February Newsletter – 05/02/2020

Headlines

1) Indian employees to man exhibit area of Chinese firms at Auto Expo: SIAM

Industry body SIAM on Tuesday said all Chinese companies participating at India’s flagship automobile show Auto Expo have confirmed that their exhibit area would be manned by their Indian employees in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. (Source: business-standard.com)

 

2) Union Budget 2020 is positive for the logistics industry

 

Logistics in India is no longer a business process, it has become an integral part of the value chain operations with digital innovations and e-commerce offering the ease of reliable and timely deliveries, said Talwinder Singh, Regional Director, Lalamove.

With a push to infra and economic activities, Singh feels that Union Budget 2020 seems positive to raise transportation conditions and logistics infrastructure. (Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

3) Auto Expo kicks off amid sector logjam

The Delhi Auto Expo kicks off at a time when the economy is going through its worst slowdown in recent times with the Budget offering little respite to the automotive industry. No Hero, Honda, Bajaj, TVS, Royal Enfield or Yamaha will be seen this year, even while Piaggio will showcase its Vespa and Aprilia brands. (Source: thehindubusinessline.com)

Auto Components & Accessories

1) Toyota-Panasonic to launch a big venture for making EV batteries, starting April

Toyota and Panasonic announced an agreement to jointly develop EV batteries starting in April. The new company, dubbed Prime Planet Energy and Solutions, will develop prismatic batteries for sale to other automakers. The joint venture, which will be owned 51% by Toyota, will have more than 5,000 employees.
(Source: electrek.co)

2) Mahindra Electric to start EV powertrain exports this year

Mahindra Electric will supply electric vehicle (EV) powertrains to South Korea and European markets from this year, its chief executive Mahesh Babu said. (Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

Government Policy

1) Budget 2020: Govt support for the auto component industry

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a “handholding support” for the Indian automotive component industry for technology upgradations, R&D and business strategy planning while presenting the Budget 2020. (Source: indiatoday.in/auto)

2) No Confirmed Data Available On Auto Industry Job Losses: Prakash Javadekar

The automobile industry reported retrenchment of the temporary workforce but no confirmed data on job loss is available with the government, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on the slump in the sale of automobiles, the minister said there are cyclical slowdowns in many economies. (Source: newsnation.in)

3) New Motor Vehicles Act’s roll-out in Maharashtra a distant possibility

The Maharashtra government doesn’t seem to be in any mood to implement the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, on the ground that penalties for some of the offenses are “unreasonable”. (Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

Auto Industry

1) India’s January manufacturing activity hits near 8-year high as orders jump

India’s manufacturing activity expanded at its quickest pace in nearly eight years in January on sharp rises in new business and production, aiding employment to at the quickest rate in close to seven-and-a-half years, a private survey showed on Monday. (Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com)

2) Bajaj Auto increasing focus on profitability in domestic market

Amid volatile markets, the stock of Bajaj AutoNSE 0.04 % gained 4.7 percent on Monday following the company’s better performance in the December quarter in terms of improved product realization, better profitability, and higher export growth. The two-wheeler maker is expected to be an outlier in the auto sector in the coming fiscal considering its focus on export growth. (Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com)

3) Volkswagen Group aims comeback in India

Skoda Auto, the chief of the Volkswagen Group gross sales firm in India plans to take a position a billion euros within the Indian operations to introduce a number of automobiles and SUV within the India market. (Source: eastautonews.com)

Four Wheelers & Two Wheelers

1) Harley-Davidson Sells Over 25,000 Motorcycles In India

he made-in-India Harley-Davidson Street 750 is the highest-selling H-D motorcycle in India, and also became the first large-capacity motorcycle to become BS6 compliant in the 750 cc and above category. (Source: auto.ndtv.com/news)

2) Yamaha starts accepting bookings for EV powertrain

Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd has announced today that it has started accepting orders for the high-performance electric motor prototype for electric vehicles. (Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

3) Tata Motors opens bookings for Harrier BS-VI ahead of Auto Expo launch

Tata Motors has opened bookings for the Harrier BS-VI ahead of its Auto Expo 2020 launch, informed the homegrown automaker in a launch. The automaker will also launch the automatic transmission variant for the SUV.
Customers can book the Harrier BS-VI for an amount of Rs 30,000 online and at the Tata Motors authorized dealerships as well. (Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Global Market

1) Honda Plans to Resume Wuhan Plant Production With Dongfeng on February 14

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co plans to resume car production at its China venture with Dongfeng Automobile on Feb. 14, according to current government guidance, a company spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. (Source: nytimes.com/reuters)

2) Nissan’s Brexit Scenarios Include Closing European Plants: FT

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co has drafted a contingency plan to focus on its Sunderland plant in the U.K. and cut European production if a hard Brexit leads to tariffs on car imports from the continent, the Financial Times reported, citing two people involved in the discussions. (Source: bloomberg.com)

3) Toyota uses big data to guard against accelerator-brake mix-up

Toyota Motor Corp unveiled an emergency safety system on Monday that uses big data to ignore the accelerator if it determines the driver steps on the pedal unintentionally.

Japan’s biggest carmaker will roll out what it calls an “accelerator suppression function” in new cars from this summer, beginning in Japan. (Source: reuters.com)

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