Mahindra to spend Rs 2,250 cr to develop new vehicles

Utility and commercial vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will spend Rs 2,250 crore in the next two years to develop new vehicles to be rolled out by 2009 end.

The company has been developing four new platforms simultaneously in the utility and multi-purpose vehicle space aimed to further strengthen its presence in the non-car market.

The company has two highly successful offerings in this segment – Scorpio and Bolero.

Of the Rs 4,500 crore investment planned for the company’s Chakan project, which is a part of the company’s planned capital expenditure of Rs 6,400 crore till 2010, about Rs 2,250 crore will be used to fund development of new vehicles including the Ingenio, a premium sports utility vehicle (SUV), a pick-up and a mass market platform.

Pawan Goenka, president (automotive sector), Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Our new products due to debut in the next two years will be fully developed by us and sold in the Indian and overseas markets. The products will help us move up the value chain and boost our dominance in the utility vehicle space.”

The Ingenio multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), which so far has seen an investment of Rs 550 crore, will be the company’s most ambitious project after Scorpio, launched six years ago.

According to company officials, the vehicle was due for launch in the current financial year, but has been sent for further upgradation following increased competition.

The premium SUV project will be based on a completely new platform targetted at the Rs 14-18 lakh price bracket.

The aim is to have a presence in the premium SUV segment, which has so far seen a growth of more than 60 per cent this year. The segment has been dominated by players such as Ford (Endeavour), Honda (CR-V) and Toyota (Land Cruiser Prado).

Although the SUV segment is small in size, at 1,200 units a year in the domestic market, the demand for fuel-efficient SUV’s globally in markets such as Europe and the US is very upbeat.

M&M will launch its SUVs in the US in 2009, while Scorpio, christened as Goa, is sold in the European market.

The mass market platform will address the demand for cargo movers designed to handle goods as well a passenger carrier too. The company is also looking at the pick-up market and planning to have a significant presence in the segment, according to sources.

An analyst said, “The overall market for pick-up vehicles in India is 1.5 lakh units which would maintain a steady growth of 21 per cent till FY10. So there is a huge potential to be tapped in this category. In the northern region, there is demand of 22,000-25,000 pick-up vehicles annually.”

M&M arm,BAE may build mine-protected vehicles

Mahindra Defence Systems and BAE Systems are in talks to jointly develop an Indian mine-protected vehicle based on BAE Systems' highly successful RG-31 mine-protected vehicle.

According to a release issued by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to the BSE today, BAE Systems has already supplied 165 mine-protected vehicles, known as Casspir, to the Indian army since 1999.

"A BAE Systems RG-31 will be on display at the Mahindra Defence stand at the 5th Defence and Naval Exhibition (DEFEXPO)," the release added.

"Mahindra Defence Systems is in the business of providing vehicle protection to defence forces," said Brigadier Khutub Hai, chief executive, Mahindra Defence Systems. "Our co-operation with BAE Systems, who are the leaders in this field for joint production of mine-protected vehicles, is a strategic fit for our vehicle armouring business."

MUL to export 2.5 lakh cars from Mundra Port

Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) has entered into an agreement with Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) to set up an exclusive zone for Maruti cars at Mudra Port in Gujarat.

The bay, which will be ready by early 2009, is intended to help MSIL export up to 2.5 lakh cars per year, said Sandeep Mehta, CEO, MPSEZ.

Rajeeva Sinha, director, MPSEZ, had said earlier that the company is developing 50 acre land for car storage with the additional facility of remotely guiding cars into carriers on berth without the help of drivers.

Although the company has entered into an exclusive agreement with MSIL, MPSEZ would later be open to entering into similar agreements with other car manufacturers.

The car storage capacity would be increased to 4 lakh by 2010 to accommodate cars of other companies, Mehta said.

The total cargo capacity of MPSEZ would also be increased from 30 million metric tonne to 50 MMT by 2010, and further to 120 MMT by 2015.

The company would also construct a coal terminal of 35 MMT capacity by 2010 at the port.

