Auto Monitorwww.amonline.in18 June 2012Vol. 12 No. 17 24 Pages ` 50

I N D I A ’ S N O . 1 M A G A Z I N E F O R A U T O M O T I V E N E W S , V I E W S & A N A LY S I S

LOGISTICS – TOP OF THE AGENDA FOR CEOS

CORPORATE

Pg 8Pg 9NEW MATERIALS

Now Turns

Weekly FOCUS

Prasad Kanuri takes over COO at Jaya Hind

Jaya Hind Industries Ltd appointed Prasad Kanuri as its Chief Operating

Officer. He has over three dec-ades of experience in auto components and engineer-ing industry. He has diverse experience in auto component industry including mergers,

acquisitions and alliances, busi-ness development, sales and marketing, and operations man-agement and quality control. He joins Jaya Hind Industries Ltd., from his previous position as Chief Operating Officer at Sandhar Technologies.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) recently approved a proposal to merge

Suzuki Powertrain India Limited (SPIL) with itself. With merg-

er, Suzuki Motor Corporation’s (SMC) holding in MSIL will go up from 54.2 percent to 56.2 per cent.

SPIL, which supplies diesel engines as well as transmissions for vehicles to MSIL, is a subsidi-ary of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), Japan with Maruti Suzuki holding around 30 percent stake.

“With this there will be lot of synergy and will help us in being able to enhance diesel engines development. It should also give some advantage in terms of cost effectiveness.” Managing Executive Officer (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki India, IV Rao told Auto Monitor.

With the merger, MSIL will be able to bring its entire die-sel engine capacity under a single management control. All key initiatives to strengthen the business, including sourcing localisation, production planning manufacturing flexibility and cost reduction can be controlled, monitored and improved by the MSIL management, according to a company statement.

The proposed merger also promises benefits for the com-bined entity through synergies

in areas like finance, capital structuring and administration and consequent reduction of transaction costs. There will be no cash outflow from MSIL. The swap ratio has been fixed at 1:70. SMC will receive one share of MSIL (of `5 each) for every 70 shares (or `10 each) it holds in SPIL. MSIL pro-poses to make a fresh issue of

13.17 million shares to SMC in lieu of SMC’s 70 percent holding in SPIL. It is expected that the necessary regulatory approvals and legal requirements for the merger may be completed by end December 2012. Once the merger is approved, the books of accounts of SPIL will be merged with MSIL with effect from April, 2012.

Few castings suppliers can continue to sustain their business topline after losing revenue from key

product to a plastic based substi-tute. Pune based Alicon Castalloy (formerly Enkei Castalloy) is one such aluminium castings supplier that derived a major proportion of its revenues from four wheeler and two wheeler segment a few years back and is now looking to emerge as a major aluminium castings supplier for auto and non- auto segments.

“We acquired Illichmann Castalloy’s operations in Austria and Slovakia to gain access to technology and customers. Moreover, this company operated in a niche space in the non auto or industrial space and has been

instrumental in getting us addi-tional business and expertise in non-automotive segment,” said Group Chief Executive Officer, Alicon Castalloy, Rajiv Sikand. He added that Alicon Group is cur-rently in the process of evaluation regarding which manufacturing unit should be the key manu-facturing base and which ones should play a supporting role in the group’s growth agenda. By the end of the year, it is looking to shift most European operations to Slovakia as well as shift significant quantum of plant and machinery from Slovakia to Indian units.

One of the major issues that the company, and other cast-ings suppliers, are dealing with is increasing preference of car manufacturers to opt for plastics based components for weight reduction and cost efficien-cy. For instance, the company

lost a major product segment – intake manifold accounting for around 55 to 60 percent of its volumes mainly for Maruti Suzuki- to plastics technology few years ago. It continues to supply cylinder heads to the four wheeler segment but is counting sustained growth in two wheel-ers sales for garnering additional business in the automotive sec-tor. It is evaluating on setting up another facility to increase its capacity further and Pantnagar

may be one of the likely location for the new facility. Currently it is exporting around 10 percent of its production from Indian facili-ties located at Pune and Binola.

The company acquired Illichmann Castalloy, with oper-ations in Austria and Slovakia, in order to diversify its revenue and customers base. Though opera-tions in Austria continue to be a drag on the company’s consoli-dated performance, the facility in Slovakia has enabled the company to evolve as a major player in the non-auto space. These operations had an established and diversified customer base in Europe.

