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Tag: Auto

  • Maruti Suzuki To Increase Car Prices From April

    Maruti Suzuki To Increase Car Prices From April

    Maruti Suzuki has announced that it will be increasing car prices across its model line-up from April 2021. In a regulatory filing, the country’s largest car manufacture said “Over the past year the cost of company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely due to increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price increase in April 2021.” Maruti Suzuki India has not announced the quantum or percentage of the price hike, but it has said that the price hike will vary for different models.

    It is quite common for Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEMs to increase vehicle prices in India at the start of the new financial year. In fact, Maruti Suzuki India had also increased its prices in January 2021, making this the second price revision in just three months. Among other OEMs, Isuzu Motor India has also announced its plan to the prices of its D-Max Regular Cab and the D-Max S-Cab in India, by ₹ 1 lakh, from April 1, 2021. And we expect a few other manufacturers to join the bandwagon soon.

    Currently, Maruti Suzuki India has 15 models in its combined line-up from Arena and Nexa brands. While its most affordable model, the Alto its priced between ₹ 3 lakh to ₹ 4.48 lakh, its flagship model, the S-Cross is priced from ₹ 8.39 lakh, going up to ₹ 12.39 lakh.

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  • Tesla’s In-Car Cameras Raise Privacy Concerns: Report

    Tesla’s In-Car Cameras Raise Privacy Concerns: Report

    Tesla’s use of in-car cameras to record and transmit video footage of passengers to develop self-driving technology raises privacy concerns, influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports said on Tuesday.

    Consumer Reports said the usage potentially undermines the safety benefits of driver monitoring, which is to alert drivers when they are not paying attention to the road.

    “If Tesla has the ability to determine if the driver isn’t paying attention, it needs to warn the driver in the moment, like other automakers already do,” said Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto test center.

    Tesla Inc’s use of in-car cameras to record and transmit video footage of passengers to develop self-driving technology raises privacy concerns

    Automakers such as Ford Motor and General Motors, whose monitoring systems do not record or transmit data or video, use infrared technology to identify drivers’ eye movements or head position to warn them if they are exhibiting signs of impairment or distraction, the magazine said.

    Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

    The Palo Alto, California-based carmaker’s internal cameras are also a point of contention in China, where the military banned Tesla cars from entering its complexes, citing security concerns.

    Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said last week his company would be shut down if its cars were used to spy.

  • Japan Car Makers Scramble To Assess Impact Of Renesas Auto Chip-Plant Fire

    Japan Car Makers Scramble To Assess Impact Of Renesas Auto Chip-Plant Fire

    Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese automakers scrambled on Monday to assess the production impact of a fire at a Renesas Electronics automotive chip plant that could aggravate a global semiconductor shortage. “We are gathering information and trying to see if this will affect us or not,” a Honda spokesman said. Other car makers including Toyota and Nissan said they too were assessing the situation. The effect on car makers could spread beyond Japan to other auto companies in Europe and the United States because Renesas has around a 30% global share of micro control unit chips used in cars.

    Renesas said it will take at least a month to restart production on a 300mm wafer line at its Naka plant in northeast Japan after an electrical fault caused machinery to catch fire on Friday and poured smoke into the sensitive clean room.

    Two-thirds of production at the affected line is automotive chips. The company also has a 200mm wafer line at the Naka plant, which has not been affected. Concerns on the impact of the fire on production sent auto shares sliding in Tokyo on Monday, with the big three, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, down more than 2% by the midday break. Renesas shares tumbled as much as 5.5% and were down 3.9% midday. The benchmark Topix index shed 1.1%.

    “It will probably take more than a month to return to normal supply. Given that, even Toyota will face very unstable production in April and May,” said Seiji Sugiura, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute. “I think Honda, Nissan and other makers will also be facing a difficult situation.”

    Semiconductors such as those made by Renesas are used extensively in cars, including to monitor engine performance, manage steering or automatic windows, and in sensors used in parking and entertainment systems.

    Nissan and Honda had already been forced to scale back production plans because of the chip shortage resulting from burgeoning demand from consumer electronic makers and an unexpected rebound in car sales from a slump during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Toyota, which ensured parts suppliers had enough stocks of chips, has fared better so far.

    “It could take three months or even half a year for a full recovery,” said Akira Minamikawa, analyst at technology research company Omdia. “This has happened when chip stockpiles are low, so the impact is going to be significant,” he added.