Q3 Results Update - Part 1

Bajaj Auto Q3 consolidated net down 17%

Bajaj Auto today reported a 16.60% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 273.82 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 328.35 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange, net sales and income from operations declined to Rs 2,633.26 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 2,696.03 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.

The company, on a standalone basis, reported a 5.32% decline in net profit at Rs 326.81 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 345.19 crore in Q3FY07.

Total income declined from Rs 2,729.18 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 to Rs 2,680.35 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.

Sun Pharma Q3 net up 60%

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today reported a 60.09% increase in net profit after minority interest at Rs 318.35 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as compared to Rs 198.85 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the BSE, the company's total income has increased to Rs 821.88 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 603.59 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 .

Mahindra & Mahindra PAT up 68%

Mahindra and Mahindra today announced a 67.63% increase in profit after tax (PAT) on a stand-alone basis at Rs 405.15 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 241.68 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the BSE, the company's total income increased to Rs 2,980.25 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 2,617.30 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006

Aurobindo Pharma net dips 8%

Hyderabad-based generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) manufacturer, Aurobindo Pharma, witnessed a slight decline of 8% in net profit at Rs 55.25 crore for quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 60.12 crore in Q3FY07.

The company's total income grew 7.35% to Rs 549.52 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 511.86 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.

Tata Chemicals Q3 PAT dips 42%

Tata Chemicals today announced a 41.55% dip in net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 91.09 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as compared to Rs 155.85 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company's total income has decreased to Rs 1712.67 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 1,793.70 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 .

The company has, however, on a stand-alone basis, posted a PAT increase of 7.45% at Rs 125.48 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 116.77 crore in Q3FY07.

The company's total income has decreased to Rs 1,236.52 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 1,318.81 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 .

M&M launches Scorpio SUV in Brazil

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the country’s top utility vehicle maker, today announced the launch of Scorpio SUV and its Pik-Up range (single and double cab) in Brazil with Bramont-Montadora Industrial e Comercial de Veiculos.

A facility has been set up to assemble the vehicles with an annual capacity of 5,000. Body assembly would be undertaken by Usiparts — a Usiminas System company — while the chassis, suspension and engine (power-train) would be assembled by Bramont at its plant in Manaus (AM).

Pravin Shah, executive V-P, international operations, said, “The Brazilian economy and automotive industry is highly evolved and has strategic importance for Mahindra. This will be the first assemble facility in South America for the Mahindra Scorpio platform and will helps to consolidate our presence in the Mercosur region. Our partner Bramont has a professionally managed network of dealers which will ensure our success in the competitive Brazilian market.”

The models introduced will be powered by the 2.6 litre common rail engine that delivers 110 bhp of power.

The models are available in 4X2 and 4X4 electronic shift on the fly and the engine conforms to Euro III emission norms. From 2009, Mahindra vehicles would be offered with a Euro IV compliant engine.

M&M to hike Chakan investment to Rs 4,000cr

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will increase investment in its Chakan manufacturing plant to Rs 4,000 crore.

The company had initially planned two plants - one standalone unit at Chakan and the second in partnership with Renault and Nissan - to increase manufacturing capacity.

The company had initially planned an investment of Rs 2,500 crore at Chakan to build a capacity of 250,000 units while an additional 200,000 units were supposed to come from the 50% stake in the Mahindra-Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai. M&M announced yesterday that it is pulling out of the Chennai plant.

The three partners had planned to jointly invest Rs 4,000 crore in the Chennai facility, which was to have a capacity of 400,000 units over the next seven-nine years.

"It makes more sense for us to make all products at Chakan rather than starting two manufacturing plants. Our initial plan required two plants but as of now the company is planning to set up the Chakan plant,"Pawan Goenka, president (automotive sector), M&M, told reporters at the 9th Auto Expo here.

He said the company intends to have an overall capacity of 320,000 units at Chakan, and might look at setting up a greenfield plant Chennai "in case further need arises."

"We expect to begin commercial production at Chakan in the next two years. Initially the plant would have a capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum, which would be ramped up to 320,000 units as and when the need arises," Goenka said.