Heena Sharma Blog

Tata Motors -owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to cut over 1,000 contract-agency jobs amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic pressures . The UK's largest automotive manufacturer, which had earlier on Friday reported a 30.9 per cent drop in sales in the aftermath of the pandemic related lockdown, said the cuts were part of its transformation programme to improve operational efficiencies. Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance and achieve further operational efficiencies to enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business, a company statement said. Read More

Auto electricals manufacturer Lucas-TVS will exiting its joint venture by selling its 29.9 per cent stake in the company to Japanese partner Koito Manufacturing, for around Rs 148.5 crore. The joint venture, India Japan Lighting (IJL), was established in 1997 to manufacture and sell automotive lighting equipment. Since then, IJL has been supplying automotive lighting equipment mainly to Japanese automotive manufacturers in India. "With the changes taking place in the lndian automotive industry, both the partners have agreed that Koito will assume 100 per cent ownership in IJL, towards the end of December 2019, and going forward, they will proceed to focus on their respective strategic initiatives," said a statement by Arvind Balaji, joint managing director of Lucas-TVS. "In India, where the automotive market is expected to grow over the long-term, it would be necessary for the Koito Group and IJL to accelerate its decision-making," Koito Group said. Rea...

Automaker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) said on Wednesday it saw a "huge danger" of job losses in the ailing domestic auto sector, as it sought government intervention, including tax reductions to revive demand. A lending crisis among the country's shadow banks, which fund nearly 55-60% of commercial vehicles and 30% of passenger cars, has led to automakers, including M&M and its rivals Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd, to either cut production or temporarily close plants. M&M said in a statement it was only able to maintain margins due to falling commodity prices and the government must reduce the goods and services tax (GST) rate to spur demand. A slump in sales is also triggering massive job cuts in the sector that employs 35 million people directly and indirectly. Reuters reported on Tuesday that initial estimates suggest automakers, parts manufacturers and dealers have laid off about 350,000 workers since April. "Now jo...

In the 1960s and ’70s, few sedans oozed ultra-cool style as the Jaguar XJ does. Long and slender, with liquid lines yawning from the limpid headlamps back to an elegantly tapered tail, they seemed to slither down the road like something from a naughty dream. Jerry Hall, Tom Petty, and Frank Sinatra owned them. So did the royal family. Owning one now can also be a nightmare. Complications from rust damage, overheating issues, and cracked cables can spell hours stranded on the side of the road instead of tooling to a picnic or swishing through London streets to a nighttime haunt. And if you try to go more modern by buying an XJ from the later generations of the 1980s and ’90s, you’ll find that they lag, underpowered, comparable vehicles from BMW and Mercedes. But since it broke away from former owner Ford Motor Co. in 2008, Jaguar has been back in a major way. The brand, now owned by Tata Motors Ltd ., has just produced an excellent all-electric SUV, the I-Pace and ...

Tata Motors Monday launched a new premium variant of its lifestyle sports utility vehicle (SUV) Hexa with 16 new features, priced at Rs 1.527 million (ex-showroom New Delhi). The Hexa XM+ also been made available with an electric sunroof to enhance, which comes with a two years warranty, it said. Hexa, which is based on Aria platform and shares its engine with the Tata Safari Strome, was launched in the country in January 2017. "With turnaround 2.0 in play, we have continued to deepen our focus towards catering to the evolving customer demands by introducing new products and variants at regular intervals," a company statement said. Tata Motors' Turnaround 2.0 strategy is aimed at delivering "consistent, competitive and cash accretive growth". "With the launch of the Hexa XM+, we are further strengthening this product range," Tata Motors passenger vehicle business units vice-president for sales, marketing and customer support SN...

The Tata Harrier would feature company's IMPACT Design 2.0 philosophy, and Jaguar Land Rover-inspired OMEGA architecture adapted to suit Indian conditions Companies News : Tata Motors, a home-grown automobile manufacturer, has showcased the H5X sports utility vehicle (SUV) design prototype at the Auto Expo 2018. Now, based on the new design language, the carmaker is working on the first consumer-ready vehicle that is scheduled for launch early next year. Named the Tata Harrier, the upcoming SUV would be the first vehicle from the stable of Tata Motors to showcase the company’s IMPACT Design 2.0 philosophy. The IMPACT Design 2.0, as defined by Tata Motors, is a contemporary expression of the company’s design language that grabs the attention of the viewer with unique proportions, expressive surfaces and details. The Tata Harrier will bring extraordinary exterior design, plush interiors and future-ready connectivity and infotainment. The exteriors will be designed ...

About one-third of these launches have happened in the current quarter Companies News : Tata Motors   is aiming to save  Rs 19 billion   through cost reduction initiatives during 2018-19, a number comparable to last financial year. It will launch 50 new variants and products in the   commercial vehicle   (CV) segment, the backbone of the company. The cost savings of the last year came from both the CV and passenger vehicle (PV) division of the domestic business. Some of the cost saving initiatives include, bringing efficiencies in procurement of raw material and components and alternate cost effective sourcing. “The larger portion of cost savings came in CV division. The cost reduction we achieved was quite significant. It helped us to negative the expenses arising out of  BS-IV emission norms . The efforts that we took last year will also bear fruits this year. We can expect a similar amount of cost reduction at a gross level to happen t...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration is aiming to have more than 30 percent of vehicles run on electricity by 2030 in a bid to lower air pollution and curb reliance on fossil fuels Current Affairs News : India has pushed back a deadline to put thousands of battery-driven cars   on the road by nearly a year, in a setback to its ambitions of having   electric vehicles comprise about a third of its fleet by 2030. State-owned Energy Efficiency Services, which is responsible for procuring electric cars to replace the petrol and diesel vehicles used by government officials, will roll out the first 10,000 vehicles by March 2019, Saurabh Kumar, the agency’s managing director said. EESL issued its first tender for 10,000 cars in September. It planned to roll out 500 cars by November and the rest by June. “The need for building more charging points for 10,000 electric cars and states being slow in taking deliveries are the reasons for the delay,” Kumar s...

Company plans to offer cars that can do 400 km on a single charge, as opposed to existing EVs that can run 150 km at most Company News : German luxury car maker   Audi   is getting ready to launch a luxury   electric vehicle   (EV) in the country in 2020. It is working on training of employees and dealers. The company said dealerships will need to have a charging station as well. It plans to sell   EVs   at select dealerships in few cities depending on the progress in charging infrastructure to begin with. “The government has clearly sent a message that EV is the future and not hybrids while introducing the   GST last year. For the past nine months, we have been working heavily on the infrastructure. We have set up a task force called Electrified India within the company to work on the EV launch in India,” Rahil Ansari, Head, Audi   India told   Business Standard. Ansari said EV is the future for   Audi   globally. “Gl...