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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Geely’s Polestar Plans China Showroom Expansion To Compete With Tesla

    Geely’s Polestar Plans China Showroom Expansion To Compete With Tesla

    Polestar, the premium electric vehicle maker owned by China’s Geely, plans a big expansion of its showroom network in the mainland, sources said, as it prepares for delivery of cars to compete with Tesla Inc’s locally made Model 3.

    Showroom strength is becoming an important differentiator for electric vehicle (EV) makers in the world’s biggest auto and EV market, as they line up new model launches.

    Polestar, which plans to deliver Polestar 2 electric sedans in China from July, currently has one showroom, in the capital of Beijing. It plans to have 20 showrooms, with most of the opening in the third quarter of this year.

    Polestar plans to deliver Polestar 2 electric sedans in China from July 2020

    Unlike sales of cars through dealers that most traditional automakers rely on, Polestar will sell directly to customers, a strategy also pursued by other EV makers including Tesla, Nio Inc, and Xpeng Motors, backed by Alibaba.

    Direct sales to customers can help automakers to better manage a car’s retail price and its production and inventory. However, it also adds to costs if automakers need to invest in self-owned showrooms like Tesla.

    Polestar, however, will partner with investors to build and operate the showrooms while still managing sales and delivery of cars, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the plan is not public.

    A rocket ship designed and built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX has lifted off with two Americans on a history-making flight to the International Space Station.

    A Polestar representative declined to comment.

    The automaker, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, started producing Polestar 2 sedans earlier this year in China and will also export them to Europe and the United States.

    It will open showrooms firstly in Shanghai and then expand to coastal Ningbo, northern Tianjin and southern Guangzhou. The showrooms will be mostly in shopping malls.

    In China, Tesla has over 50 showrooms. Nio currently operates around 110 showrooms, with some of the properties belonging to partners. Xpeng plans to have over 200 outlets by the end of the year from about 150 now, many of them belonging to partners.

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  • Volkswagen Group Announces Personnel Changes In Technical Development and Product Line Organisation

    Volkswagen Group Announces Personnel Changes In Technical Development and Product Line Organisation

    The Volkswagen Group has announced personnel changes in technical development and product line organization. Dr. Matthias Rabe has been named Member of the Board for Engineering at Bentley effective August 1, 2020. He succeeds Werner Tietz, who moves to SEAT as Executive Vice-President for Research and Development as of July 1. Dr. Matthias Rabe joined the Volkswagen Group in 1988 after completing his studies in mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen. Having held several senior management posts, he moved to Shanghai Volkswagen as Head of Chassis and Electrical Development in 1992. He took over as Head of Group Research at Volkswagen AG in 2003.

    He then assumed responsibility for Body Development at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand from 2007 to 2011. In January 2011, he moved to SEAT in Martorell as Executive Vice-President for Research and Development. Matthias Rabe is currently Chief Technology Officer of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in Wolfsburg.

    Axel Andorff will take over from Tietz, who assumes responsibility for the midsize and MEB Product Line at Skoda. He takes over from Matthias Glodny, who becomes Head of the Modular Toolkits, Drivetrains and Modules Product Line at Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand.

    Axel Andorff holds a degree in industrial engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group a year ago. He began his professional career as a trainee at DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart in 2000. In 2001, he became assistant to the Purchasing Director at Mercedes-Benz Cars and was placed in charge of the series purchasing interior at Mercedes-Benz in 2004. Three years later, Axel Andorff was given responsibility for setting up and heading purchasing at Daimler Greater China in Beijing. He moved to Stuttgart to head project management for Mercedes-Benz New Compact Cars in 2009. In 2013, he became Head of Product Concepts and Planning Mercedes-Benz Compact Cars and Electric Vehicle Architecture. He was appointed Executive Vice-President for Research and Development at SEAT in Martorell in 2019.

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  • Renault Poised To Announce 15,000 Layoffs Worldwide

    Renault Poised To Announce 15,000 Layoffs Worldwide

    French carmaker Renault is poised to announce 15,000 layoffs worldwide on Friday as it unveils a plan to boost its profitability and cope with faltering sales, a representative for the CFDT union said after meeting with the company.

