businessfortnight

China’s search engine giant Baidu Inc said on Monday it will set up a company to partner with car maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to make smart electric vehicles (EV), the latest move by a tech company in the fast-evolving sector. Baidu, which has been developing autonomous driving technology and Internet connectivity infrastructure, said the new EV company will count on Baidu’s intelligent driving capabilities and Geely’s car manufacturing expertise. Geely will also be a strategic investor in the new company, which will be an independent subsidiary of Baidu, Baidu said in the statement. Reuters reported Baidu’s plan to form a smart EV company with the help of Geely last week. Sources told Reuters Baidu would hold a majority stake and absolute voting power in the new firm and that Geely would have a minority stake. Geely said in a separate statement on Monday the collaboration will be based on Geely’s EV-focused platform, Sustainable Experience Architect...

The used car market has better prospects after the pandemic hit our economy for a simple reason, it has products to offer at more affordable rates. The same also goes for luxury car market and it’s probably the best time for luxury carmakers to focus on their used car business. Audi India that’s been on a roll since last year with multiple product launches is now gearing up to rack up its used car Approved Plus business as well by improving its reach in our country as well as by upping its inventory level. The Audi Approved: Plus business will not only help existing customers to sell their Audis and go for a new one, but will also bring in new customers in the business who may end up buying new Audis at some point of time. Speaking to carandbike, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head – Audi India said, “Audi Approved: Plus is also one of our focus areas that we have and from many perspectives. One is from dealer perspective and the most important one is for our customers....

Tesla Inc shares were set to open at a record high on Monday after the electric-car maker reported better-than-expected vehicle deliveries in 2020, extending a meteoric rally that has seen the stock surge more than 700 per cent.It delivered 499,550 vehicles last year, above Wall Street estimates of 481,261 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data, but 450 units short of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s target. “We are raising our forecasts to reflect higher 4Q deliveries and reports of strong demand for the Model Y in China, which is also suggestive of higher future deliveries,” J.P. Morgan analysts said in a client note.

Famous car designer and the Chairman and CEO of Fisker Inc., Henrik Fisker, recently confirmed that its next product could be a lifestyle EV truck. He is known for some of the iconic cars such as BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and Fisker Karma. Fisker confirmed this development through his official LinkedIn profile, teasing the rear quarter shot of the EV truck, which seems to be aggressively designed. The EV maker aims to create the lightest and most efficient pickup truck in the world. However, the image is just a teaser, but the final product will be way more radical. Last month, the designer took to Twitter confirming that he has started designing his new vehicle, which will be radical. The company will also be launching its first all-electric luxury SUV globally next year.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), the country’s largest carmaker, reported a 17.8 per cent rise in domestic sales to 1,46,480 units in December as against 1,24,375 units in the corresponding month last year, the company said in a statement. The auto major’s total sales grew by 20.2 per cent to 1,60,226 units in December 2020, compared to 1,33,296 units in the same month last year. Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, increased by 4.4 per cent to 24,927 units as compared to 23,883 in the same month last year. The sale of compact segment vehicles, including models Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, rose 18.2 per cent to 77,641 units as against 65,673 cars in December last year. Utility vehicle sales, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose 8 per cent to 25,701 units compared to 23,808 in the year-ago month. However, the sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz fell by 28.9 per cent to 1,270 units from 1,786 vehicles in December 2019. Total exports in December saw an...

Tata Motors on Friday reported a 21 per cent increase in total vehicle sales in the domestic market to 53,430 units in December. The company had sold 44,254 units in the domestic market in the same month last year, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing. Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at 23,545 units last month as against 12,785 units in December 2019, up 84 per cent, it added. “The PV industry continued to grow robustly in Q3 FY21, owing to pent up demand, strong festive season and shift towards personal mobility,” Tata Motors President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Shailesh Chandra said. The company’s PV business has been witnessing the strong response to its ‘New Forever’ range, which is being supported by a continuous ramp-up of supplies, he added. Stating that retail sales were 18 per cent higher than wholesale for the month and pipeline inventory remains thin, Chandra said, “We are continuing to debottleneck the supply chain a...

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd will focus on developing its core portfolio of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and their electric version, a senior executive said on Friday after the company ended joint venture talks with Ford Motor Co. Anish Shah, the deputy managing director, said Mahindra will focus mainly on large SUVs for its core India market in the short term and move to electric in the medium term, as it charts a new strategy for its automotive business. “We are going back to our core,” Shah, who will take over as managing director from April, told Reuters. “We are going to look ahead at how we can accelerate our investment in electric and really start moving to the new age. We clearly hold the ambition to be a global brand and there again the electric journey is an important one,” Shah said. Mahindra’s high-end electric vehicle Pininfarina Battista is a starting point, Shah said, adding that the automaker would look at developing more electric platforms ...

