Has the good news already hit your ear? We just came across something too good to be true. Yes, it is about Toyota and the steel prices. Toyota has already told its suppliers that the company is going to lower the prices of steel products that it sells them. Any guesses how low the prices are going to be? You are not going to believe this. There will be a descent of 9 per cent in steel prices and this news is a cent per cent true.

Very soon Toyota will be having its own price bargains with top steelmakers like Nippon Steel Corp for the next business year starting 1 April, 2010. Toyota has taken the surprising step even before its own negotiations very intelligently. By doing so, it can limit the likely price hikes by steelmakers more easily. Did you think the only reason was that Toyota did not want to be too aggressive on its suppliers? Definitely no.

Toyota plans to re-adjust the selling prices depending on its negotiations with the steelmakers. By purchasing steel on behalf of its suppliers, Toyota gets a better deal. Toyota which sets the benchmark for steel price negotiations at other Japanese automakers, usually tells its suppliers of its selling prices only after agreeing prices with steelmakers.

The company would be cutting prices of hot-rolled steel by about 9 per cent. On the other hand, Toyota too would be paying its suppliers lesser by an equal amount while buying back components from them. All this info has come out from four sources with direct knowledge of Toyota’s talks with its suppliers. Toyota, however, has remained tight-lipped and did not comment.

What about the Japanese steelmakers? They are actually planning to transfer at least a part of the price hike of the demand-led Chinese raw materials to the end users. They plan to do so during the annual negotiations. But in Japan, car sales are very low and so is the demand for raw materials like steel. So, automakers in Japan seem to be a little hesitant in paying more for steel. By letting suppliers know of intentions to cut prices, Toyota must be trying its best to impact negotiations with the steelmakers. Will it succeed? We do not really know.

There is yet another reason behind Toyota’s startling step. The company may want to keep steel prices very low in order to enhance its own competitiveness. It has been rumoured that Toyota has told its suppliers that competitors like Hyundai Motor Co and Volkswagen were closing the price and quality gap.

JFE Holdings Inc from Japan is the world’s sixth largest steelmaker. Last week, this steelmaker had agreed to an increase of 55 per cent in the prices for the April-June supply of hard coking coal from BHP Billiton Ltd, an Australian mining giant. JFE Holdings Inc will, however, seek an annual contract again when the deal expires in July.

Now, the question remains, ‘Who will win’? Will it be Toyota or the steelmakers? Very soon the battle results will be out. Let’s wait until then.

Union Budget 2010 has been out there for some time and we have still not recovered from the bitter fact that cars are going to cost more now. Some car manufacturers even went a step ahead and increased prices of their cars even before the budget was read. Talk about beating the competition!

But auto industry analysts have welcomed the Budget saying that it is actually going to benefit the auto industry in the long-run. Another authority which seems mighty pleased with the Union Budget is the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

SIAM has welcomed the Union Budget 2010-11, branding it as a reform focused growth oriented Budget in the background of economic downturn. Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, SIAM and President – Automotive, Mahindra & Mahindra, is quick to point out the positive proposals of the Budget.

He said that the correction in Excise duty on Electric Vehicles will enable the manufacturers take CENVAT credit and exemption of Customs duty on Electric Vehicles parts. Dr Goenka also welcomed the increase in weighted deduction for in-house R&D to 200% from 150% and outsourced R&D from 125% to 175%.

So it means that electric vehicles will cost lesser now. All that sounds good. But considering that electric vehicles are not much popular among the Indian customers, relaxation in customs duty on electric vehicles certainly does not bring any kind of joy to us.

Dr. Goenka also said that 2% hike in Excise duty was expected and should not have adverse impact on the market. That’s about the market but what about the people on whom the auto manufacturers have already passed on the cost burden.

So what if you have to pay more to purchase the vehicle that you have always wanted to, it does not wreak havoc in anyone’s life – definitely not SIAM’s, at least.

The new Fabia after being tested in various parts of the world will be here in India some time soon. Does that mean the current model is going to get phased out? Skoda is also offering a discount of Rs 50,000 on select variants of the Skoda Fabia hatchback. What’s happening? The Fabia, after the rejuvenating facelift will soon come to India. Will the few changes in the exteriors and lots in the interiors of the super hatch make you feel really special?

The bumper, fog lamps and the grille are all new in the new Fabia. The larger 3-dimensional headlamps will not look too different from the current model, but are sure to put the accent on the profile line. The chrome front grille with fins will offer you a warm welcome. A new set of alloys and hubcaps are going to adorn the wheels. Apart from these changes, the Fabia may look quite the same.

