Jaguar Land Rover inaugurates new dealership in Kochi

Jaguar Land Rover inaugurates another new showroom in Kochi. This is the 13th new showroom inaugurated by JLR in India in 12 different cities. This is the first JLR dealership in Kerala and will offer the entire portfolio of JLR products.

Mr. Rohit Suri, Head of Premier Car Division, Jaguar Land Rover India, said, "The response to our products has been very encouraging across India and I am proud to be present at the opening of this dealership, which offers excellent facilities for our customers in the Kerala region".

Jaguar Land Rover opened their first Indian showroom in June 2009 and now has fully operational sales and service facilities in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ludhiana and Kochi.

Source: Carwale
 

Tata Nano Diesel Mileage Figures Leaked: Over 30 Kmpl

Diesel cars are the most preferred cars in India in recent months. It is evident that the difference in price and running costs between petrol and diesel has made the diesel, the preferred fuel to many Indians. At this juncture Tata Motors is slowly developing a diesel engine for its Nano.

The Tata Nano which is India and the world's cheapest car is now available with a 650cc petrol engine. We had earlier reported that Bosch, the auto parts maker was developing the diesel power train for the Nano.

A diesel powered Nano will be a dream car for several Indians as it will be a cheaper car to buy. Further diesel's improved fuel economy will also help. The Tata Nano diesel's fuel economy will be the best selling point for Tata Motors. According to sources, the mileage of the diesel Nano will be more than 30kmpl.

This kind of mileage is something that we usually see in a high power motorcycle such as the Royal Enfield Bullet. This will emerge a top selling factor for Tata Motors. However, diesel cars are priced higher than petrol cars and Tata must ensure the Tata Nano diesel's price is not too high.

According to estimates, the Nano diesel's fuel economy will be between 30 to 34kmpl. As per the ARAI standards, The Nano's mileage should be over 30kmpl, making the Indian small car the most fuel efficient car in the country ahead of the Tata Indica eV2.

Source: OneIndia Auto

Tata 407 pick-up drives into silver jubilee year

Mumbai, Oct. 18: Tata Motors celebrated on Tuesday the Silver Jubilee year of one of its most successful models – the 407 light commercial vehicle range.

Available in 2.2-4.2 tonnes payloads and sold across 15 countries, the 407-truck family has a 75 per cent domestic market share in its segment.

With many variants such as tippers and pick-ups available and with both diesel and CNG-powered versions, the 407 has sold over five lakh units since 1986.

Mr P.M. Telang, Tata Motors' Managing Director – India Operations, said, “The Tata 407 was among the first, cutting across industries, to have demonstrated the supremacy of indigenously developed products in the face of international competition. We will continue to add new features to the range matching customer requirements.”

Used for goods transport, mining, construction and in the Defence forces, the 407 has seen a lot of updates over time.

It has spawned the Cityride fully-built buses in 12-to-24 seat variants and after Tata Motor's joint venture with Marcopolo of Brazil (in 2006), the platform was included in the Starbus range as a 24-seat variant and 12-18 seat luxury variants.

For goods transportation, the SFC 407EX TURBO variant was created, while the later EX-2 refresh added longer service intervals, a heavy-duty load body and power steering with upgraded cabin features. 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Tata wants supplier units close to plants

Aims to cut costs, bring down turnaround time

Tata Motors has asked body-building and chassis suppliers for its commercial vehicles business to set up their plants near its CV and bus manufacturing plants in Jamshedpur, Lucknow and Pune to cut transport costs and bring down the turnaround time involved in producing a complete vehicle.



“We have asked four to five chassis and body-building companies to set up their assembly units near our plants in Jamshedpur, Pune and Lucknow. This will be economically good for us. There will be significant savings from it,” Ravi Pisharody, president – commercial vehicles business unit (CVBU), Tata Motors told Financial Chronicle on the sidelines of celebration of 25 years of its light commercial vehicle (LCV) — Tata 407. He, however, did not provide names of body-building and chassis manufacturers that would be setting up their facilities near Tata Motors plants.

