[Via: BikeIndia]

HMSI had been producing over a lakh motorcycles and scooters earlier but now it feel that it will barely reach the 50,000 unit mark in October and the downward descend may continue in the coming months if a solution is not found for the labour issue. Honda's other Indian arm - Hero Honda has been dominating the market and registered over four lakh unit of two-wheeler sales in September and hopes to maintain the positive growth.

The over-all two-wheeler sales in India is robust due to the festive season and attractive loan offers and is expected to cross the 9 lakh unit mark in the month of September 2009. However, HMSI due to its labour issue is losing out on this opportunity.

The Manesar region is facing severe labour problems at other plants located in the area. Thankfully , the Honda plant has not witnessed any violent protests but the pace of production has been reduced as the workers seek higher wages. This will further increase the waiting period for the firm's flagship scooter - Activa.

[Via: BIKE]

Kawasaki remains the only Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer that still hasn't managed to set up operations in India. The company does have some kind of an agreement in place with Bajaj Auto though, and the latter is expected to launch the Kawasaki Ninja 250R in India before the end of this year.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

However, Kanpur-based LML (which had a tie-up with Vespa till 1999) is still making a few scooters that are fitted with two-stroke engines. Also, while the scooter market has shifted to CVT-type transmission, LML scooters still have manual-shift gearboxes.

While it continues to produce 125cc and 150cc two-stroke scooters, LML has now launched a new scooter with a 150cc four-stroke engine. There is no information available on where this new engine has been sourced from, but the scooter has been launched in Delhi and Ghaziabad, where it's priced at Rs 40,000.

LML ran into major financial trouble in 2005 and had to stop production for almost two years. The company started operating again in 2007, when it re-started production of geared two-stroke scooters at its Kanpur facility.

Operating under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), LML manages to sell around 1,500 units in and around Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. With its new four-stroke scooter, the company plans to tap the scooters market in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

LML has also found an unlikely outlet for its two-stroke scooters, which have found a lot of fans in Europe. The company exports up to 5,000 units per month to Italy, UK and France, where these scooters are sold under the LML Star Deluxe brand. LML scooters are also sold in Nigeria, Sudan, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Egypt, under the Stella brand.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

According to H S Goindi, Senior Vice-President of Sales, TVS Motors, "The overall range of price cuts varies between 700-2,000 rupees for all scooters and motorbikes. We have passed on the benefits (of the excise duty cut) to the customers." The prices are effective from Wednesday and are applicable across India.

[Via: cartradeindia]

TVS, which was earlier planning to invest about Rs 1 billion per annum on expansion, will now only invest about Rs 750 million per year for the next two years. 'We have seen low growth and will only invest for new models and R&D projects now,' said Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor. 'There is no significant investment in capacity. Given the turbulent conditions, we would trim our investments,' he added.

TVS Motor had recorded a 19 percent increase in total two-wheeler sales in September this year, but the company expects growth to slow down in the near future, primarily due to lack of availability of finance. 'We don't expect improvements till the end of 2009, as the global economy is slowing down. The crisis in the west is affecting us here, nobody is really willing to lend,' said Srinivasan.

Ferrari V4 Superbike Photos.....

[via: motorbeam]

"We are preparing for a slowdown. This is the festive season, so demand is high but product rationalisation may happen from mid-November," Sanjiv Bajaj, executive director, told reporters at a conference. "Production cut is not a bad word for us."

Bajaj also said the company was extending credit directly to dealers and making faster payments to suppliers amid tight liquidity in the financial system. The statement comes amid uneasy financial conditions in the market which has dented consumer sentiment.

Stringent lending norms by banks and imposition of higher interest rates have affected the sales performance of the company. It is, however, expanding the reach of its in-house financing company, Bajaj Auto Finance, to all outlets to fill the void.

The company has seen a decline of 1.4 per cent in sales during the first half of the current financial year with sales of 786,000. In comparison, Hero Honda , the market leader, has posted a gain of 20 per cent in sales during the same period at 1.8 million units.

In September, however, sales rose 5.5 per cent on higher exports. Bajaj Auto shares rose Rs 6.25, or 1.2 per cent, to Rs 535.45 at the close of trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. They have dropped 11.5 per cent in the year compared with a 35 per cent drop in the benchmark Sensitive index.

Bajaj Auto recently launched a new motorcycle Platina 125 in an attempt to woo buyers in the festive season. The 125cc bike, which is priced at Rs 39,000 (ex-showroom) is cheaper than India's largest selling 100cc bike Hero Honda Splendor, which is priced at Rs 41,000.

[Via: Business-standard]

'For renewal of the said Brand Licence agreement, KMCL has agreed for a consideration of Rs 7.75 crore to be paid to KEL,' the filing added. While Rs 2.75 crore has to be paid on or before 31st March 2010, the rest would by way of issuing five lakh redeemable cumulative preference shares of Rs 100 each, fully paid up, in the share capital of the company.

Further, Kinetic Motor would invest up to Rs 29.5 crore in equity shares of Mahindra Two Wheelers Pvt. Ltd., subject to shareholders approval and other necessary approvals. These decisions were taken at Kinetic Motor's board meeting yesterday.

All of the models will be marketed in developing countries and will have petrol, diesel and electric variants. KTM officials had earlier said that it was studying the possibilities of entering the small-car segment alongwith Bajaj.

Bajaj Auto, which is also one of world's largest three-wheeler manufacturers, will bring its expertise in low-cost engineering to the table. The Pune-based company recently unveiled its indigenously developed ultra low-cost car LITE at the Auto Expo earlier this year.

When contacted, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, declined to offer any comments on the matter. There is, however, no confirmation if the low-cost car will make its way to India as Bajaj Auto has already signed an agreement with Renualt and Nissan to develop a 'ultra low cost' car for the Indian market, which will be retailed at $2,500-$3,000.

The KTM-Bajaj car will be a four-seater urban runabout, which is under KTM's new 'innovative urban transportation concept'. Such vehicles are cheap yet frugal and fun to drive. The scooter, however, will be made available in the Indian market and is already under development. A launch by 2010 launch is likely for the model.