicle on TV in any country, these days at least the military version of it. It is still too early to talk of prices and timeframes but we are in the process of designing a civilian version of the Mahindra AXE and owning the vehicle it was modelled [sic] after would make a lot of sense." Not only that, HUMMER would give them a well-known premium brand to compete against rival Tata's recent Land Rover acquisition. Analysts think the HUMMER brand could put about $750m into GM's coffers. Or not.

Just-Auto »

Posted in Branding | High Finance | India | News Blog | Wild Ass Rumor of the Day | 18 comments

Jag, Landie Sale to Tata A Done Deal; New Boss Same as the Old Boss

By Frank Williams
June 2, 2008 -

It's officially official and completely complete. Ford has finalized the sale of Land Rover and Jaguar to Tata Motors. And boy are they not excited! In fact, the last sentence of the terse, four paragraph press release reads exactly like a rejection letter: "Ford Motor Company wishes the Jaguar Land Rover management team, its employees and the new owners every success for the future." Automotive News [sub] reveals that David Smith is the new boss of the two former Ford-owned rejects millstones automakers. "Smith is Jaguar and Land Rover's chief financial officer. He has been the company's acting CEO since the April 20 death of CEO Geoff Polites." So, steady as she goes? Yeah right. Anyone want to make any guesses on how long it'll be before we start seeing Tata's influence on the model lineup and the "Jaguar Land Rover management team?" Or they move production from Merrye Olde England to India? Meanwhile, Detroit's profit-drunk SUV party is now, officially over. 

Automotive News »

Posted in High Finance | India | Industry | News Blog | 7 comments

Tata Stock Tanks On Fears Of Overextension

By Edward Niedermeyer
May 29, 2008 -

Even before Tata Motors bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, the Indian automaker's investors were not well pleased at the prospect. A dropping share price reflected their central worry: $3b or so in debt. These worries are proving well founded. Tata has announced a $1.86b equity share offering. The stock offering amounts to a 30 to 35 percent increase in equity capital; investors are heading for the hills rather than watch their shares take the hit. "The magnitude of this offering is unexpected and could adversely affect short to medium-term stock performance," Citi analyst Jamshid Dadabhoy tells the Detroit News. Amit Agarwal of Kotak Securities tells Market Watch that servicing all the extra debt could cost Tata 19 to 22 percent of its earnings per share. Meanwhile, Jaguar and Land Rover need considerable investment to develop the products needed for profitability, and Tata has yet to build its much-vaunted Nano. Tough times.

The Detroit News »

Posted in High Finance | India | News Blog | 2 comments

American Axle Losing Interest In The “American” Part

By Edward Niedermeyer
May 20, 2008 -

With the nastiest auto biz strike of the year (so far) almost, not quite behind it, American Axle is looking away from its eponymous home country for future business. Automotive News (sub) reports that the axle supplier has already established itself in developing markets like Brazil, China, Mexico and Poland, and is looking to expand in Thailand and India. Thailand is the second largest pickup market after the U.S., and American Axle is looking to take over axle supply there for locally produced Chevy Colorado pickups. While company officials declined comment, GM is AA's biggest customer, and as AN points out, "the company does not build foreign plants without the promise of future business." With the Thai pickup market set to increase seven percent this year, and American truck and SUV sales already down 28 percent on the year, this has "inevitability" written all over it. In India, AA's first plant is just coming online, and there's already talk of a second. AAM Sona Axle Private Ltd, the joint venture with Sona Koyo is building a new corporate headquarters in Pune, India and there's talk of building a greenfield plant to supply Tata Motors. With at least two U.S. plants set to shut down in the wake of the the AA-UAW agreement, the American Axle name is beginning to develop a bitterly ironic ring. Is a generic supplier name-change (Visteon, Delphi, etc) in the offing?

Automotive News [sub] »

Posted in China | India | Industry | News Blog | Suppliers | 8 comments

Tata Enters The Auto X-Prize

By Edward Niedermeyer
May 16, 2008 -

Tata Motors has become the first major automaker to enter the 70-team field competing for the Automotive X-Prize. Having recently announced the development of the world's cheapest car and the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover, taking on a bunch of guys who would probably be happier at the 24 hours of LeMons the uncanny X-Prize is probably just another day's work for Ratan Tata's lads. Of course, credit where credit's due: Tata is not signing up to lap Altamount in a Big Lebowski-themed Grand Torino. According to the requisite press release, Tata will be fielding an EV for the two-passenger, 200-mile range "Alternative" class, and a "Dominant" (serial?) Electric Hybrid in the four-wheel, four-passenger, 200-mile range "Mainstream" class. To win either category, Tata's entries must achieve a minimum 100 mpg, finish the race in first place, and meet numerous other requirements. Sure, as the only major automaker (thus far) to enter the competition, Tata may have a technological leg up on some of its rag-tag competitors. But, as the only team competing with a "win on Sunday, sell on Monday"  strategy, Tata also has the most to lose.  

