Porsche Planning To Bring Electric Taycan For Rs.1.5cr In 2020
German sports car maker Porsche is set to drive in its electric car Taycan in India by middle of next year and is planning charging stations at high-end hotels, malls and its own service and sales outlets — apart from residences of customers — to take care of charging anxiety issues. The car — which has a single-charge range of over 450 km — will perhaps be the most expensive full-electric vehicle in India, and is expected to be priced around Rs 1.5 crore. Pavan Shetty, who heads the brand in India, said the company is gearing up for Taycan’s launch, and will be taking special care to ensure that customers don’t fall short of charging points. The company currently has six dealerships in the country, and is planning to expand the network when demand for luxury vehicles regains traction. Shetty said while sales of luxury cars have been impacted due to economic slowdown and the general weakness in consumer sentiment, some green shoots appear to be building up. “The fourth quarter of 2019 has been better than the previous quarter if you talk about sentiments. While the overall market mood will take some time to make a full recovery, we feel India remains a strong bet in the long run.
Tata To Unveil Tata Nexon EV On 19th December
Tata Motors is readying its Nexon EV for unveiling on 19th December 2019. This will be the third electric vehicle from the homegrown brand after Tiago EV and Tigor EV. This is going to be the first electric SUV from the brand to have Ziptron technology. Tata Motors has not revealed the specific launch date yet. But, it could hit the showrooms sometime in early 2020. Tata Motors will launch the Nexon EV in multiple phases. In the first phase, it will launch in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Thane. Tata Nexon EV is expected to be priced at around Rs 15 lakh (ex-showroom). It would be available in more than one variants. Tata Nexon EV will largely follow the same design as its fossil fuel variant has. However, there would be some distinctive characteristics as well. It receives fresh-looking LED daytime running lights. Also, there could be a projector headlamps. The front grille has become slimmer. Also, there would be a new bonnet and front-bumper design, revised fog-lamp clusters. The side and rear profile, the car would look similar to the regular Nexon compact SUV. Inside the cabin also, there would be similar look with some distinctive elements. To signify the zero-emission character of the SUV, Tata Motors might add some special colour trims. Tata Nexon EV is expected to come with a floating 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with ConnectNext, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A Harman audio system would be there just like the regular model. Apart from that, reverse parking camera, push start button will be the other features. Tata Motors is expected to offer the Nexon electric SUV with a 300 km range on a single charge, thanks to the Ziptron EV technology that is set to debut with this SUV. However, battery and electric motor specifications are yet to be disclosed. With the Ziptron technology, the SUV’s battery will be able to be charged via a 15A socket and through a fast charger as well.
Nissan To Increase Car Prices From January 2020
Nissan India has announced a price hike of up to 5% across its entire portfolio from January 2020, citing the reason of increased production cost. With this move prices of all the Nissan and Datsun cars available in India will be pricier from next month. Commenting on this decision, Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd, said, “Nissan is committed to offering innovative and exciting products under the Nissan and Datsun brand with the best value proposition to its customers in India.” He also said, “In the current challenging market conditions, we are constrained to increase the price of all Nissan and Datsun models due to increased costs. The proposed price increase will be effective from January 2020.” Nissan India also said that it is offering discounts on both Nissan and Datsun models under the Red Weekends campaign. Under this initiative, Nissan Kicks buyers can avail cash discounts up to Rs 40,000, exchange bonus up to Rs 40,000 and corporate discounts up to Rs 10,000.
Skoda-VW Plans 2 Months Of Shutdown Next Year
Skoda-Volkswagen India has fixed 53 days of shutdown and 16 additional non-production days in 2020 as it tries to reform and chalk out a strategy that will allow it to gain market share in the Indian car market. At present, the company sells fewer than two cars for every 100 new cars in India. The company has also planned a reduction of 7,000 cars. Further, according to the company’s internal planning calendar, accessed by TOI, it will be shifting to a four-day work week for 15 straight weeks from the second week of September. In effect, the company will have only 180.5 production days, 124.5 non-production days and about 53-60 days of shutdown. “Skoda Auto-Volkswagen India is preparing for the next generation of products with the India 2.0 project. We are implementing the MQB A0 IN platform in an operational facility and the same necessitates planning days of no production. Our strategy is to maintain our high and efficient rate of production on operational days and systematically plan non-production days to sustainably meet our customer deliveries without any delay,” a company spokesperson said. The company said there will be no layoffs. “This optimized model ensures that we are able to retain our full workforce, and continue training and upskilling our team,” the spokesperson said.