    Renesas said it customers, which are mostly automotive parts makers rather than the car companies, will begin to see chip shipments fall in around a month. The company declined to say which machine caught fire because of the electrical fault or which company made it. The Japanese government promised help for the auto industry.

    “We will firmly try to help the Naka factory achieve swift restoration by helping it quickly acquire alternative manufacturing equipment,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a regular news conference on Monday.

    The latest incident at the Naka facility comes after an earthquake last month shut down production for three days and forced Renesas to further deplete chip stocks to keep up with orders. The plant was closed for three months in 2011 following the deadly earthquake that devastated Japan’s northeast coast.

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  • Honda Temporarily Cutting Production At All U.S., Canada Plants

    Honda Temporarily Cutting Production At All U.S., Canada Plants

    Honda Motor Co said late Tuesday supply chain issues will force a halt to production at a majority of U.S. and Canadian auto plants for a week. The Japanese automaker added the issue will result in some production cuts next week at all U.S. and Canadian plants, citing “the impact from COVID-19, congestion at various ports, the microchip shortage and severe winter weather over the past several weeks.”

    “In some way, all of our auto plants in the U.S. and Canada will be impacted,” Honda said.

    Some U.S. and Canadian plants are expected to have smaller production cuts next week, but a spokesman for Honda added “the timing and length of production adjustments could change.”

    The company declined to specify the volume of vehicles impacted but said “purchasing and production teams are working to limit the impact of this situation.”

    The company added when production is suspended Honda workers “will continue to have the opportunity to work at the impacted plants.” Honda workers were notified of the production cuts Monday.

    Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, said Honda typically produces about 30,000 vehicles a week in the United States and Canada.

    The production issues are hitting Honda plants in Ontario, Ohio, Alabama, and Indiana. Honda said its Mexico operations have not announced any production cuts.

    The chip shortage, which has hit most of the global automakers, stems from a confluence of factors as carmakers, which shut plants for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, compete with the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies.

    General Motors Co has cut production at many plants and warned it could shave up to $2 billion from this year’s earnings.

    GM’s U.S. rival Ford Motor Co previously said the shortage could hurt 2021 profit by up to $2.5 billion and said it had curtailed production of its flagship F-150 pickup.

  • BMW Expects At Least Half Of Sales To Be Electric Cars By 2030

    BMW Expects At Least Half Of Sales To Be Electric Cars By 2030

    BMW expects at least half of its sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, setting a more conservative target than some rivals in the race to embrace cleaner driving. In the short term, the German carmaker forecast on Wednesday a big rise in pretax profit for this year, with a strong performance in all areas – from MINIS through its upmarket BMW brand to top-of-the-range Rolls-Royces. Its shares rose as much as 4.9% to a 2-1/2 year high of 84.42 euros, buoyed by its forecast for a strong recovery from a pandemic-hit 2020.

    BMW said around 90% of its market categories would have fully-electric models available by 2023 and the electric BMW i4 would be launched three months ahead of schedule this year.

    Bernstein analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said BMW had entered 2021 “very confidently.” “In terms of electromobility, BMW is making good progress and is taking significantly fewer risks than VW,” he said.

    Volkswagen has said it expects 70% of European sales at its core VW brand to be electric by 2030 and this week unveiled ambitious plans to expand in electric driving – including building half a dozen battery cell plants in Europe – sending its shares sharply higher.

    BMW said around 90% of its market categories would have fully-electric models available by 2023 and the electric BMW i4 would be launched three months ahead of schedule this year. The carmaker said its MINI brand would be fully electric “by the early 2030s” and electric models would account for at least 50% of group deliveries by 2030.

    When asked if BMW could set a date for ending sales of internal combustion engines, as some rivals have, Chief Technology Officer Frank Weber said: “it’s not us who decides on the end of the internal combustion engine, but it’s the markets.”

    In an industry chasing electric carmaker Tesla and facing tightening CO2 emissions standards in Europe and China, some automakers have promised a faster shift in technology, despite the huge costs and manufacturing changes involved.

    Sweden’s Volvo said this month its lineup would be fully electric by 2030, and Ford said in February its lineup in Europe would be too. Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the European Union almost trebled to over 1 million vehicles in 2020 and accounted for more than 10% of overall sales, taking zero-emission models from niche products into the mainstream.