    Some 4,500 jobs would go in France, though largely through a voluntary departure plan and a retirement scheme, the CFDT’s Franck Daout told Reuters on Thursday.

    The overall cuts would affect just under 10% of Renault’s 180,000 global workforces. The firm has around 48,500 staff in France.

    “They’ve insisted on the fact everything will be negotiated,” Daout said, adding that unions and state bodies would be involved in talks over potential job losses in France.

    Renault declined to comment. The carmaker’s board signed off on the plans to launch its cost-savings program on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said.

    Renault and Nissan have set out plans to revive their alliance as they battle a global slump in sales.

    The French group, which is 15% owned by the government, had earlier this year flagged a looming “no taboo” plan to cut 2 billion in costs after posting its first loss in a decade last year.

    That raised concern for some of its factories, including in France, although closures could be politically sensitive.

    The French government has already said it will not sign off on a planned 5 billion euro state loan for Renault – an aid measure linked to the coronavirus pandemic – until management and unions conclude talks over the carmaker’s French workforce and plants in France.

    Renault’s plans to invest in and extend operations in Morocco and Romania are likely to be frozen

    The coronavirus crisis has compounded the company’s problems, accentuating a slump in demand that was already hurting sales.

    Renault’s plans to invest in and extend operations in Morocco and Romania are likely to be frozen, Les Echos newspaper reported on Thursday, while its worldwide production capacity could be cut by 4 million vehicles to 3.3 million.

    The restructuring follows a retrenchment by Japanese partner Nissan, which is closing some plants and planning to become smaller and more efficient.

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  • Nissan To Set Out Survival Plan After Expected Annual Loss

    Nissan To Set Out Survival Plan After Expected Annual Loss

    Nissan Motor will unveil its plan to become a smaller, more cost-efficient automaker on Thursday as it looks to recover from four years of tumbling profits which are set to culminate in its first annual operating loss in 11 years.

    The Japanese carmaker’s second recovery plan in less than a year will outline how it will slash fixed costs, streamline its products and shore up cash as it reels from a plunge in sales as the coronavirus pandemic hits demand for cars.

    Nissan said in April that it expected to post an annual operating loss of up to 45 billion yen (340.3 million pounds) when it announces its results for the year to March 31 at 0800GMT on Thursday, which would be its worst performance since 2008/09.

    The automaker sold 4.8 million vehicles in its latest financial year, the second decline in a row, and a fall of 13% from last year, knocking it off its perch as Japan’s second-biggest automaker to trail Toyota and Honda.

    Renault makes u-turn on Ghosn’s volume-inspired production model

    At a remote press conference, Renault CEO and of the alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, Jean-Dominique Senard, announces that the automobile group’s new strategy will focus “on efficiency and competitiveness rather than volume”.

    The plan will follow a new strategy announced by Nissan and its partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp on Wednesday to work more closely on developing and producing cars to reduce costs and ensure the group’s survival.

    Even before the spread of the coronavirus, Nissan’s sales and profits had been slumping, forcing it to row back on an aggressive expansion plan pursued by ousted leader Carlos Ghosn.

    The pandemic has only piled on the urgency and pressure to renew its efforts to downsize.

    Nissan’s operating profit has tumbled for four consecutive years as its pursuit of market share, particularly in the United States, led to overcapacity at its car plants, steep discounting and a cheapened brand.

    The three-year strategy will lay out a path to sustainable profitability and is the vision of Chief Executive Makoto Uchida and Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta, who took over after months of internal turmoil following Ghosn’s arrest in 2018.

    Under the plan, Nissan will curb its ambitions for sales growth to target annual sales of about 5 million units, Reuters reported in April, a cut from a previous goal of 6 million cars outlined in July by then-CEO Hiroto Saikawa.

    Another top priority will be the preservation of cash. As of December, Nissan’s automotive operations had a negative free cash flow of 670.9 billion yen, a more than six-fold increase from a year ago.