Hyundai India To Increase Car Prices From January 2020
Joining the bandwagon with other like Maruti Suzuki, Kia and Hero MotoCorp, South Korean auto manufacturer Hyundai has announced it will increase the prices of all the cars from January 2020, the company announced in a release on 10th December,2019. The automaker has not revealed the detail of the price hike amount. However, it said the price hike is due to the rise in input and material costs. The extent of price increase may vary from different models and fuel types. Last week, in a regulatory filing, India’s biggest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki announced price hike from January 2020 across all the models. Kia Motors too announced a price hike of its Seltos SUV from 1st January 2020. The biggest two-wheeler manufacturer of the country Hero MotoCorp announced an upward price revision that will be implemented from next month. In this move, all the motorcycle and scooters from the company will become pricier by up to Rs 2,000.
Hyundai India Evaluating Launch Of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles
Hyundai has announced that it has begun conducting a feasibility study to bring fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) to the Indian market. This move could see the introduction of the Hyundai Nexo FCEV to our market and is meant to increase the Korean brand’s green credentials here. Touted by Hyundai to be “the ultimate eco-friendly mobility solution”, fuel cell electric vehicles – like battery electric vehicles – do not develop greenhouse gasses or particulate matter. The Nexo comes with a 95kW fuel cell that powers an electric motor generating 161hp and 395Nm of peak torque. With a WLTP-certified range of 666km, a 0-100kph time of 9.2sec and a 177kph top speed, the Nexo is Hyundai’s technological flagship. Besides the futuristic powertrain, the all-electric SUV also gets a suite of autonomous driving functions, at least in international markets. There’s a next-generation blind spot monitor, Lane Following Assist (LFA) and Highway Driving Assist (HDA) and a self-parking function. If the Nexo does come to India, it’ll likely be as a CBU and some of these functions may be disabled. Hyundai already made its entry into the EV space with the Kona Electric, and is working on bringing a mass-market EV to India. The brand is also trying to build confidence in EVs in India by setting up adequate infrastructure and introducing a vehicle to vehicle charging facility.
Delta To Strengthen Manufacturing To Tap India’s Ev Charging Market
With more and more automobile manufacturers launching electric vehicles in the country, Taiwan and Gurugram-based power and energy management company Delta Electronics, optimistic about the EV market in India, believes that the electric vehicle charging industry will grow at 50% per annum in the next three years. Akshaye Barbuddhe, the business head for EV charging solutions at Delta Electronics in India, said that the company has supplied over 700 EV chargers of different capacities and specifications across the country. Currently, Delta Electronics has two manufacturing facilities located at Rudrapur and Hosur. The company has the capacity of producing 100 EV chargers per month. In the next three months’ time, Delta Electronics is expected to ramp up its facility to manufacture 500 EV chargers per month. By 2026, Delta Electronics will be investing $500 Mn in the Indian market. About $200 Mn of this would be used in setting up the first phase of Krishnagiri plant and towards creating research and development lab. The 125-acre Krishnagiri project will be developed in five stages, which include special economic zone (SEZ). It also plans to chase a market revenue of $10 Mn by the end of the next fiscal year.
Byd To Expand E-Bus Manufacturing In India, Open Bookings For Electric Mpvs
Chinese auto and electronics major BYD is planning to double its bus manufacturing capacity in India and will open bookings for its electric multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) product — T3 — soon, to tap the emerging electric vehicle (EV) market. In the auto sector, the company plans to increase its output capacity for electric buses to 5,000 every year from 2,000 now, said Ketsu Zhang, executive director, BYD India. In India, BYD has partnered Hyderabad-based Olectra for manufacturing and supplying electric buses. BYD’s factory near Chennai also manufactures electric buses and its production caters to domestic and overseas markets.