    Chief Executive Oliver Zipse told a news conference that BMW could accelerate its plans if consumers embraced electric models more quickly than expected.

    “Should demand in certain markets shift completely to fully electric vehicles in the coming years – we can deliver,” he said.

    Last week, BMW said 2021 had started well after its profit recovered in the second half of 2020 from pandemic shutdowns, thanks largely to strong sales in China.

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  • BMW’s New-Gen iDrive System To Provide Level 2 Autonomous Capability

    BMW’s New-Gen iDrive System To Provide Level 2 Autonomous Capability

    BMW has shown off its next-generation iDrive system, which is the software and hardware platform which comprises the infotainment system and in-car experience that has been prevalent since the dawn of the new millennium. Now, approaching its eighth generation, it has a new curved display that starts behind the steering wheel extending across the dashboard.

    BMW has basically merged the 12.3-inch instrument cluster with the 14.9-inch infotainment system — curved into a single unit facing the driver. Of course, not every vehicle will have the same screen size, but the panels will have the appearance of being “floating”.

    This new system will debut on the iX electric SUV as well as the i4 electric sedan. The big deal here is that the onboard computer will be able to process 20 to 30 times, more data than the previous models. This will enable greater synergy with the sensors that the cars will come equipped with enabling higher levels of autonomy.

    BMW’s chief technology officer Franker Weber himself describes the new iDrive as a major step towards fully autonomous technology — with support for level 2 and level 3 systems.

    “It is not an evolutionary step from what we had in the previous generation,” Weber said. “It’s an all-new, all-new system when it comes to sensors, computing, and the way it was developed,” he added.

    Level 2 systems include lane-keeping, blind-spot detection, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control. Level 3 autonomous driving involves more automation called conditional automation where the driver still has to be in a position to take over the control of the vehicle when requested. This feature is however is contingent on approval from local authorities.

    Weber hasn’t confirmed whether BMW will be providing access to level 3 automation however, he has hinted that level 3 testing is ramping up on the new version of iDrive.

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  • Volkswagen Takes Aim At Tesla With Own European Gigafactories

    Volkswagen Takes Aim At Tesla With Own European Gigafactories

    Volkswagen plans to build half a dozen battery cell plants in Europe and expand infrastructure for charging electric vehicles globally, accelerating efforts to overtake Tesla and speed up mass adoption of battery-powered cars. The world’s No. 2 carmaker, which is in the midst of a major shift towards battery-powered cars, said on Monday it wants to have six battery cell factories operating in Europe by 2030, which it will build alone or with partners.

    “Our transformation will be fast, it will be unprecedented,” Chief Executive Herbert Diess told Volkswagen’s Power Day, which also featured the CEOs of BP, Enel and Iberdrola in an effort to match some of the buzz of Tesla’s Battery Day last September.

    “E-mobility has become core business for us,” he added.

    Volkswagen, whose shares rose as much as 3.8%, did not specifically say how much the plan will cost. It said in December that it planned to spend 35 billion euros ($41.7 billion) on e-mobility as a whole by 2025.

    The group had been laggard on electrification until it admitted in 2015 to cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests and had to deal with new Chinese quotas for electric vehicles. It now has one of the most ambitious programs in the industry.

    Volkswagen said the European factories will have a joint production capacity of up to 240 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year, adding the first 40 GWh would come from Sweden’s Northvolt, with production starting in 2023.

    As part of the deal, Volkswagen will raise its 20% stake in Northvolt and also take over the Swedish firm’s stake in a planned battery cell venture in the German city of Salzgitter, which will form the second factory from 2025.

    This will be followed by a factory in Spain, France or Portugal in 2026 and a site in Poland, Slovakia or the Czech Republic by 2027. Two more plants will be set up by 2030.

    While the first two factories are already reflected in Volkswagen’s financial planning, the group is currently in “deep discussions” about how the subsequent plants fitted with financial targets, board member Thomas Schmall said.

    Volkswagen is also working on a major expansion of charging infrastructure, a lack of which is still seen as a big barrier to the mass adoption of battery-powered cars. Via existing efforts and partnerships with oil major BP as well as top European utilities Enel and Iberdrola, Volkswagen aims to operate about 18,000 public fast-charging points in Europe by 2025.