The company is looking to reduce its operations in Austria from around 50 employees to six and shift major part of the operations to its more cost effi-cient Slovakian facility. Sikand also points out to the process

technology related learnings for Alicon Group in the non auto related castings products. “We are in the process of absorbing and migrating to process excel-lence as practiced by Illichmann that is enabling us to change our dies every third or fourth day. We can provide precision alumini-um based castings in very high as well as low quantity for variety of applications in the automotive and industrial space. Very few castings manufacturers globally can claim to possess this capabil-ity of manufacturing components in high and low volumes based on customer specifications,” he said.

The company’s total reve-nues for the year ending March 2012 stood at `380.82 crore as compared to `256.67 crore in the previous year. The net profit stood at `22 crore (`14.63 crore) in the last fiscal.

SMIPL merges with MSIL to bring better synergy

Alicon Castalloy may expand capacity with higher revenue share from non auto business

Our Bureau Mumbai

Top 5 Car Makers

Company May-11 May-12 Change

Maruti 93,519 89,478 -4.32%

Hyundai 31,123 32,010 2.85%

TML 22,718 25,623 12.79%

M&M 17,966 23,478 30.68%

TKM 7,470 15,501 107.51%

Top 5 Car Exporters

Company May-11 May-12 Change

Hyundai 16,643 23,659 42.16%

Maruti 10,554 9,406 -10.88%

Nissan 3,937 8,157 107.19%

Ford 2011 1693 -15.81%

Toyota - 1,693 #DIV/0!

* Source: SIAM/ ** Excluding exports/ *** all sub segments considered/ ^ excluding MRPL

DATA MONITOR

Nabeel A Khan New Delhi

Abhishek Parekh Mumbai A key issue for

castings makers is peference of car makers

for plastics based components for weight

reduction & cost efficiency

Shinzo Nakanishi, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki

Comprehensive approach needed

When it rains it pours – and it is apt very much now with what is happening to the union gov-ernment. The flat industrial output growth in the first month of this financial year followed

by the Standard and Poor’s threat to downgrade India’s sov-ereign credit rating and dip in exports and imports as well.

According to the provisional data released last week by the Commerce Ministry exports in May declined by 4.16 per-cent to $25.68 billion against the same period last year. The imports also declined by 7.36 percent to $ 41.9 billion. Balance of trade stood at $ (-) 16.3 billion during the same period. The cumulative figure for the period of April- May 2012 shows exports at $ 50.13 billion registering the negative growth of 0.69 percent while imports for the same period stood at $ 79.8 billion registering decline in growth of 2.42 percent. The wor-rying factor for the auto industry is that the engineering and petroleum products, which are among the top five export seg-ments, registered negative growth last month.

Auto components exporters have begun feeling the heat due to poor demand in the traditional markets such as Europe and the US. Though there is drop in growth rates in exports, it may not affect the OEMs immediately as there is still demand for small cars that are fuel-efficient. During the first two months of the current fiscal, the overall automobile exports registered a marginal growth rate of 2.87 percent. Passenger vehicles and two wheelers grew by 9.54 percent and 8.65 percent respectively while commercial vehicles and three-wheelers declined by 11 percent and 30 percent respectively.

In the domestic market, the vehicle manufacturers have been feeling the heat for sometime in the few vehicle seg-ments including passenger cars and medium & heavy commercial vehicles. The passenger car segment, for instance, witnessed 2.8 percent drop last month primarily due to fuel price increase and higher cost of finance. And the indications on the additional levy on diesel cars further dampens the sentiment. In this scenario the government should act swiftly and take some stringent measures to boost the sentiments, which would eventually increase industri-al production. The Reserve Bank of India should repeat its exercise it carried out last April by cutting some key rates by 50 basis points or 0.50 percentage points. The reduction in its annual monetary policy for 2012 – 13 did not yield significant results due to several happenings in the country and beyond boundries. Due to dipping sales, the auto industry is likely to be conservative in its projections for this fiscal. Therefore, a comprehensive approach by different bodies of the govern-ment, is needed to push the economy from stagnation.