Inside, the Skoda Fabia has suffered a major makeover. The upholstery design will be more eye catching. The centre console too will be redesigned. We have also heard that the Fabia will come with an electronic climate control system. They also say that the first-class touch and feel of the interiors make you feel like you are sitting on a comfortable couch. Is that so?

Skoda is offering seven petrol engines and three diesel units of the Fabia. But, in India, we may have the 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine. The engine will be powerful enough to churn out 70 bhp of power. Coming to the diesel category, we expect a 1.6-litre engine with 90-105 bhp power output. We also heard that the current Fabia’s 1.4-litre diesel engine will be groomed to make it comply with new emission norms.

The roominess in the small car is fantabulous. Its increased height and breadth make sure you have enough space to sit comfortably. Height-adjustable seats only add to the comfort. The telescopic steering lets the driver of any height adjust the steering wheel with ease. The Skoda Fabia has ample boot space too where you can dump your entire luggage. In spite of the roominess, the Fabia will not let you suffer on the Indian road. You can just get past any little space during the traffic jam and squeeze into the little parking space anywhere. This is a wonderful compact car that lets you enjoy the luxury of space. Agree?

Will the new Fabia be a reality in India? Or, is it just a fable? The news is too good to be true. The car is believed to be easy to handle in all situations. The ABS system with dual-rate power brakes and MSR engine brake torque regulator support safe halting and good handling. What more can one want? Space, luxury, safety – we may get it all in the new Fabia.

Basking in its recently acquired glory of high February sales, American car manufacturing giant GM revealed an interest to introduce its most popular international models, Camaro and Corvette, in India.

Timothy E Lee, president, international operations of General Motors, recently said that popular cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro will be brought to India and sold in select boutique showrooms in small numbers, as these cars will be imported as Complete Built Units (CBU) and the import duties will be high.

Lee said, “The import duty required to sell the other kinds of Chevy vehicles like Corvette or Camaro is quite extensive to do it for the buying public. We will have a boutique offering for those kinds of brands but those will never be the volume products for India. Every one of those products will create its own space in India, but it will be very small in numbers”.

When GM displayed its American muscle car, Chevrolet Camaro, at the 2010 Auto Expo, it denied any plans of bringing it to India. It is certain now that Camaro and Corvette are India bound, however, GM officials are reluctant to reveal any details about a likely launch date. Recently the 100,000th Camaro was rolled off the assembly line and assigned its Vehicle Identification Number in the U.S.

Chevrolet has so far kept its car line-up pretty limited, with most of them being small cars and a few SUV’s (Captiva and Tavera) and executive segment cars like Optra and the recently launched Cruze sedan.

Recently launched Cruze and Beat have proved to be the wild cards for Chevrolet since their launch last year. A brand which was fast losing its grip to other competing cars in the Indian market has revived itself with these new launches.

GM has been on a roll in the past few months, at least in India, and it plans to continue to satisfy the Indian car buyers with new offerings. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed to see these iconic cars like that of Camaro and Corvette tread in India pretty soon.

Okay folks, it is official now. Price range for Figo, the first compact car from Ford Motors, has been officially announced.

Ford Figo will be available in two engine variants, 1.2l Durateq petrol and 1.4l Duratorq diesel. The petrol engine has a mileage of 15.6 kilometres per litre and diesel engine has a fuel efficiency of 20 kilometres per litre.

Price for the petrol engine variant starts at Rs 3.5 lakh, the diesel one is priced at Rs 4.48 lakh. Both engine variants will have a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Ford Figo, which will compete with the likes Maruti Suzuki Ritz, Hyundai i20, has been priced very competitively and is a sure to become popular among the small car loving Indians.

The car looks totally cool – both from inside and outside. Low-set grille, sloping roofline and edgy side panels give its exterior a look that makes it easily (and in a better way) different than its competitors. The interior look of Figo is based on two themes – ebony black and coral red. Based on a 2498mm wheelbase, the interiors are quite spacious. Figo has a seating capacity of five adults and a rear boot that that has 284.0 litres of space.

The equipment section of Figo has been planned carefully. Figo is equipped with a Bluetooth Phone Interface, an MP3 player, a radio and 4 speakers.

Safety features in Ford Figo include dual front airbags and Anti-lock Braking System with EBD which enhances car handling. Apart from that, Figo features intelligent central locking, engine immobilizer (PATS) and a 3 point seatbelts for front and rear seats. It has a Rapid Deceleration Warning system that, at speeds greater than 96 kmph, activates the hazard warning lamps and warns trailing drivers about the sudden brakes.

With South Africa serving as the initial target, Ford will be exporting the Figo from India to various markets across the globe.

