Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL), today announced that its Honda WR-V has crossed 50,000 cumulative sales milestone in India in one year since its launch in March 2017. According to the company, the Honda WR-V has witnessed success in Indian market and accounted for 28 per cent of total HCIL sales during the past 12 months.

Commenting on the success of the Honda WR-V, Yoichiro Ueno, President & CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd., said: “This is a very proud moment for us. Honda WR-V has witnessed great success in the Indian market and the 50,000 sales milestone validates its strong presence. It has emerged as a strong volume model in Honda’s model line-up striking the right chord among young urban customers who are looking for status, comfort and have an active lifestyle.”

WR-V has gained popularity across markets with its sales, fairly distributed across regions. In line with WR-V’s product offering with features like Sunroof, Tier 1 markets, comprising of large cities, contributed to 38 per cent of its nation-wide sales. The model has found equally strong resonance from Tier 3 markets due to its aspirational value and product strengths like high ground clearance.

[L-R] Jim Farley, Ford Executive Vice President and President of Global Markets, and Peter Fleet, Group Vice President & President, Ford Asia Pacific with Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector and Dr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Ford and Mahindra  have signed five new memoranda of understanding that further strengthen their strategic alliance and accelerate the development of key products for consumers in India and emerging markets.

Under the initiatives, Ford and Mahindra will leverage their strengths in the utility vehicle space to co-develop a midsize sports utility vehicle (C-SUV), the companies said in a joint statement.

The SUV will be built on the Mahindra platform and will be sold independently by both companies as separate brands, it added.

“Ford and Mahindra also agreed to evaluate co-development of a compact SUV and electric vehicle, along with sharing powertrain portfolios, including the supply of Mahindra powertrains to extend Ford’s product range,” it added.

The MoUs, which are non-binding, mark the progress made by the two companies since announcing their alliance in September 2017, the statement said.

Ford Executive Vice-President and President of Global Markets, Jim Farley, said, “With utility vehicles and electrification as key focus areas, we are glad to see the progress our two companies have made.”

Listening to customers and incorporating their future needs is the core premise of this collaboration, he added.

Commenting on the development, M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka said, “Both teams are working together on joint development areas in keeping with industry requirements and leveraging mutual strengths.”

The companies further said with an aim to generate synergies and improve efficiencies with the new initiatives, their strategic alliance continues to focus on leveraging the benefits of Ford’s global reach and expertise and Mahindra’s scale in India and its successful operating model.

Teams from both companies will continue to collaborate and work together, for a period of up to three years, to develop further avenues of strategic cooperation such as extending support for Mahindra in global emerging markets, including Ford’s manufacturing and distribution network and collaborate to address future mobility needs.

In September last year, Ford Motor Company and M&M had inked a pact to explore a strategic alliance covering areas like product development, electric vehicles and distribution in India and abroad.

The two companies had a 50:50 joint venture – Mahindra Ford India Ltd – in the mid-’90s when Ford re-entered India.

Volkswagen is making a statement by staging a world premiere of a new model for the first time in China – its largest market. The new Touareg marks a milestone in the brand’s largest model and technology campaign, and it shows what engineers and designers at Volkswagen can do. The new flagship takes a top position in the premium class SUV segment with its expressive design, its innovative operating, convenience and safety systems, as well as in the high quality of its materials and craftsmanship.

Equipped with the connectivity of a new era and a pioneering fusion of assistance, comfort, lighting and infotainment systems, the Touareg points the way to the future. At the same time, the exclusive SUV charges up its market segment with pure dynamism. The largest markets for what is now the third generation of the Touareg are China, Europe and Russia. Worldwide sales of the previous two generations amount to nearly one million units. The Touareg has, as the most technically advanced Volkswagen of its era, the potential to enthuse technology and design savvy drivers of premium class models of all sorts, reaching new target groups as well.

Volkswagen is presenting the fully digitalised Innovision Cockpit for the first time in the new Touareg. Here the digital instruments (Digital Cockpit with 12-inch display) and the top Discover Premium infotainment system (with 15-inch display) merge to form a digital operating, information, communication and entertainment unit that hardly needs any conventional buttons or switches. Always-on, offering intuitive control and maximum personalisation – with the Innovision Cockpit, the Touareg provides the blueprint for tomorrow’s digital interior today.