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  • Royal Enfield To Launch New Motorcycle Every Quarter

    Royal Enfield To Launch New Motorcycle Every Quarter

    Royal Enfield is going on the product offensive with a string of new products planned for the next three to four years, the company’s CEO Vinod Dasari revealed in online interaction in Freewheeling with SVP. According to Dasari, Royal Enfield’s product development team has been hard at work over the last few years to significantly accelerate Royal Enfield’s product plan. With new platforms, and models and variants under each platform, Royal Enfield intends to launch a new motorcycle every quarter for the next 3-4 years, Dasari revealed.

    The Royal Enfield Meteor 350 will employ the new 350 cc platform, with a new engine and new double-cradle frame

    “One of the things that we’ve done over the last 3-4 years is to significantly accelerate new product plans. We will remain a mid-sized company, that’s somewhere between 250 and 750 cc. In this range, there are five levels that we’re looking at. The first is a platform. We have a new platform coming up. We would have launched it by now, we will launch it some time, as soon as the lockdown is over. So we have the platforms, and under the platforms, we have the models, within each model we have variants, within each variant we have several color trims and graphics, and then we have the limited editions.

    “So five levels, we’re so excited that, to a point, every quarter, for the next three to four years, every quarter, we have a new model. It’s not just changing the colors or something, it will be almost a new model, or a variant, coming for the next three to four years,” Dasari said.

    The Royal Enfield Hunter is expected to be the second new model based on the same 350 cc platform

    Royal Enfield is already getting ready to launch an all-new 350 cc platform, which will debut in June 2020 with the new Royal Enfield Meteor 350. The new platform will employ a new 350 cc engine with significant performance and refinement than the existing UCE 350 engine, Dasari said, adding that the new platform will be a modular infrastructure, with the same engine, same gearbox and same frame, but will support several new models and variants.

    The new 350 cc engine is likely to replace Royal Enfield’s traditional pushrod architecture with overhead cams, and also use counterbalancers. While the CEO of Royal Enfield did not disclose any technical details about the new engine, we have reason to believe that it will be almost like a downsized version of the 650 cc parallel-twin engine, with a slick-shifting six-speed gearbox, and will be free-revving with smooth and refined performance. More details are expected when the new Meteor 350 is launched by the end of June 2020.

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  • Fiat India Brings In Special Finance Schemes To Attract Customers

    Fiat India Brings In Special Finance Schemes To Attract Customers

    Automakers across the board are coming up with unique finance schemes to attract more consumers during these difficult times. If you’re one of those who looking at own any of the SUVs from the Jeep brand then Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India has also announced a slew of financial packages that will make it slightly easier for you to finalize the deal. The ‘Jeep for All’ aims to reduce EMIs for corporate salaried customers, offer lowest loan interest rates on loans and give 100 percent on-road price funding albeit only for women.

    The schemes also promise coverage in the event of a job loss, critical illness or an accident. In such cases an arrangement assures customers of low EMI in the first 24 months of the loan tenure. Dr. Partha Datta, President, and Managing Director, FCA India said, “We are pleased to announce ‘Jeep for All’ which will offer customers a means to own a Jeep, comfortably within reach. ‘Jeep for All’ adds on to our booking-to-purchase digital retail module with an added sense of reassurance and peace of mind for our customers.”

    Under the scheme salaried customers can opt for a vehicle loan of up to seven years at attractive interest rates. This will offer them a three-month low EMI repayment option every year throughout the tenure of the loan. Customers can choose which months they want to pay lesser EMIs. The company is also promising 90 percent funding of the on-road price of the vehicle which goes up to 100 percent for women buyers. Lastly there’s also an option of availing a step-up loan for a tenure of up to seven years which allows the customers to pay the lowest EMIs for the first 2 years.

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  • Three Hyundai India Workers Test Positive For Coronavirus

    Three Hyundai India Workers Test Positive For Coronavirus

    Three employees at Hyundai Motor Co’s Indian plant have tested positive for the coronavirus, the company said on Sunday, days after the South Korean automaker resumed operations after a near two-month lockdown. Test results of sixteen more workers who possibly came into contact with the infected employees are expected over the next two days, a senior government official told Reuters.

