Auto Sector

PNB, Union Bank of India slashes loan interest rates

Punjab National BankPublic sector lender Punjab National Bank has announced a cut in car loans by 50 basis points with effect from March 1, 2009.

With the latest revision, the car loan would come down to 10.5-11 per cent from the existing 11-11.5 per cent.

It should be noted that earlier this month, the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) had cut interest rates on home loans to 8 per cent and on car loans to 10 per cent for a period of one year

The new rates are applicable to all customers availing loans between February 23 and May 31, 2009, a bank official quoted in a statement.

Toyota Launches CNG Variant Of ‘Innova’

Toyota Launches CNG Variant Of ‘Innova’ Japanese Automobile major, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) expanded its range of alternate fuel vehicles by including the Innova CNG in its fold in India.

From now onwards the country’s most popular multipurpose vehicle, Innova will be available in CNG variant as well.

China to buy 13,000 Jaguars as part of new MoU

China to buy 13,000 Jaguars as part of new MoULondon, Feb. 28 : TATA-owned Jaguar Land Rover yesterday signed a "very significant" order to supply 13,000 vehicles to China.

The vehicles will be supplied over a three-year period, The Sun reports.

The news is a huge boost for the company - which employs thousands of workers in the UK at sites including Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood, Merseyside.

Honda Siel's Rajasthanunit on hold

Halves Greater Noida output to 200/day

Honda Siel Cars India has put on hold "indefinitely" the commissioning of its second manufacturing facility in Rajasthan amid a sales slowdown. The company has already halved production at the existing plant (Greater Noida) to 200 cars a day on a single shift basis against 400 being produced earlier and is using only about 55,000 units of the one lakh unit installed capacity at the site.

No wonder then that work on its Rs 1,000-crore facility coming up at Tapukara has been suspended for now.

HMSI targets 2 lakh 100cc motorbikes

To invest Rs 300 cr in next 3 years

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) is looking at initial production volume of about 2 lakh units for its all-new 100cc bike, slated for launch early next year.

HMSI is the wholly-owned arm of Honda Motor Co in India and by entering the 100cc bike segment, it would come in direct competition with sister company Hero Honda Motors (HHML).

But Shinji Aoyama, the president and CEO at HMSI, said, "We are not looking at a volume product (by entering the 100cc space)….we will do about 2 lakh units a year initially. The Hero Honda 100cc bikes are a very good means of transportation and we do not need to interfere with that."

Daimler opens new truck manufacturing plant in Mexico

Daimler opens new truck manufacturing plant in MexicoSaltillo, Mexico  - Daimler AG opened a new truck plant in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo on Friday, which will manufacture about 30,000 heavy-duty Freightliner trucks for the United States, Mexican and Canadian markets.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon attended the ceremony at Daimler Trucks North America's second plant in Mexico, which was built with an investment of 300 million dollars. The company said it expected the plant to generate 1,400 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs, as well as an additional 1,100 jobs in the local autoparts industry.

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