    This represents a five-fold expansion of the existing fast-charging network, Volkswagen said, adding it would invest 400 million euros in the initiative.

    In North America, Volkswagen targets 3,500 fast-charging points by the end of 2021 via its Electrify America unit, while in China, the world’s largest car market, the group aims for 17,000 by 2025.

    In China, where Volkswagen last year acquired 26.5 percent of battery maker Guoxuan High-tech Co Ltd, the carmaker now aims to sell more than 2 million electric vehicles a year by the end of the decade.

    Shifting to design, Volkswagen unveiled plans to have a new unified prismatic battery cell from 2023, which will support cost cuts generated by the higher level of in-house cell production and could impact its current suppliers.

    South Korean battery makers’ shares, including in LG Chem, whose unit LG Energy Solution makes batteries for Volkswagen, and SK Innovation, fell as much as 5.8% and 5.3% respectively on Tuesday after the news.

    Electric vehicle makers, including Tesla, are using cylindrical battery cells, which resemble flashlight batteries and are relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

    Prismatic cells, which resemble a thin hardcover book, are housed in a rectangular metal case and are more expensive. Pouch cells, another alternative, are thinner and lighter, and resemble a flexible metal mailing envelope.

    “On average, we will drive down the cost of battery systems to significantly below 100 euros ($119) per kilowatt hour,” Schmall said. “This will finally make e-mobility affordable and the dominant drive technology.”

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  • Samsung To Develop Autonomous Driving Chip For Google’s Waymo

    Samsung To Develop Autonomous Driving Chip For Google’s Waymo

    Samsung Electronics recently won a project for Google parent Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit Waymo to develop chips for next-generation self-driving cars, South Korean media reported on Monday.

    Samsung will develop a chip that computes data collected from various sensors installed in autonomous vehicles or centrally controls functions by exchanging information with Google data centers in real-time, South Korean newspaper Herald Business reported, citing an unnamed industry source.

    The project is expected to be carried out by Samsung’s logic chip development division System LSI’s Custom SOC Business Team, it added.

    Samsung Electronics declined to comment regarding client company matters. Alphabet did not have an immediate comment.

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  • GM Builds Pickups Without Certain Modules Due To Global Chip Shortage

    GM Builds Pickups Without Certain Modules Due To Global Chip Shortage

    General Motors Co said on Monday that due to the global semiconductor chip shortage the U.S. automaker is building certain 2021 light-duty full-size pickup trucks without a fuel management module, hurting those vehicles’ fuel economy performance. The lack of the active fuel management/dynamic fuel management module means affected models, equipped with the 5.3-litre EcoTec3 V8 engine with both six-speed and eight-speed automatic transmission, will have lower fuel economy by one mile per gallon, spokeswoman Michelle Malcho said.

    Malcho emphasized all trucks are still being built, something GM has repeatedly stressed it would try to protect as pickups are among GM’s most profitable models. She declined to say the volume of vehicles affected. “By taking this measure, we are better able to meet the strong customer and dealer demand for our full-size trucks as the industry continues to rebound and strengthen,” Malcho wrote in an email.

    The change runs through the 2021 model year, which typically ends in late summer or early fall, she said. Malcho said it would not have a major impact on the Detroit automaker’s U.S. corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) numbers.

    “We routinely monitor our fleet for compliance in the U.S. and Canada, and we balance our portfolio in a way that enables us to manage unforeseeable circumstances like this without compromising our overall (greenhouse gas) and fuel economy compliance,” she said.

    GM’s fleetwide fuel economy in the 2018 model year was 22.5 miles per gallon and was projected to rise to 22.8 mpg for 2019, according to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency. To meet federal CAFE requirements, automakers like GM often use credits from either earlier years where they faced less stringent rules and performed better than the requirements or buy credits from other automakers.

    GM said last month the chip shortage could shave up to $2 billion from this year’s earnings. It subsequently said it expected global chip supplies to return to normal rates by the second half of the year. The shortage, which has hit automakers globally, stems from a confluence of factors as carmakers, which shut plants for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, compete with the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies.