The Automotive X-Prize »

Posted in Electric Vehicles | India | News Blog | Technology | one comment

Renault/Nissan/Bajaj to Build Nano-Fighter

By Edward Niedermeyer
May 12, 2008 -

The Detroit News, internationalists that they are, report that Renault/Nissan is entering into a joint venture with India's Bajaj motors to take on the ultra-cheap Tata Nano (a.k.a. the one lahk car). Bajaj will own fifty percent of the joint venture, with Renault and Nissan splitting the rest. Together, they'll build a new factory in Chakan, India, Starting in 2011, the facility should eventually bang-out some 400k entry-level rides per year, heading for both the Indian and Chinese new car markets. No details are available about the powertrain or standard equipment (wheels? side mirrors? doors?). Whether this sudden craze for inexpensive mass market motors becomes a cash cow or a money pit remains to be seen; the challenge represents one of Nissan/Renault's most ambitious international projects. Still, Renault found plenty of karma with their first forray at the bottom of the market with the [formerly Dacia] Logan. The Indian version, built with Mahindra and Mahindra was a big hit for all concerned. The Iranians also build a version, but that's a story for another day.

Detroit News »

Posted in Future Vehicles | India | News Blog | 12 comments

Man the Lifeboats! GM’s Going All-Out Overseas

By Frank Williams
May 1, 2008 -

In the quarterly conference call to offer excuses discuss the latest financial report– the one where GM lost $3.5b in Q1– CFO Ray Young reassured someone that GM has no plans to kill any of their eight North American brands in North America. Advertising Age [sub] reports he's standing behind the recent reorganization that divvied-up the brands amongst four marketing chiefs. Young called it it "the right way to go." However, the CFO termed their North American operation's losses last quarter as "unacceptable." (Yeah! Someone should be fired! Oh wait…) GM's North American market share is now down to 21.7 percent, compared to 22.5 percent a year ago. In the global market, The General's share dropped 0.5 percent to 12.5 percent. Without North America's numbers, their share went up 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent. So, instead of addressing the problems at GMNA, the General will "beef up" its overseas activities and put "our foot on the accelerator… and jam it through to the floor" in emerging markets like Russia and India. They'll probably succeed, too. After all, it's a lot easier to peddle utility grade beef to someone who's starving than to discerning diners in the restaurant district.

Advertising Age [sub] »

Posted in India | Industry | Media | News Blog | Overseas | 14 comments

Tata and Pininfarina Sitting in a Tree

By Edward Niedermeyer
April 28, 2008 -

The Times of London reports that Indian automaker (and Jaguar and Land Rover's new Daddy) Tata Motors will develop an Indian design and manufacturing center in Pune with iconic Italian design house Pininfarina. Tata will also "participate" in Pinin's $100m capital increase (a.k.a. bailout) this summer. The Times notes that Pininfarina's controlling family could be about to unload as much as 55 percent of the Italian firm's stock, opening the possibility of a complete Tata takeover. With ties already close between Tata and Fiat, a joint ownership scenario is also possible. In case you haven't guessed where all this is headed, Tata has set aside $1b for the development of new Jaguar models. Tata and Pinin are already hashing-out the next gen Jags, with an F-Type roadster rumored to lead the way.

Times Online »

Posted in India | News Blog | 3 comments

IT Firm Satyam Developing Mood-Sensing Car Stereo

By Edward Niedermeyer
April 23, 2008 -

In yet another technological answer to a question nobody is asking, Indian IT firm Satyam is developing an in-car entertainment/connectivity platform which will choose your music for you based on a proprietary "mood sensing" technology. The development is part of Satyam's "dot auto" initiative, which combines GPS navigation with internet access, video conferencing, social networking, electronic money transfer as well as other applications which have no business in an automobile. The wildest promise by far of the hardware-software development is the "mood-sensing" stereo, which will respond to the number of passengers and the destination input into the navigation system. Satyam R&D chief Venkatesh Chandrasekaran says that, for example, "the system would detect if a driver had passengers and was heading downtown, and perhaps cue up some party music. On the other hand, if the driver is on his own, the system will not cue up 'sad, moody music.'" Because who wants to drive by themselves while listening to "Everybody Hurts?" Chandrasekaran expects the system to be market-ready in 16 months, and the company is already talking with potential customers in the auto and broadband fields. We look forward to hearing our stereo sing "A Bicycle Built For Two" in a pathetically diminishing voice as we pull out its memory chips out sometime in the next few years.

The Register »

Posted in Gizmology | India | News Blog | 2 comments

How Do You Say “The Indians are coming” in French?

By Martin Schwoerer
April 23, 2008 -

Yesterday the Indian auto parts maker Argentum Motors said it intends to gain a majority interest in the sickly French auto body maker Heuliez. They're in discussions to release Heuliez from the French equivalent of Chapter 11. In operation since 1920, Heuliez has built some respectable cars including the current Opel Tigra, the Peugeot 206CC, the Citroen XM station wagon, and the Peugeot 407 Macarena and Dacia Logan Edelweiss concepts. Argentum's acquisition illustrates the contrasting strategies between Indian and Chinese automotive companies. The Chinese prefer organic growth, and would rather develop/steal their own car-making knowledge. Indians companies, staffed as they are with cosmopolitan managers, seem to be more intent on expansion through buying foreign companies.

Automobilewoche (German language site) »

Posted in India | Industry | News Blog | 9 comments