Famed Apple watcher Ming Chi-Kuo of TF Securities has written a note to investors stating that the Apple Car may not come to life till 2027. Kuo who is world-renowned as one of the foremost analysts in the world focussed on Apple’s launches wrote the note in wake of a dubious report that stated that the Apple Car could come as soon as 2021. His report also comes at a time when Reuters has claimed that the Project Titan based vehicle could come by 2024 and will be based on a mono-cell battery architecture.  According to Kuo, the report by the DigiTimes which claims a 2021 launch is utterly false while even the Reuters report is highly optimistic as he believes that the launch will not happen before 2025.  He has told investors to not invest in Apple stock in a knee-jerk reaction to these reports. He cites that the lack of supplier or specification and uncertainty around Apple’s competitiveness for EV and self-driving vehicles could be a major pain point in...

Volkswagen India has officially teased the upcoming Taigun compact SUV, suggesting the launch is around the corner. The carmaker released a teaser video of the Taigun on its official social media account. The SUV has been listed on VW’s official India website for collecting online enquiries. Specifically designed for the Indian market, the SUV was showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo in February. It will be based on the company’s MQB A0 IN platform, which will also be used on VW Group’s upcoming models, such as the production version of Skoda ‘s Vision-IN concept. This all-new product from Volkswagen will be slightly inspired by the T-Cross that is already on sale in the international markets. It will flaunt elements like wider grille with horizontal chrome slats and logo in the centre, horizontally positioned LED headlights with LED DRLs, muscular bonnet, neatly designed bumper, large intakes, fog lamps. The production version is expected to get sporty alloys, whee...

Tata Motors shares rose as much as 5 per cent to hit an intraday high of ₹ 177.90 after the company maintained profitability guidance for its luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Jaguar Land Rover has not seen any impact so far from issues at UK ports, its parent Tata Motors said on Thursday, even as many countries cut transport ties with Britain due to a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus. “Jaguar Land Rover has comprehensive contingency planning and actions in place to respond to ongoing COVID challenges and disruption. This is subject to constant review,” Tata Motors said in a stock exchange filing. The Tokyo-listed Honda Motor had to stop output at its British factory earlier this month because of transport-related delays that caused a shortage of parts. It resumed production about a week later. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded issues that were already plaguing carmakers ahead of Brexit, with the looming end to the transition period widely expect...

Tesla Inc and Wall Street made 2020 the year that the US automobile industry decided to go electric. Tesla’s market capitalisation shot above $600 billion, making the once wobbly startup, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, worth more than the five top-selling global vehicle making groups combined. The exclamation point came on Friday when Tesla rose to a record high in frantic trading ahead of the stock’s much anticipated entrance into the benchmark S&P 500 index. For 2021, all indicators point toward the industry accelerating its shift toward electrification, a turning point as historically momentous as the launch of Ford Motor Co’s moving assembly line for the Model T or General Motors’ 2009 bankruptcy. Tesla’s ascent came the same year that activist hedge funds and other investors ratcheted up pressure on corporations to fight climate change. Evidence is growing that more investors have concluded the century-long dominance of internal combustion engin...

It was earlier this year that the Suzuki Jimny was showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo to assess the response from the consumers in the country. Since then, there have many speculations regarding the arrival of the off-roader SUV in the Indian market. It is one of the highly awaited models in the country right now. The Maruti Suzuki Jimny Sierra SUV was captured on camera testing on Indian roads near its manufacturing plant in Manesar earlier and now, a new image of the Suzuki Jimny has surfaced on the internet featuring three units of the SUV spotted on the roads of Gurugram. Similar to previous spy shots, the SUVs spotted without camouflage are three-door versions, suggesting the launch could be imminent. But the carmaker hasn’t confirmed any launch details of the vehicle in India. The Indo-Japanese carmaker reportedly has commenced the production of the SUV at its Manesar facility. The carmaker is assembling the Jimny SUV for the export markets as production at the Kosai plant in J...

Kia Motors India becomes the first car manufacturer to sell over one lakh connected cars in India. In fact, the company says that one of every two Kia cars sold in India is a connected car. Kia cars fitted with UVO technology account for more than 55 per cent contribution to the total sales of the company in India. The best-selling connected car variant is the Kia Seltos GTX Plus DCT 1.4 Turbo model, which contributed to almost 15 per cent of Kia’s total connected car sales. Commenting on the technology superiority, Kookhyun Shim, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kia Motors India said, “For today’s internet-savvy generation, a car should be their extension in every aspect including connectivity which can ease mobility. Our advanced UVO connect technology is a breakthrough effort in this direction which integrates smart devices with our cars for enabling a seamless, safer and memorable drive experience. Technology has always been at the focal point since o...