    “The state’s policy is to not let the industry stall,” said P Ponniah, the top bureaucrat in the Kancheepuram district of southern India where Hyundai’s plant is located. “We will ensure the areas inside the plant visited by the COVID positive employees are sanitized,” he said, adding that until such time workers would be barred from working in those areas.

    Hyundai, which restarted operations at the plant on May 8, said the three employees started showing mild symptoms of coughs and colds in the first week of restarting and were tested positive. They are being treated, Hyundai’s India spokesman said in a statement.

    “All the necessary measures are being taken for contact tracing, self-isolation, and complete sanitation,” he said, adding the well-being of employees was a priority.

    The cases at Hyundai, India’s second-largest carmaker by market share, come as bigger rival Maruti Suzuki India said late on Saturday that one employee at its plant in the northern city of Manesar tested positive and there may be the possibility of a second case.

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    The cases expose the risks and challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces in restarting automobile production in an effort to kickstart the economy after a near two-month lockdown to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

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  • Honda Will Continue To Offer The Previous Gen City Alongside The New-Gen Model

    Honda Will Continue To Offer The Previous Gen City Alongside The New-Gen Model

    The upcoming new-generation Honda City is all set to be launched in India in the coming weeks, and now we have information that the company will continue to sell the existing model alongside the new-gen Honda City. The previous-gen Honda City, is already BS6 compliant, which means the carmaker can continue to produce it in India, and by having both models, the company intends to offer a wider range of options for customers. It is the first time that the company will be adopting this strategy for a product in India. Now even though the existing model in the fourth generation of the Honda City in India, globally it is the sixth-gen model, and the same principle applies to the upcoming City as well.

    Speaking to us in the latest episode of Freewheeling with SVP, Rajesh Goel, Sr. Vice President & Director, Sales & Marketing, Honda Cars India said, “The current City, the fourth generation as we call it, is also BS6 certified, and we were selling the BS6 certified, current City before the lockdown happened. So, technically, we can keep producing it, and we intend to keep offering the fourth and the new fifth-generation City parallelly to offer a wider choice to the customers, across various price bands, and also, there has been a demand from various people. It happens with almost every generation of the City, as to ‘why do you need to discontinue this’. So, respecting the opinion, I think we intend to keep both the fourth and the fifth generation of the City together. So that customers depending on who likes what and what price point suits which customer, we have a great lot of options available to satisfy all our customers.”

    Now, this is not the first time that we have seen a carmaker simultaneously sell two different generations of a model in India. Maruti Suzuki has been selling the previous-gen Dzire for the fleet market, whereas, Hyundai India, too follows this strategy with the previous-gen Grand i10 and Xcent. So, when asked whether Honda too only plans to offer the lower variants of the older City to make to maintain a lower price point, Goel said, “I think City has been a car, which has been a highly desirable brand, and it has been kind of a benchmark, so to say. A car which everybody wants to drive in that segment and therefore most customers, of the City, in any generation have always preferred to own a kind of a loaded version. So, I do not, obviously intend to sell a bare version of the old City just to keep the price point low, that’s not the intent.”

    The current-generation Honda City is offered in seven variants and is powered by only a 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine which is now BS6 compliant and is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard while a CVT automatic gearbox is optional. Rakesh Goel has confirmed that the car will continue to remain a petrol-only model, however, the new-generation City will be offered with both petrol and diesel engine options. While the petrol version of the new-gen Honda City will share its powertrain with the older model, the diesel version will get a new oil burner. Transmission options for the new Honda City are likely to include a 5-speed manual and a CVT automatic transmission.

