Prices of vehicles as well as of fuel may be heading north but demand for vehicles is refusing to ease. Retail demand for mass market vehicles during June and for luxury cars during the first half of the year is an indicator of strong pent-up demand. More on this later in the copy but first here is the complete list of all the major new breaks during the week in the auto space.
SafetyNiti report highlights need for safety
A report titled SafetyNiti said that the Gurgaon-Faridabad automotive belt has seen more than 2,700+ stories of injuries to workers which the team of Safe in India Foundation (SII) identified and provided due assistance in the past four years, including the COVID-19-induced lockdown period.
The belt which houses factories of Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Yamaha, Escorts, JCB, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and Suzuki Motorcycle India, also has a huge base of parts suppliers that employs thousands of workers.
Volvo Car sales jump 52%
Volvo Car India on Friday said its retail sales have increased by 52 percent in the first half of the year at 713 units as compared with the same period last year.
The Swedish luxury carmaker had retailed 469 cars in the January-June period of 2020.
Hero Electric to set up multiple factories
Hero Electric, the country’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer, will invest at least Rs 700 crore to raise annual production capacity to more than 1 million units over the next four years.
These new capacities will come up at two or three locations, including one which will be closer to a port for easier exports, a top executive of Hero Electric said.
BMW Motorrad launches R 1250 GS and R 1250 GS Adventure
BMW Motorrad has launched the 2021 versions of the R 1250 GS and the R 1250 GS Adventure in India starting at a price of Rs 20.45 lakh.
In terms of design, there haven’t been many changes made to the R 1250 bikes. They get the basic colour scheme as well as the Triple Black and Rallye Variant.
Auto retail sales grow 23% in June
India vehicle sales in June grew 23 percent to 1.21 million units as the re-opening of showrooms in most states except those in the Southern parts of the country helped bring pent-up demand.
Passenger vehicle sales during June jumped 43 percent to 184,134 units compared to the same month last year, according to data provided by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).
JLR set to lose 36% production to chip shortage
Jaguar Land Rover expects to end the first half of the year with a 36 percent loss in volumes due to the on-going semiconductor shortage though the second half is expected to see better supply of chips and improvement in vehicle production, a top company official said on July 7.
Supply of chips from Japan and North America are predicted to improve in the upcoming months but not before JLR loses nearly 100,000 units in the April to September period.
Mercedes sales zoom 65% in H1
Mercedes-Benz, India’s largest manufacturers of luxury cars, announced sales of 4,857 units in the January to June period, an increase of 65 percent compared to the same period last year. The first half of 2020 saw the three-pointed car brand sell 2,948 units.
The German carmaker said that eight launches boosted customer sentiment including strong demand for models like GLS Maybach 600, new S-Class along with AMGs, the company claimed. The long wheelbase E-Class remained the single highest selling model for Mercedes-Benz followed by the GLE luxury SUV. A-Class Limousine and the all-new GLA contributed to H1 2021 sales volumes.
With the GLS Maybach sold out for the year and the new S-Class outperforming expectation demand for luxury cars is back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