Drivers use the Innovision Cockpit to adapt the assistance, handling and comfort systems specifically to their personal tastes; the car becomes ‘their’ Touareg. This opens up a world in which the driver and on-board guests no longer have to adapt to the car; rather the car adapts to them. Like a new smartphone, the Volkswagen is set up and tuned to personal needs. This is made possible by a new high level of connected systems and programmes – controlled via digital interfaces and the multifunction steering wheel.

Fusion of new assistance, handling and comfort systems. The Touareg is launching with the largest range of assistance, handling and comfort systems ever to be integrated into a Volkswagen. They include technologies such as the Night Vision assistance system (detects people and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera), Roadwork Lane Assist (semi-automated steering and lane keeping, accelerating and braking up to 60 kmph), Front Cross Traffic Assist (reacts to cross traffic in front of the Touareg), active all-wheel steering (makes the Touareg handle like a compact car), new roll stabilisation with electromechanically controlled anti-roll bars, ‘IQ.Light – LED matrix headlights’ (interactive, camera-based dipped and main beam headlight control) and a ‘Windshield Head-up Display’ projected directly onto the windscreen.

The driver experiences these systems as a single unit in the new Touareg. They are simply there – interconnected via a new central control unit – working imperceptibly in the background and making travel safer, more convenient and more intuitive than ever.

Compared to its predecessor, the third generation Touareg is moderately wider and longer. The new dimensions have positive effects on both the vehicle’s proportions and its amount of interior space. The added exterior length leads, for example, to a significant increase in luggage capacity, from 697 to 810 litres (with rear bench seat up). Cargo there is hidden from onlookers by an optional electrically extending and retracting luggage compartment cover. Despite its increased length and width, the car body is 106 kg lighter because of its mixed material construction of aluminium (48 per cent) and high-tech steels (52 per cent).

In Europe, Volkswagen will initially offer two V6 diesel engines for the new 2018 Touareg with outputs of 170 kW / 231 PS and 210 kW / 286 PS. In a number of markets, this will also be followed by a V6 petrol engine (250 kW / 340 PS) and a V8 turbodiesel (310 kW / 421 PS). A new plug-in hybrid drive (270 kW / 367 PS of system power) is being prepared for China; its exact launch date in Europe is still open.

The 2018 Touareg is an important milestone in the largest product and technology campaign in the history of the Volkswagen brand. The brand’s range of SUVs is also being expanded comprehensively. It currently consists of the new T-Roc, the Tiguan, the new Tiguan Allspace (Europe) and Tiguan L (China), the new Atlas (USA) and the Teramont (China), plus the now completely redesigned Touareg as Volkswagen’s top SUV model. Volkswagen will also be further extending the lower end of its SUV range with the compact T-Cross. The first all-electric SUV from Volkswagen is also a sure thing: the I.D. CROZZ. It will arrive on the market in 2020.

The BMW Group is stepping up the pace in its drive to shape tomorrow’s mobility. Two years after the launch of Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, the BMW Group intends to increase upfront expenditure on research and development to an all-time high in 2018, while at the same time remaining steadily on course for a ninth record-breaking year in succession through profitable, sustainable growth.

“Our industry is currently experiencing a phase of unprecedented technological change. At the same time, however, it needs to cope with the challenge of present-day volatilities. At the BMW Group, we think in terms of opportunities and follow a clear strategy. Because the future of mobility is created today. We are stepping up the pace in 2018 and targeting our ninth successive record year,” stated Harald Kruger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG in Munich on Wednesday.

Despite major changes impacting the mobility sector, the one constant factor influencing the company’s strategic decisions is fulfilling the needs of its customers. “Their passion and excitement is at the core of our growth strategy,” emphasised Kruger. “That is why the BMW Group offers a unique range of products (from the BMW i3 to the Rolls-Royce Phantom) and services (from customised financing to intelligent mobility services), all of which contribute towards making our customers’ lives easier. With this point in mind, we are on our way to becoming a customer-focused mobility and high-tech company.”

In 2018, the broadest product initiative ever undertaken by the BMW Group continues: With the market launch of the BMW X2 in March, the ramping up of the BMW X3 at three production sites and the new generation of the BMW X4, 2018 is sure to go down as the “Year of X” for one of the world’s largest manufacturer of premium vehicles. “We are bringing out completely new models and introducing a new design language for the whole product range. This is our recipe to ensure that the BMW brand regains pole position in the premium segment by 2020,” Kruger stated. “We gave the public a taste of these developments with the unveiling of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show and the series version will be presented in 2019.”