  • Vespa, Aprilia Reopen Dealerships Across Karnataka

    Vespa, Aprilia Reopen Dealerships Across Karnataka

    Piaggio India has re-opened its Vespa and Aprilia dealerships across Karnataka, in Bengaluru, Mysore, Belgaum, Mangalore, Bijapur, Davangere, Shimoga and Udupi to serve the brands’ customers. The dealerships have been opened in a staggered manner over the last few days, after receiving permission from local authorities. All the touchpoints across the 21 dealerships have been fully and partially operational with due health, safety and care measures. The showrooms and workshops are completely sanitized in accordance to the guidelines introduced by the company for maximum safety of the employees and customers. Additional health and safety guidelines and protocols are also being followed, including usage of Arogya Setu App.

    “We have been working together with our dealers in navigating through the new reality and the opening of dealerships is a key step in that direction. Keeping in mind the anxiety of our customers we had previously announced extension of original equipment warranty and free services which expires during the lockdown period, and our dealerships are prepared to address all vehicle sales and service requirements. We want to ensure that our customers face no hurdles during the purchase of a new vehicle and are able to avail services seamlessly,” said Diego Graffi, Chairman and Managing Director, Piaggio India.

    The dealerships are operating in a safe environment and teams at every dealership are following social distancing protocols including contactless greeting, wearing protective gear and using hand sanitisers while addressing sales and service needs of the customer. Customers can call and pre-book service appointment to avoid crowding at the dealership. Piaggio India has also resumed manufacturing operations at its Baramati plant for the supply of Vespa and Aprilia scooters.
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  • Current Generation Honda City to Continue with only the Petrol Engine

    Current Generation Honda City to Continue with only the Petrol Engine

    The fifth-generation Honda City was slated to debut in March this year but the unprecedented lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic has pushed the launch for the all-new model. The new-gen Honda City launch is just around the corner. In an interesting move, the fifth generation and the fourth generation (current) models will co-exist in the market. Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President & Director, Sales & Marketing, Honda Cars India, confirmed the development on the latest episode of Freewheeling With SVP and said, “In the fourth generation, the BS6 is only available on the petrol, and that’s how we intend to keep it. ”

    Elaborating more on the same, Goel revealed that while the next-generation Honda City will be sold in both petrol and diesel engine options, the current model will get only the 1.5-liter BS6 petrol engine. The sedan was updated to the BS6 norms earlier this year and the move could see Honda take a dual approach to the compact sedan segment with a wider portfolio. The fourth-gen Honda City has been around for a while and continues to be a popular seller in the segment. It is likely that the model will get a more competitive price tag that will help take on the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the entry-level trims of the Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento and the Toyota Yaris. Meanwhile, the 2020 Honda City will be a major overhaul over its predecessor and will see an all-new 1.5-liter petrol engine with more power, a revised diesel engine and a host of new features and goodies on offer.

    While there have been rumors that Honda plans to target the fleet segment with the sale of the current generation City in India, the same is yet to be confirmed by the automaker. Goel also did not reveal the variant break-up on the old City, but did say that the model will be sold in a fairly loaded guise, in-line with the premium benchmark that the City has set for itself over the last two decades across four generations.

    The move does beg the question if the new generation Honda City will see a premium price tag. The sedan made its debut in Thailand last year and looks extremely promising with an appreciable list of features. It’s also grown in proportions and is now wider and longer by a considerable margin. The new car also mimics the cabin from the new generation Jazz, which makes it a clutter-free yet feature-laden interior.

    With respect to the current model, the fourth generation Honda City gets all the essentials including the touchscreen infotainment system and even the HondaConnect app. Power comes from the BS6 compliant 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol motor that develops 117 bhp and 145 Nm of peak torque. The motor is paired with a 5-speed manual and a CVT automatic. It will be interesting to see if the current Honda City will be offered with a CVT once the new model arrives.

    In contrast, the all-new Honda City uses a revised 1.5-liter petrol engine that develops 119 bhp while peak torque remains the same at 145 Nm. Expect the transmission options to remain the same. The 1.5-liter i-DTEC diesel, on the other hand, makes 99 bhp and 200 Nm, and is paired with a 6-speed manual.

    The new-generation Honda City is expected to debut in a few weeks and initial production will be restricted till the company chooses to scale things up, depending on the situation. More details will be available in the coming days.