Tata Motors manufactures a whole range of commercial vehicles at its Pune and Jamshedpur plants and buses at its Lucknow plant. “Earlier, we used to send the frames of the vehicles to the respective plants of these builders for the vehicles to be delivered. If the suppliers come close to our manufacturing facilities, it will bring down turnaround time on manufacturing of vehicles,” said Pisharody.

He clarified that orders for body-building for CVs and chassis for buses will; be split between third party vendors and its joint ventures — Tata Marcopolo Motors and Automobile Corporation of Goa — who will do some of the body-building and chassis manufacturing.

The CV business unit head expressed concern over the rising prices of steel and aluminium in the domestic market. Tata Motors’ CV sales jumped by 19 per cent to 2,43,134 units in the domestic market in the first half of this financial year. The company plans to showcase a new range of LCVs in the 3.5 tonne to 7.5 tonne category based on the Y1 platform at the Auto Expo in January next year. “We have started selling a pilot range to select customers to get their feedback. We will display the range at the Auto Expo 2012,” said Pisharody.

Tata Motors, whose passenger vehicles sales slumped in first half of this financial year, expects sales to be in the positive territory in the second half on the back of new launches - new Vista, new Indigo eCS-VX, Tata Aria 4x2, Sumo Grande and the new Tata Safari, which is expected to be launched soon.



“We have got a good response for the new Indigo eCS-VX, new Vista and Aria’s 4x2 variant this festive season. We expect to improve sales in the second half of this financial year. These vehicles will also help us in increasing our market share,” said Prakash M Telang, managing director – India operations at Tata Motors. He, however, declined to quantify the increase in market share and bookings received for the new products. The cumulative sales of Tata passenger vehicles had fallen by 16 per cent to 1,25,448 units during April-September 2011 period, as compared to the same period in the previous year.

Source: My Digital FC

Tata Motors DVR: Steep discounts

If track record is anything to go by, prices of differential voting rights are likely to move up.

Tata Motors’ differential voting rights (DVR) shares are currently quoting at a steep 45.5 per cent discount to the ordinary shares of the company. In other words, at Rs 181, the ordinary shares are trading at a premium of Rs 82 a share, compared to the DVR shares. Typically, DVR shares trade at lower prices as these have limited voting rights but enjoy higher dividends vis-a-vis ordinary shares. In the case of Tata Motors’ DVR, the holders have a tenth of voting rights but enjoy an additional five per cent dividend, compared to holders of ordinary shares.

While there are no benchmarks, at what price should they trade? In the case of Tata Motors DVR, since its listing in December 2008, the discount on an average has been 34 per cent. However, in the last three years the discount has never breached the 46 per cent level, which is where its DVRs are now trading. If this historical trend holds, either Tata Motors’ share price will fall, or the DVR share price will rise from current levels to narrow the gap. It has happened in seven to eight occasions in the past, and every time the discount has touched 46 per cent, the DVR share price has recovered. Even if the gap has to reduce to its historical average of 34 per cent, the DVR share price should move up by at least Rs 21 per share from the current Rs 98.80. In terms of valuations as well, analysts believe that there is enough room for the DVRs to appreciate, and the risk-reward equation is favourable currently. “Considering the fundamentals and the current valuations, there is not much downside for the Tata Motors’ share price,” says Deven Choksey, managing director of K R Choksey.

Moreover, at the current levels the DVR is offering good dividend yield. In FY12, analysts are expecting a dividend of Rs 4.40 per share for the ordinary share; the company paid a dividend of Rs 4 per share (adjusted for stock split) for FY11. Considering the five per cent additional dividend, DVR holders should get Rs 4.5 per share, which translates into a dividend yield of almost 4.55 per cent as against the dividend yield of 2.43 per cent, in case of ordinary shares.

In terms of price to earnings, DVRs (at four times of the estimated earnings for FY13) are available at half the valuation of ordinary shares. For those considering Tata Motors as an investment, DVRs could be a good option. Even for those holding ordinary shares, switching to DVRs should prove rewarding. In both cases, it becomes risky if the discount widens beyond the 46 per cent level.

Source: Business Standard