Numerous strategic decisions, for which the BMW Group did the groundwork at an early stage in conjunction with its Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, will begin to bear fruit in 2018. For instance, the acquisition of Parkmobile LLC was announced in January, making the BMW Group the leading provider of digital parking solutions. The acquisition of the car sharing joint venture DriveNow closed in March. These two transactions give the BMW Group control over a wide range of strategic options for enhancing its range of mobility services in a field set to make a crucial contribution to sustainable urban mobility going forward. The BMW Group is aiming to have 100 million active customers by 2025.

In February, the BMW Group and the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall signed a letter of intent to establish a joint venture for the local production of fully electric MINI vehicles in China. This step is a further clear commitment to the electrified future of the MINI brand and highlights the importance of the Chinese market for the BMW Group.

At the Geneva Motor Show in early March, the BMW Group announced that the BMW i Vision Dynamics, unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017, will be launched as the all-electric BMW i4 and manufactured at the Munich plant. Today, the BMW Group already manufactures electrified vehicles at ten production facilities. In 2019, Plant Oxford will join this list with the start of production of the fully-electric MINI. The BMW i4 is just one of the 25 electrified models that the BMW Group intends to bring to market by 2025. Half of these models will be fully electric. Powered by the fifth generation of battery and drivetrain technology, from 2021 the BMW Group will be capable of offering all-electric vehicles with a range of up to 700 kilometres and plug-in hybrids with an electrical range of up to 100 kilometres.

Continuing progress in the field of electric mobility is a key reason behind the BMW Group’s plan to allocate an increasing amount to research and development in the current year. After a spend of € 6,108 million in 2017, upfront expenditure for tomorrow’s mobility will increase significantly in the financial year 2018. Investment will rise by a further high three-digit million-euro amount year-on-year, primarily for the ongoing new model initiative as well as continued work on e-mobility and autonomous driving. In absolute terms, the amount could reach the 7 billion euro mark. The major scale of investment reflects the BMW Group’s determination to play a leading role in transforming the mobility sector with its future-oriented ACES programme: Automated, Connected,Electrified and Services.

Despite the cost of these wide-ranging activities, the BMW Group expects Group profit before tax to be at least in line with the record level reported for 2017. “We will need to remain steadfast in 2018 in order to achieve our target of reporting another year of record pre-tax earnings,” stated Nicolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance. “But we are an ambitious company, constantly striving to improve the efficiency of our business processes. We are reducing the complexity of our range of products and services, rigorously bringing it into line with the requirements of our customers. This provides us with the necessary resources for future investments. As ever, our strategy is driven by the desire to achieve long-term sustainable profitability.”

As part of its Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, the BMW Group is systematically expanding into market segments with high rates of return in order to finance the similarly high levels of upfront expenditure necessary to drive tomorrow’s mobility from a position of underlying strength. Accordingly, the Group continues to target an EBIT margin within a range of 8 to 10 per cent for its Automotive and Motorcycles segments. Deliveries to customers are expected to rise slightly in the financial year 2018, resulting in a corresponding slight increase in Automotive segment revenues. The Motorcycles segment expects to see solid growth in volume terms.

In 2017, the BMW Group delivered more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers for the first time in a single year, mainly driven by the performance of the all-electric BMW i3, sales of which have risen every year since its market launch in 2013. Last year, the BMW Group accounted for more newly registered electrified vehicles (all-electric + plug-in hybrid) than any other manufacturer in Europe, with a share of 21 percent. The BMW Group intends to grow sales of its electrified vehicles to at least 140,000 unitsglobally in 2018 and is targeting more than half a million units on the world’s roads by the end of 2019. “Our electric mobility strategy is having a positive impact: the broad range of electrified models we now offer enabled us to cut CO2 emissions across our EU fleet yet again in 2017,” CEO Harald Kruger pointed out.

This year, the BMW Group will also broaden its base for adding value worldwide. Further investments are planned in the key regions of China, the USA and Europe. Maintaining a strong local presence, particularly in the USA and China, is and remains an essential prerequisite for being part of future growth in these regions.