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  • Kia Motors Resumes Production At Anantapur Facility

    Kia Motors Resumes Production At Anantapur Facility

    Kia Motors India has announced the resumption of production at its Anantapur manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. The company is operating in a single shift at present and will resume full operations once the Coronavirus pandemic subsides. The Anantapur plant resumed operations on May 8, 2020 and has been catering to both domestic and export demand with the production of the Seltos and Carnival models. The automaker had temporarily suspended production on March 23, 2020, following the government’s decision to impose the nationwide lockdown. The company has received the necessary permissions from the Anantapur local municipal corporation.

    Commenting on restarting production, Kookhyun Shim, MD & CEO, Kia Motors India said, “These are unprecedented conditions and we are committed to adapting to the new norms of the world while we work towards normalcy. Our initial focus is to keep our employees motivated, retain a positive outlook, and deliver on our promises to our customers. Kia Motors India priorities are to clear pending orders for the best-selling Seltos and luxurious Carnival, and also to prepare the line for the eagerly anticipated compact SUV, Sonet. Our stakeholders, including suppliers and logistics partners, are all in-line with the current production and have assured us support in case we have to increase production volumes over the coming days.”

    Kia India is maintaining high health and hygiene standards. The company is conducting sanitization drives by spraying disinfectants on common computers, biometric systems, and in common areas. Social distancing is being followed in the canteen, team meeting areas, walkways, washrooms, meeting rooms, and more. The automaker is distributing masks and has made it mandatory to wear the same, while regular temperature checks and medical check-ups are being done before entering the facility. Kia is also following social distancing in company-run buses, while interstate and inter-district employees are not being called at the plant.

    Keeping up with the times during the lockdown, Kia India has commenced the online sale of its cars, while dealerships are following a detailed guideline with regards to the hygiene and distancing protocols. The South Korean auto giant has also announced several support initiatives for its dealer partners including improved cash flow and distribution of 50,000 masks. The automaker more recently also started the delivery of its vehicles at select locations.

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  • General Motors Instructs Mexican Suppliers To Prepare To Resume Operations

    General Motors Instructs Mexican Suppliers To Prepare To Resume Operations

    The president of General Motors Co’s Mexican unit advised suppliers to prepare to resume operations after the Mexican government said the automotive industry could exit the coronavirus lockdown before June 1 with adequate safety measures.

    “We are now beginning a new phase given the Mexican government’s official announcement earlier this week to consider the transportation manufacturing industry as essential for the country’s economy,” Francisco Garza, president of General Motors de Mexico, wrote in an email to suppliers dated on Friday that was viewed by Reuters.

    Noting the Mexican government is due to publish final safety rules on Monday, Garza added: “Once those final guidelines are known, we will be in a position to move swiftly to comply.”

    GM is tentatively planning to restart operations at its auto assembly plant in the Mexican city of Silao on Wednesday, according to a message to workers seen by Reuters on Sunday.

    Hundreds of workers at General Motors and other auto companies have gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment.

    Workers at the plant in the central state of Guanajuato that has been idled for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak had previously been told to plan to return to work on Monday.

    GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The Mexican government’s announcement, made on Friday, means that automakers from as early as this week can begin reconnecting supply chains between Mexico and the rest of North America, which depends heavily on parts made south of the U.S. border.

    Senior U.S. politicians and auto companies had pressed the Mexican government to reopen factories.

    Some politicians are wary, however, of opening too fast. Mexico registered its first case of the coronavirus weeks after the United States and Canada and the toll of daily infections and deaths in the country reached new peaks over the past few days.

    Mexico has registered 49,219 cases of the coronavirus and 5,177 deaths.

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  • Subaru Says Full-Year Profit Rose 16%

    Subaru Says Full-Year Profit Rose 16%

    Subaru Corp on Monday posted a 15.7% rise in annual operating profit in the year that ended in March as it recovered from production delays and product recalls last year, but warned of uncertainties from the coronavirus outbreak this year.