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  • Honda Confirms Participation At EICMA 2021

    Honda Confirms Participation At EICMA 2021

    Honda has become one of the first motorcycle brands to confirm participation in the 2021 edition event of one of the world’s most well-known motorcycle trade shows. The EICMA event, held every year in Milan, Italy, is scheduled to take place between November 23-28, 2021. But this year’s event may not see participation from many brands, and it’s still some time away to actually see which way the COVID-19 situation blows, in Europe, as well as across the world. BMW Motorrad has already announced that it won’t be attending any motorcycle shows going forward, and the confirmation from Honda is actually a strong statement, considering the EICMA is possibly the most important two-wheeler event around the world.

    “It is a concrete and conscious approach to protect the value of the event, the public and the whole sector of reference involved, with the structure of EICMA S.p.A. and the manufacturers committed to facing up to the complexity of the organization of the event in a context in continuous development,” Honda said in a statement.

    “The path towards EICMA 2021 is distinguished by a reasonable expectation and a more flexible vision compared to the past. Sharing this new orientation therefore implies a surplus of compactness by all the players involved and the positive confirmation of Honda, together with the other significant names which have already assured their presence, go in exactly this direction. We hope that we can soon communicate other confirmations.”

    “The common objective is that we can once again gather around our passion for the products of this industry and re-conquer the freedom to do what EICMA has been doing for over one hundred years: creating opportunities for companies and offering the public visitor experiences which are increasingly exciting and thrilling.”

    The 2020 edition of the EICMA had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BMW Motorrad has announced that it will focus on its own small motorcycle events and customer events, and will not participate at the EICMA show. With the global economy under pressure, it’s still a matter of speculation of how many brands will eventually turn up at the 2021 EICMA show. But this year’s event is likely to be smaller than before, and it’s still uncertain how the COVID-19 situation pans out over the next few months. Even though vaccination drives are going on around the world, audience participation at the EICMA 2021 is likely to be significantly lower than in previous years.

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  • Nissan Appoints Guillaume Cartier Chairperson Of The AMIEO Region

    Nissan Appoints Guillaume Cartier Chairperson Of The AMIEO Region

    Nissan Motor announced Guillaume Cartier as its new Chairperson for the Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO) region. Effective April 1st, Cartier will lead all Nissan operations in the region, which covers more than 140 markets across four continents with a population of around 3.8 billion people, representing more than 30 percent of global vehicle sales.

    With over 25 years’ experience at Nissan and in the Alliance in global and regional leadership positions, Cartier will lead the new region as the Nissan NEXT transformation plan continues to gather pace and with key models in Europe including Qashqai and Ariya launching soon, and as the brand continues to grow in the AMIO markets, thanks to a powerful vehicle line-up ranging from the iconic Patrol to the recently launched Magnite in India.

    Cartier said: “I am thrilled to be leading this culturally rich and diverse region into a period of unprecedented change for the automotive industry and with a refreshed range of Nissan models and technologies coming to the market.”

    Currently Vice-Chairperson of the AMIEO region and AMI President, Cartier first joined Nissan in 1995 as after-sales manager and went on to hold a number of senior management positions in the Alliance, including AMI Chairperson, head of the Global Datsun Business Unit, Executive Officer and Senior Vice President for Mitsubishi Motors, and Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing in Europe. Cartier will report to the vice-chief performance officer and chief quality officer, Christian Vandenhende. Cartier will replace Gianluca De Ficchy, who served for three years as Chairperson of Nissan Europe and latterly of the expanded AMIEO region.

  • BMW Group Invests In Innovative Method For CO2-Free Steel Production

    BMW Group Invests In Innovative Method For CO2-Free Steel Production

    The BMW Group announced that it is investing in an innovative method for CO2-free steel production developed by American startup Boston Metal, through its venture capital fund, BMW i Ventures. Over the coming years, Boston Metal plans to expand the new method for steel production on an industrial scale. The investment is part of the BMW Group’s far-reaching sustainability activities aimed at significantly reducing CO2 emissions across the supplier network.

    With its versatile properties, steel is one of the most important materials in car production and will be no less important for future vehicle generations. Even with the dynamic ramp-up of electromobility, steel will remain an important building material for car bodies and many components. BMW Group press plants in Europe process more than half a million tonnes of steel per year.

    The blast furnaces used in conventional steel production generate carbon dioxide. The startup Boston Metal uses electricity for its new technology, which, by means of an electrolysis cell, produces molten iron that is later processed into steel. If electricity from renewable energies is used for this process, then steel production is carbon-free. The young company will build demonstration facilities for this process over the next few years and further develop it for use on an industrial scale.