(L-R) Siddhartha Varma, Director – Marketing, Ducati India with Sergi Canovas, Managing Director, Ducati India

Ducati India today appointed Siddhartha Varma as the Director of Marketing for its operations in the country. Siddhartha will spearhead Ducati’s marketing initiatives in India and lead the company’s growth and expansion strategy in the market. In his role, Siddhartha is responsible for consumer marketing initiatives that include all ATL and BTL activities for the brand.

“With racing DNA at its core, Ducati symbolizes unmatched performance, superior quality and unparalleled sophistication that truly transforms the rider experience. I am thrilled to be a part of Ducati’s legacy which inspires millions globally. In my present role, I will drive penetration of our products and services all across the country with the aim to provide authentic Ducati experience to our fast-growing community in India.” said Siddhartha Varma.

Commenting on the appointment, Sergi Canovas, MD of Ducati India said, “India remains a priority market for us and I am confident that Siddhartha’s extensive experience and market insights in the premium motorcycle sector will propel the expansion of Ducati’s network in India. Siddhartha brings with him a unique mix of sectoral expertise and consumer understanding which will certainly strengthen Ducati’s footprint in the Indian market.”

With an industry experience spanning over a decade, Siddhartha has an in-depth understanding of the automobile industry. His prior associations with premium motorcycle brands in India has enabled him with the required mix of business expansion acumen and marketing skills which will be instrumental for Ducati’s onward journey in India.

Covering a total distance of 217 km, the first leg of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018 culminated in Bikaner today. Braving the scorching heat of the Thar Desert, the participants battled it out to grab the lead in their respective categories in the 16th edition of the rally.

Known as the Camel Country, the maximum temperature in Bikaner touches 53.5 °C in summers. The city is famous for its Junagarh fort, Karni Mata temple and camel festival.

In the Xtreme category, Suresh Rana from Team Maruti Suzuki Motorsport was seen leading the rally by completing the leg first along with his navigator PVS Murthy in his Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. Following their lead was Aabhishek Mishra and his navigator V Venu Rameshkumar and Gaurav Chiripal with navigator, Srikanth Gowda who finished third.

Commenting on their lead on Day 1, Suresh Rana said, “We are thrilled to be part of the 16th edition of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. With new elements added to the rally such as Roadbook navigation and around 70% new tracks, the difficulty level of the rally has gone a notch higher. Our lead in the first leg will definitely act as a morale booster and we hope to replicate this in the coming legs of the rally.”

In the Moto category, CS Santosh took the lead in the first leg followed by Aaron Mare and Sanjay Kumar who came a close third.

With its new safety centre, Volkswagen is bringing together its vehicle safety expertise at a single location. Blending into the existing architecture, a new three-story building with approximately 8,000 square metres of floor space was constructed at the headquarters in Wolfsburg. The centrepiece is a new state-of-the-art crash sled facility which for the first time can simulate lateral and rotational vehicle body movements both horizontally and vertically.

“This state-of-the-art sled system allows us to reproduce the dynamic movements of a crash as well as simulate so-called ‘prebraking’ scenarios”, says Dr Gunnar Koether, Head of Vehicle Safety at Volkswagen. This is possible due to a highly sophisticated and precisely controllable hydraulic system on the sled, which can simulate both forward ‘pitching’ as well as lateral ‘yawing’ of the test vehicle immediately prior to impact. “In doing so”, continues Koether, “we can accurately demonstrate the operation of modern active safety systems such as emergency braking in our sled tests.” In such a scenario, the test vehicle is accelerated to 80 kmph and then braked shortly before impact. This type of pre-braking corresponds to a real world accident scenario.

“In this way, Volkswagen is setting new standards in accident research. In the new safety centre, we are bringing together all of our safety-related activities under a single roof. That not only allows us to make use of new testing technologies, but also it affords us shorter distances and additional synergy effects”, says Head of Technical Development Services Kai Schweingruber.

At the new sled facility, vehicle tests at speeds of up to 100 kmph with total weights of up to three tons are possible. The underfloor cable-rail system in the floor of the hall is over 140 metres in length. Thanks to a new pallet change system, the next test can be prepared as the current test is being conducted, which increases facility efficiency and throughput. Around 800 sled tests are conducted each year by Volkswagen technical development.