    Profit was 210.3 billion yen ($1.96 billion) for the year just ended, up from 181.7 billion yen a year earlier under international financial reporting standards. It exceeded a consensus estimate of 204.7 billion yen profit drawn from 17 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

    Subaru declined to give an earnings forecast for the current business year, citing uncertainties about the longer-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its operations and sales.

    It saw a 3% rise in global vehicle sales in the year to March to 1.03 million units, bouncing back from last year, when a defective steering component and measures to improve inspection tests had stopped output for two weeks at its sole assembly plant in Japan.

    The issue stems from faulty airbags made by Japanese automotive parts company Takata.

    The automaker managed to grow sales for the year despite a 40% drop in global sales in March, when vehicle plants and car showrooms around the world began to close due to coronavirus lockdown measures ordered in many countries.

    The automaker resumed limited vehicle production at its plants in Japan and the United States on May 11 after weeks of closure.

    Though global automakers have begun to restart vehicle plants, anemic demand, supply chain disruptions and social distancing measures at factories are expected to limit output in the coming months.

    Some analysts believe industry-wide global auto sales could slump by a third this year and that any recovery will be slow and patchy as job losses and reduced incomes weigh on consumer spending.

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  • Yamaha Dealerships Restart Operations In Select States Of India

    Yamaha Dealerships Restart Operations In Select States Of India

    Like other two-wheeler manufacturers, Yamaha Motor India is slowly making its way towards the ‘new normal’ with its dealerships restarting operations in certain states of India. The company has a list of states and cities in which Yamaha dealerships have begun operations after the government relaxed rules and regulations for businesses in Orange and Green zones depending on COVID-19 spread. The company will be opening its dealerships in a phased manner and in compliance with lockdown 4.0 regulations. Plus, Yamaha insists on customers making a prior appointment with dealerships so as to maintain social distancing and hygiene guidelines issued by the government.

    Yamaha has also prepared a detailed action plan and guidelines for restarting operations in factories and area offices across the country. Yamaha will be prioritizing on fulfilling the existing orders of domestic and export customers as these were on hold since the beginning of the lockdown. India Yamaha Motor has a total installed production capacity of 17.5 lakh units, with the Surajpur plant in Greater Noida having capacity of 8.5 lakh unit production and the Chennai plant having a capacity of 9 lakh units per annum.

    Yamaha Motor India Group announced that its employees have joined the fight against the novel Coronavirus Pandemic by voluntarily donating a day’s salary from the month of April. The Yamaha Motor India Group employees donated a sum of ₹ 61.5 lakh. The employees include both white-collar and blue-collar and some trainees based at the three facilities in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & Haryana along with the corporate office in Chennai and area offices across the country.

  • Nissan India Introduces New Finance Schemes And Pick-Up & Drop Service

    Nissan India Introduces New Finance Schemes And Pick-Up & Drop Service

    Nissan India has introduced a new car finance schemes and pick-up & drop service to ensure customers don’t need to come to visit dealerships and workshops and avoid physical contact. The Japanese carmaker has partnered with various financial institutions and is now offering a range of schemes offering paperless payment of car loans, special offers for women car loan applicants and professional based products for salaried, self-employed, Government & Public Sector Units (PSU) employees, police and the agriculture sector.

    Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director- Nissan Motor India, said, “With innovative financial schemes and initiatives including ease of financing and convenience in getting their car serviced, Nissan India will enrich the customer experience at each step, which is especially important in such challenging times.”

    The first of its kind finance and insurance scheme also include job Loss Protection’ on EMI’s covering loss of job and medical emergencies including Coronavirus, optional payment from January 2021 on select products and zero-mile car product has been introduced looking at the opportunities in the used car business. Nissan India also announced the launch of its new pick-up & drop service. It is offering an end-to-end hygienic pick-up & drop solution including a standard sanitization process for all frequent touchpoints in the vehicle such as door handles and gear lever. Drivers delivering the vehicles will also follow full hygiene regulations between the customer location and Nissan workshop. The complimentary pick-up & drop service is available in all major cities while customers in other locations can also avail of this service at a minimal charge.

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