To appeal to the different colour preferences of people, Figo has been made available in seven shades: Diamond white, Panther black, Moondust silver, Chill, Sea grey, Squeeze and Colorado red.

Tata Motors Ltd, the country’s largest auto maker by value and the third largest car maker by volume seems to have woken up from sleep. It will now be improving its after-sales service as well. What exactly will Tata Motors offer?

The initiative, “Tata Motors Service Edge” is aimed at offering not just sales but after-sales services too. This would include 24/7 emergency road assistance, quick repairs, insurance and spares. General Motors India Pvt Ltd and Fiat Automobiles India Pvt Ltd were already providing branded services and it was high time for Tata Motors to catch up with the other auto majors.

The president of passenger car business of Tata Motors himself admitted that the quality of Tata cars is not that remarkable. The latest models like the Indica Vista and the Manza, however, have seen a rise in this measure. The branded after-sales service can help the company improve its rankings by providing better service for its customers. It’s a long time now since Tata Motors has an alliance with Fiat. At the moment, it is rumoured that Tata Motors is in talks with Fiat and may extend some of the services it offers the Italian car maker.

It has been long since Carnation Auto India Ltd and Mahindra First Choice Services, Reliance Autozone and Carplus entered the service and spares business. Now, Tata Motors wants to do the same. Car makers are trying hard to get even vehicles with expired warranties back into their service range. Will they succeed? We need to wait. For the car makers, however, the business seems to be doing really well. The average margin has been estimated at 17-18% for spares and 25% for services.

Now seems to be the time. The Indian automotive industry is changing. Global auto makers are targeting the Indian roads. They are coming to India with small car offerings. When the competition is so tight, what can Tata Motors do? The Tata Motors initiative gains in importance with few differentiators among competing products. The sales of entry-level models are just zooming by the day. The smaller towns and cities too are seeing the difference. At such a stage, initiating a program like after-sales services could come in handy for Tata Motors.

Total car sales in the domestic market were up by 34.98% compared to the same period in 2009. February sales outdid the previous record achieved in January this year. 115,505 cars were sold last year in the month of February, while, during February this year, 153,845 cars were successfully sold. This is the 11th consecutive month of growth in the car industry and Tata Motors has planned to do something different, something extra.

Three months after Volkswagen bought 20 per cent stakes in Suzuki Motor Corporation, the deal seems to have ruffled the feathers of one certain Japanese car manufacturer. Yes, you read it right. It may come as a late reaction from the automaker; nevertheless, Nissan has made up its mind to review the Pixo sourcing deal with Suzuki.

Nissan currently does not have a small car offering for the European market, where the crowd seems to be shifting towards more compact and fuel-efficient cars. Nissan has a deal with Suzuki under which it sources the Maruti Suzuki A-Star and sells it as Nissan Pixo in Europe.

According to Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava, Nissan does not have a choice other than to continue the sourcing agreement as the Japanese company still does not have a replacement model for the Pixo, which is doing quite well in Europe.

“Nissan will be left without a small car if they terminate the agreement. We have had no formal dialogue with the company so far on the issue and our understanding is that the deal will continue for the entire duration, which extends till 2012,” stated Bhargava.

But, with VW coming in picture, the scene has changed.

With the help of Suzuki, VW plans to enter the small car market over the next few years and may not prefer to share its small car details, which will require huge investments with a third company.

Besides, Nissan is coming up with its own compact car for the Indian and international market, for which the production will start very soon at its Chennai plant.

Both these factors make the Nissan-Suzuki deal look very unreasonable post its completion in 2012.

Long story short: Nissan will continue to source Suzuki Pixo till the contract ends in 2012. However if Suzuki decides to discontinue the contract after 2013, because of Volkswagen, Nissan will find somebody else.

Suzuki Motor Corporation has raised its stake in Maruti Suzuki to 55 per cent, fuelling speculations about its intention for the Indian subsidiary and future plans of taking total control of India’s largest carmaker.

Recently, Suzuki raised its stakes in Maruti Suzuki by 8 per cent through secondary market purchase, and plans to increase it further. Now, Indian investment laws allow companies to make creeping acquisitions of up to 5% a year and any increase beyond 55% will require Suzuki to make an open offer for another 20%.

Being at the top of car sales in India has put Maruti Suzuki in a highly esteemed position in Suzuki’s global operations. Maruti Suzuki already contributes nearly 80% of Suzuki’s total profits, and when we look at the volumes too, it has outsmarted Suzuki’s numbers.

Auto analysts view the increase in stakes as a part of a bigger game plan, especially after the VW-Suzuki deal where Volkswagen picked up a 20% stake in Suzuki. It is likely that Suzuki would want to gain total control over Maruti.

