Michelin announces Rs 4,000 crore investment in India
French tyre manufacturer Michelin will set up a new manufacturing facility at Gummidipoondi (about 40km from Chennai), for which it will invest Rs 4,000 crore over a period of seven years. Michelin intends to produce truck and bus radial tyres at this plant, which is expected to be operational by 2012. These tyres will initially be meant only for the Indian market, though Michelin may also cater to some overseas markets at a later stage.
Michelin's tyre manufacturing facility will be situated on a 290 acre chunk of land situated in the SIPCOT industrial estate at Gummidipoondi. Michelin, which already supplies tyres to companies like Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo in India, currently imports most of its tyres from its plant in Thailand.
This isn't Michelin's first foray into the Indian tyre market. The company first came to India with MRF in the early-1990s (the partnership was dissolved in the mid-1990s) and then set up a joint venture (for truck and bus radial tyres) with Apollo Tyres in 2003, which also ended in 2005.
[Via: cartradeindia]
BMW Motorrad To Launch Superbikes In India
13 years back BMW has entered the Indian superbike scene with the F650 through a joint venture with the Hero Group, but things did not go as planned. BMW is planning another foray into the country's minuscule high-end motorcycle market and is planning to introduce its Motorrad range of super bikes in India which will cost in excess of Rs. 10 lakh.
However BMW India could take 1-2 years before anything is finalised. BMW Motorrad is a brand used by the German company for its motorcycles, which are in production since 1923. BMW Motorrad's G series, F series, R series and K series are available around the world. These bikes range from 450 cc capacity to 1300 cc capacity and are designed for off road, sport and touring purposes.
[Via: motorbeam]
Mac Motorcycles
UK-based motorcycle design studio have teamed up with product designer Ellis Pitt to form a new company called Mac Motorcycles. Ellis has collaborated with the team at Xenophya for the past nine months to design a range of simple, lightweight and sporty bikes.
Mac Motorcycles have planned four models namely the Spud, the Ruby (top right), the Peashooter and the Roarer (bottom right). The bikes will be powered using an air-cooled single cylinder 500cc Buell Blast engine in a tubular backbone frame.
Ellis explains "Between us we'd designed, modified, built and ridden all sorts of motorcycles over the last 30 years and thought it was time to produce a motorcycle that reflected our philosophy. Our influences have been diverse and we've made unusual connections between genres of motorcycles such as choppers, Italian singles from the 1950s, flat trackers and competition specials".
What underpins Mac Motorcycles' philosophy is the belief that the riding experience and the stories that go with motorcycle journeys seem to have been hijacked by technology and plastic.
The company initially plans to produce a few hundred bikes in small batches for markets in the UK, North America, Japan and Australia gradually increasing production with time. Expect to buy one of these beauties between £8k (approximately Rs 6.24 lakh) and £10k (approximately Rs 7.80 lakh).
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