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QUOTESS Nakanishi, Maruti Suzuki MD on Suzuki powertrain merger with Maruti Suzuki

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Europe on steps to increase production in Czech Republic

“We will be able to bring all the diesel engine capacity under Maruti leading to better integration and flexible production based on market needs”

“This represents the next piece of the puzzle in making Hyundai...a European brand”

Auto Monitor

EDITORIAL

T. Murrali t.murrali@infomedia18.in

Functional coatings from the plasma nozzle 9A new plasma process enables these coatings to be applied more easily and cost-efficiently – on an industrial scale

Improved lubrication without oil 9In addition to the significantly lower impact on the environment and the high raw material efficiency, Fraunhofer Institute’s new lubricant also offers technological benefits

ACMEE 2012 brings the world for MSMEs 10ACMEE aims to propel rapid progress and industrialisation of the Tamil Nadu, which will usher in economic development not only for the people of the state but for the whole country

India joins Canada to develop infrastructure, maintenance of roads 12India has signed an MoU with Canada to facilitate sharing of knowledge and technical expertise in the areas of infrastructure development, road maintenance and intelligent transport systems

Ruukki establishes India presence 12Ruukki has established a new sales office in India to provide special steel products and solutions to Indian and international customers operating in India

India looks for Brazil investment in infrastructure sector: Anand Sharma 13Commerce Minister Ananad Sharma is looking for Brazil investments in launched National Infrastructure and Manufacturing SEZ as well as in the food processing industries

Mini calls on Delhi 13BMW Group owned Mini India recently opened its second dealership, established by Bird Automotive, in India to display the Mini Hatch, Mini Convertible and Mini Countryman

CONTENTS

UK plant to build engines for BMW i8 plug-in hybrids 14BMW will tap its Hams Hall facility near Birmingham for the new generation of three cylinder petrol engines for the future BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car

Bhai Tech kicks off advanced simulator, R&D facility for motorsport 16Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre is looking to offer drive advancements in vehicle and racing driver development to customers

BCA launches new Appraise, Value & Sell tool 17BCA recently launched Appraise, Value & Sell, an online service developed specifically for UK retail dealers by British Car Auctions

Visteon displays electronics solutions at China auto parts show 18Visteon displayed a wide range of automotive electronics and climate innovations at the 2012 China Auto Parts and Service Show in Shanghai from June 12-15

Marchionne cuts Euro 500 million from Fiat’s European investments 21Fiat is cutting investments in Europe by Euro 500 million ($632 million) on expectations that the region’s auto market won’t recover in the second half

Hyundai to boost Czech plant output on demand for new compact 21Hyundai will boost output by 20 percent to 300,000 units this year at its plant in Nosovice, Czech Republic, to meet strong demand for its new i30 model line

GLOBAL WATCH

09

13

CORPORATE

18

14

12

NEW MATERIALS

Auto Monitor

C O R P O R A T E818 JUNE 2012

Logistics – top of the agenda for CEOs

India is emerging as one of the leading consumer mar-kets globally and is expected to sustain a strong growth

over the coming years and this trend acts as a springboard for the Indian logistics industry to take a giant lean, Union Minister of Shipping, GK Vasan has said. Inaugurating the tenth edition of Logistics Summit 2012, organ-ized by CII- Institute of Logistics, Vasan said globalisation has increased trade f low within countries thereby stiffing the competition, which has in-turn increased the demand for effi-cient logistic management.

The theme of the conference – ‘Next generation supply chain – challenges and opportuni-ties,’ is apt for today’s business environment, as it will help look into the future more positivity. “Notwithstanding the current dip in the growth rate, the econ-omy is expected to bounce back and resume its high growth tra-jectory. We need to either ride the tide when the economic growth is high or invest to spur

the growth itself. We need to seize this moment,” he said. The installed logistics infrastructure is still inadequate to handle the impact of increased economic activities. This has put a lot of pressure on the logistics infra-structure. Therefore, the logistics infrastructure in the country needs speedy augmentation in terms of both quality and capac-ity through adequate investment not only from the government but also from the private sector.

India’s logistics performance index reflects some weaknesses in the system as it slipped in the rank as per the World Bank’s sur-vey. Logistics costs in the country are high at 13 to 14 percent of the GDP when compared to seven to

eight percent in developed coun-tries. The index must be improved through systematic intervention on key issues including logistics infrastructure, he said. The need of the hour is massive invest-ment to build better logistical infrastructure and additional handling capacity.