After Suzuki, which currently holds 55% of the stakes, FIIs and LIC are the biggest stakeholders in Maruti, owning 22.21% and 11.22%, respectively. The current market value of Maruti stands at around $10 billion and Suzuki will have to pay about $5 billion, if it were to delist the company altogether.

“There’s no reason why Suzuki would want (it) … unless it has a … larger game-plan lined up,” one former Maruti official said. “Suzuki gets nothing by upping its stake unless it has a longer term strategy of which this is a part,” added the analyst.

Despite global auto manufacturers invading the Indian car market, Maruti has managed to be on the top of the Indian car sales figure.

Save oil. Save the world. It is very important to preserve resources so that the future generation too can make use of them. Will awareness on fuel consumption help save it? Fuel needs to be used judiciously. Everybody has a right to fuel and it is everyone’s duty to use fuel thoughtfully. If every individual is aware of the need to preserve fuel, the world would be a happier place. Hyundai Motor India is trying its best to spread the smile by saving fuel.

Recently, the Miles and Smiles Rally was held in Ahmedabad by Hyundai Motor India for its i10 customers. After Delhi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat happens to be the lucky city. It was a 77 km rally and a mighty 82 cars participated. Interested in the eligibility criteria and prizes? Well, the contest was for the 1.1 and 1.2 litre categories. The prizes were cash awards. Rs 10,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 4,000 for the winner, first runner up and second runner up respectively. Now, want to know who won? In the 1.1 Litre category the average mileage was 28.2 and the winner was Surjit Singh Vaghela. In the 1.2 Litre category, Yogesh Bhai won and the average mileage was 29.14. Impressive mileage right?

The aim of the contest was to encourage fuel efficient driving habits. Customers and their families took part in the competition with a lot of enthusiasm. Everybody was first given a brief presentation on fuel-saving techniques while driving. The tanks were then filled at the nearby IOC filling station. Indian Oil Corporation Limited was the sponsor and Wynn’s Mekuba the associate sponsor. Participants were not allowed to re-fill the tanks during the rally. The rally started and ended at Hotel Cambay Grand. Participants followed the Gandhi Nagar route through NH- 8C and took a U turn at the Chiloda Circle heading back towards Hotel Cambay Grand.

The Miles and Smiles Rally also helped the car company engage with its customers while imparting fuel-saving driver education in a fun-filled atmosphere. Saving fuel being the need of the hour, Hyundai Motor India has done its part. The Hyundai i10 is one of the best-selling cars in India and driving it the best way gives the maximum mileage too. Just before the rally began, the odometer readings were noted by the organizers and the trip meter was made ‘zero’. At the end of the rally, the winners took it all.

Great job Hyundai i10! The car maker also won the hearts of its customers’ families. A host of games were conducted for the families and children of the participants and they were served a hearty meal too. With customers learning the fuel-saving lesson, Hyundai Motor India too seems to be happy. Wish you too could be a part of the Miles and Smiles Rally? Don’t worry. Looking at the exceptional response in Delhi and Ahmedabad, Hyundai may come to your city as well.

Ford has entered the small car segment in India with its super-cool hatchback Figo. Bookings have already started and the response from the customers has been great. That’s not all, Ford Motors wants to cash in on the growing euphoria and bring its Fiesta hatchback, which has already been launched in the European markets, to India.

Considering that Ford had earlier an+nounced its plans to launch a new product every 12 or 18 months, it only seems logical to speculate on hatchback Fiesta’s arrival in India. If launched in India, it will face strong competition with the likes of Honda Jazz, which happens to be positioned in the same segment.

The hatchback version will be very similar to the existing Ford Fiesta sedan, but with a trimmed back and new styling. The Fiesta Hatch is likely to feature two petrol DURATEC engine options: a 1.4-litre 79 bhp and a 1.6-litre 99 bhp along with a 1.4-litre/1.6-litre DURATORQ diesel engine.

The details of Fiesta Hatch have not been announced officially. However, if Ford brings Fiesta hatch to India, it will add a new dimension to the small car options of Indian customers. Most of the manufacturers in India, including Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, have multiple small car offerings.

Ford Fiesta is a subcompact/super-mini car featuring a front-wheel drive system. Currently, it is marketed by the Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India and South Africa. The sixth generation of Fiesta has been made available in the United States (starting January) and Canada (starting March), which makes it the first Fiesta model to be sold in North America since 1978–80.

It is interesting to know that Ford’s overseas Fiesta model is one of the most successful small cars sold in the world. Since its launch in 1976, Fiesta has sold more than 12 million units. Amazing, isn’t it!