    The BMW Group established close contact with Boston Metal already last year in the context of its own research activities and through the BMW Startup Garage. The company is now investing in the startup as part of its i Ventures activities.

    To safeguard reserves of raw materials, the BMW Group has set itself the goal of further increasing its percentage of recycled raw materials, so-called secondary material, by 2030 and using raw materials multiple times in a circular economy.

    All steel waste produced at the press plants – for example, when doors are punched out – is either reused through a direct material cycle or sent back to the steel producer via steel traders and processed into new steel. The use of secondary material reduces CO2 emissions substantially compared to primary material, conserves natural resources and also reduces the amount of energy needed for production.

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  • Volkswagen To Cut Up To 5,000 Jobs

    Volkswagen To Cut Up To 5,000 Jobs

    Carmaker Volkswagen plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs in Germany by offering early or partial retirement to older employees in a move that could cost 500 million euros ($598 million), the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Sunday.

    The newspaper quoted a spokeswoman confirming that the company had agreed on the plan with the works council to open partial retirement to those born in 1964, while also offering early retirement to older employees.

    Handelsblatt cited company sources as saying Volkswagen was putting aside 500 million euros for the plan as it would compensate the employees who leave by topping up their pension, although it would save billions in the longer term.

    The newspaper said Volkswagen is also extending a hiring freeze until the end of the year. It had previously only been in place until the end of the first quarter. External hires can only be made in areas like information technology and software.

    The Volkswagen Group said in January it would cut overhead costs by 5% and procurement costs by 7% over the next two years.

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  • Kia Teases Its First Dedicated Electric Vehicle The EV6

    Kia Teases Its First Dedicated Electric Vehicle The EV6

    Kia has revealed the first official images of the EV6 – its first dedicated battery electric vehicle. Now, we have to tell you here that it’s not the company’s first EV, because if you remember, it already has the e-Niro and the Soul EV in its all-electric portfolio. The EV6, however, is built on a platform that has been developed specifically for electric vehicles. The new platform Electric-Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP, will see Kia build next-generation electric cars under a new design philosophy that embodies Kia’s shifting focus towards electrification.

    The teaser images give us an idea of what to expect in terms of design. It is sleek and the coupe-like roofline integrates well into the rear spoiler. The silhouette also points out at a slight ducktail too. The front end is sleek and modern and it looks like the EV6 has a short overhang. The headlights are slim and the LED pattern gives it a unique look.

    Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Centre said, “EV6 is the embodiment of both our brand purpose, ‘Movement that inspires’, and our new design philosophy. It has been designed to inspire every journey by offering an instinctive and natural experience that improves the daily lives of our customers, and provide user ownership that is simple, intuitive, and integrated.”

    As part of the company’s brand transition, Kia’s new dedicated battery electric vehicles will be named according to a new naming strategy. All of Kia’s new dedicated BEVs will start with the prefix ‘EV’ which makes it easy for consumers to understand which of Kia’s products are fully electric. This is followed by a number that corresponds to the car’s position in the line-up.

  • Maruti Suzuki Records 19.3% Production Growth In February 2021

    Maruti Suzuki Records 19.3% Production Growth In February 2021

    Maruti Suzuki India has announced production figures for the month of February 2021. India’s leading carmaker said its total production increased by 19.3 percent to 1,68,180 units in February against 1,40,933 units produced in the same month last year. The numbers recorded last month are slightly better than what the automaker posted in February 2020. The total number of passenger vehicles manufactured last month were 1,65,783 units in comparison to 1,40,370 units in the corresponding month last year, witnessing a growth of 18 percent.

    The Indo-Japanese carmaker manufactured 1,60,975 units in January 2021 as against 1,68,180 units, witnessing a marginal month-on-month (MoM) growth of 4 percent. The production of mini hatchbacks – Alto and S-Presso in February 2021 decreased marginally by 4 percent to 28,213 units as compared to 29,676 units produced in the same month last year. However, compact vehicles such as WagonR, Celerio, Swift, Dzire, Ignis, Baleno, and the Glanza saw production growth of 21.22 percent with 91,091 units against 75,142 units manufactured a year ago. The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz compact sedan saw a decline in production by 34.13 percent to 1,943 units as compared to 2,950 units manufactured in February 2020.

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