In addition to the new sled system, there are also multiple test benches located on the ground floor of the hall. On the first floor, the crash test vehicles are first prepared for and later thoroughly analysed after the test. In the second floor there are the workstations for the development team. The new high-tech sled was built directly adjacent to the second crash test facility, which entered operation in 1988. Both facilities are served by the same control room.

Volkswagen’s latest motorsport project has been named: I.D. R Pikes Peak. It is the title of the all-electric prototype racing car, with which Volkswagen will compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 24, 2018 in Colorado, USA.

The four-wheel drive sports car combines its ambassadorial role for the future, electric I.D. family with the sportiest range of Volkswagen products, the R GmbH models. At the same time, it is also the first step towards an intensification of the cooperation between Volkswagen R and Volkswagen Motorsport. The Volkswagen brand plans to offer more than 20 fully-electric cars by 2025. Manufacturing of the first production model in the I.D. family is scheduled to start at the end of 2019 in Zwickau, in the Saxony region of Germany.

“We want to be at the forefront of electromobility with Volkswagen and the I.D. family,” explained Volkswagen Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Development, Dr. Frank Welsch. “Competing in the most famous hill climb in the world with the I.D. R Pikes Peak not only has symbolic meaning, but is also a valuable test for the general development of electric cars.”

Jurgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Sales, Marketing and After Sales, added: “Pikes Peak is without question the most iconic hill climb in the world. For Volkswagen, it represents a fantastic opportunity to charge the topic of E mobility, both emotionally and from a sporting perspective, thanks to the I.D. R project.”

The international Pikes Peak hill climb – also known by aficionados as the “Race to the Clouds” – has been held since 1916 near Colorado Springs in the Rocky Mountains. The 19.99-kilometre route runs from the start at 2,800 metres to the summit at 4,300 metres above sea level. Volkswagen last entered the Pikes Peak hill climb in 1987 with a spectacular dual-engine Golf, which generated an impressive 652 hp. However, the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer narrowly missed out on success.

“It is about time we settled the score,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director, Sven Smeets. “The I.D. R Pikes Peak represents an extremely exciting challenge for us, to show what is possible with an electric engine in motorsport. The entire team behind our driver Romain Dumas is highly motivated to set a new record for electric cars.” The record in the electric prototype class currently stands at 8:57.118 minutes and was set in 2016 by New Zealand’s Rhys Millen (e0 PP100).

Tata Motors today announced that the Company would be increasing prices of its entire passenger vehicles range by up to Rs 60,000 (depending on the model). This increase in price is due to rising input costs and will be effective April 1, 2018.

According to Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicle Business, Tata Motors, “The rising input costs, changing market conditions and various external economic factors, have compelled us to consider the price increase but we are optimistic on maintaining our growth trajectory in the coming year on the back of our robust product portfolio like TIAGO, HEXA, TIGOR and NEXON.”

Kalyana Sivagnanam, President, Nissan Middle East and Regional Vice President, Africa, Middle East and India Region and Jerome Saigot, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.

With a continuing focus on making access to sales and aftersales touch points easier for its customers, Nissan India today inaugurated its new dealership ‘Sparsh Nissan’ in Delhi. The dealership inauguration ceremony was graced by Kalyana Sivagnanam, President, Nissan Middle East and Regional Vice President, Africa, Middle East and India Region and Jerome Saigot, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. along with Harsh Vashist, Dealer Principal, Sparsh Nissan.

Situated in the heart of the automobile hub of Moti Nagar, Sparsh Nissan is a new 3S facility designed and equipped to cater to the sales and aftersales requirements of Nissan and Datsun customers.

Speaking at the inauguration, Jerome Saigot, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. said “At Nissan, we put the customer at the heart of everything we do and continue to invest in evolving our local operations. Delhi is one of our most integral markets and the addition of this wonderful facility is a part of our commitment to offer connectivity, accessibility and convenience to our customers.”

The newly-opened showroom is a state-of-the-art facility is spread across 20,000 sq. ft. The uniquely designed workshop houses 12 bays equipped with modern machines and equipment, resulting in faster turnaround time adding to customer convenience.

Harsh Vashist, Dealer Principal- Sparsh Nissan said, “We are privileged to expand our association with Nissan and delighted at the launch of this new ultra-modern facility. Through this facility, we hope to leverage the substantial demand in Delhi-NCR by bringing Nissan closer to its existing and prospective customers.”