German car maker Daimler will begin serial production of the EQB electric model in Hungary in the fourth quarter of 2021 after investment of more than 100 million euro ($122 million) investment, factory director Christian Wolff said on Monday. The compact SUV vehicle will be the first fully electric car produced in Hungary, whose economy is dependent on car manufacturing, with German luxury brands Daimler, BMW and Audi all building or expanding manufacturing capacity in the country. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page that the government had contributed 15 billion forints ($52 million) to the investment to secure the 4,400 jobs Daimler has filled in the central Hungarian town of Kecskemet. Hungary’s economy imploded in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, falling by an annual 13.6% in the second quarter. The government expects a 5-6% fall in 2020 before a modest rebound in 2021

It was just a few days ago that MV Agusta teased this new motorcycle and now, we finally get to see it. MV Agusta has joined forces with Alpine, the iconic French manufacturer of racing and sports cars, for the design and production of a 110-units limited series bike inspired by the Alpine A110. The Superveloce limited edition draws on the common passion of both MV Agusta’s and Alpine’s fans. Both companies also share a glorious history in competition, and an aspiration to create unique emotions for their customers through innovative, forward-looking solutions yet remaining true to their roots. The Superveloce Alpine features MV Agusta’s signature inline 3-cylinder engine, with 147 bhp at 13.000 rpm for top speeds of over 240 kmph, and comes with a host of dedicated accessories. The graphic design, the detailing and the accessories will bear the mark of Alpine. Timur Sardarov, CEO MV Agusta Motor S.p.A., said, “Many Alpine customers are also big MV Agusta fans, and vic...

Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for fifth day in a row on Saturday (December 12) after being hiked for seven consecutive days. In the national capital, the price of petrol remained constant at ₹ 83.71 per litre with effect from 6 am on Saturday, and that of diesel was unchanged at ₹ 73.87 per litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel rates were at ₹ 90.34 per litre and ₹ 80.51 per litre respectively. In Delhi, petrol prices were hiked by ₹ 2.65 per litre and diesel prices have risen by ₹ 3.40 per litre in the last 20 days alone. The fuel prices in Mumbai are the highest among metros. The oil companies align the domestic fuel prices with global benchmarks by considering the changes in the foreign exchange levels. Domestic petrol and diesel prices vary across states due to value-added tax (VAT). The state-owned oil marketing firms Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum Cor...

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the BMW Group announced a comprehensive strategic collaboration. The goal of the collaboration is to further accelerate the BMW Group’s pace of innovation by placing data and analytics at the centre of its decision-making. The companies will combine their strengths to jointly develop cloud-based IT and software solutions that increase efficiency, performance, and sustainability across all company processes, from vehicle development to after-sales services. As part of the wide-ranging collaboration, the BMW Group will migrate data from across its business units and operations in over a hundred countries to AWS. The move will encompass a number of the BMW Group’s central IT systems and databases for functions such as sales, manufacturing, and maintenance, and will help increase agility, achieve new insights from data analysis and more quickly innovate new customer experiences. In addition, the companies will invest in enabling and training up to 5...

The subscription offer for the Nexon EV was first introduced by Tata Motors earlier this year with a monthly cost of ₹ 41,900 per month for a 36-month tenure. However, the monthly fee was reduced to ₹ 34,900 per month in September 2020. The home-grown automaker has silently reduced the monthly subscription price of the EV yet again. As listed on Tata Nexon EV’s official website, the car is now available at a subscription cost of ₹ 29,500 per month. Customers opting this package can avail the brand new EV XZ+ variant in a colour of their choice. Available for a limited period, this subscription program on the Nexon EV is offered in 5 major cities which includes Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The program ensures hassle-free vehicle owning experience for the customers. The subscription package comprises doorstep delivery, comprehensive insurance coverage, 24X7 roadside assistance, free maintenance with periodic servicing. Customers availing this program will not ha...

Hyundai Motor Co is planning to recall a total of 50,864 Kona electric cars and Nexo fuel cell vehicles in South Korea due to faulty electronic braking systems, the transport ministry said. Their braking systems may not function due to software defects, the ministry said, but did not mention if the defects have led to accidents. It was not immediately clear if the recall would affect other markets. Kona Electric is one of best-selling electric vehicles in Europe and their sales outside the home market accounted for more than three quarters of the total. The South Korean recall would cover about 40,000 Kona electric and hybrid electric vehicles produced between May 2019 and November 2020 and 10,138 Nexo fuel cell SUVs made between January 2018 and November 2020

Volvo Cars engineers call it ‘the ultimate driving simulator’, but it is not just an excuse for them to indulge their inner basement gamer. Instead, the Swedish company’s ground-breaking mixed-reality simulator is used to make new strides in safety and autonomous driving technology. A setup with a moving driving seat, a steering wheel with haptic feedback and a crystal-clear virtual reality headset would make any serious gamer jealous. Using cutting-edge technology from the leading real-time 3D development platform Unity and Finnish virtual and mixed reality experts Varjo, the simulator involves driving a real car on real roads. It combines life-like, high definition 3D graphics, an augmented reality headset, and a full-body Teslasuit that provides haptic feedback from a virtual world, while also monitoring bodily reactions. This combination of software and hardware allows Volvo engineers to endlessly simulate traffic scenarios on a real test track road while using a real ca...