The Director General - Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL) Asia and former Secretary General- Malaysia

Ministry of International Trade & Industry, Tan Sri Addul Rahman Mamat launched the ‘Shipment Efficiency Analysis project’. “The innovation of the cargo container 70 years ago was the driving force for economic growth, as it signifi-cantly reduced the cost of trade. Today, a country’s economy is based on four prime industries such as finance, commerce, insurance and logistics, ” he said.

According to the Chairman of CII Institute of Logistics Advisory Council, Cyrus Guzder it is impor-tant to focus on the key challenges to help industry to leap into the next generation of supply chain. To tackle these challenges, he said, CII has taken up a series of initiatives like skill develop-ment for logistics sector, WAREX Certification, a certification process on Warehouse perform-ance excellence, SCM Pro, a Certification of Supply Chain Professionals’.

The Co-chairman of CII Institute of Logistics Advisory Council, R Dinesh said the sum-mit highlights the significant role the logistics sector plays in the current era to support the coun-try’s ambition to become one of world’s top three economies by mid century. As economies around the world step back from the financial brink and begin adjusting to a new nor-mal, companies face a different set of supply chain challenges than they did at the height of the downturn—among them are rising pressure from global com-petition, consumer expectations, and increasingly complex pat-terns of customer demand.

As part of the event the min-ister also released McKinsey report ‘Supply Chain Evolution: Managing the New Normal.”

Sharing a brief note on the pub-lication, the partner, Mckinsey & Co, Sumit Datta said, supply chain is one of the top three topics that concern CEOs. The publication covers issues like last mile delivery innovation, volatility in global supply, talent scarcity, near shoring and green supply chain. The publication also covers topics like supply chain supporting the corporate strategy, reducing complexity

by smart segmentation, match-ing demand and supply network, global end-to-end planning, and career opportunities in sup-ply chain.

The two-day conference attracted end users and senior business executives from the automotive, manufacturing, telecom, retail, FMCG, pharma-ceutical, railway, shipping, ports who described SCM as the last goldmine.

As part of the Logistics Summit 2012, CII and Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL), a Swiss-based non-profit partnership, announced plan to deploy an India-Indonesia Benchmark Trade Lane (IIBT). This is part of GCEL’s HumaWealth pro-gramme to empower India’s digital economy.

IIBT is one of the four to be deployed globally with the goal of reducing annual trade cost by $ 700 billion, expanding annual global trade by as much as $ 1.2 trillion and supporting near-ly 100 million jobs worldwide. GCEL, which brings together governments, the private sector, and NGOs to deliver a tangible program achieving sustain-able global economic growth, along with CII has begun the programme by triggering the Shipment Efficiency Analysis (SEA) to provide a comprehen-sive assessment of shelf-to-shelf trade practices in India. The HumaWealth programme will reduce India’s annual trade cost by $ 9.1 billion yearly and business operating cost by up to 15 percent at no extra cost to end users, thereby increasing

overall trade and supporting millions of new jobs.

The India SEA will include a direct physical assessment of public and private sector organi-sations involved in supply chain from shelf to shelf, including large, medium and small enter-prises across five economic zones – north, east, west, south and central. Six key trade effi-ciency areas such as integration, processes, e-documentation, tracking and visibility, compe-tence and cargo security will be assessed in relation to peak performance levels attainable through available technology. The study is expected to com-mence in less than two weeks and the project will be up and running in about 18 months.

The soft infrastructure can maximise capacity utilisa-tion of the present logistics infrastructure and provide visibility. The HumaWealth program consists of digital ‘soft infrastructure’ with three key elements: an open-source technology platform, a global network of companies and a deployment program that pro-vides the tools, free of cost to the end users.

India-Indonesia Benchmark Trade Lane Our Bureau

Chennai

Speakers With GK Vasan, Shipping Minister

Auto Monitor

N E W M A T E R I A L S 918 JUNE 2012

Functional coatings from the plasma nozzleA new plasma process enables these coatings to be applied more easily and cost-efficiently – on an industrial scale.

When manufactur-ing products, the coating technology is a key innovation

driver for almost all areas of daily life – for example, for making scratch-proof displays for smart phones or anti-bacterial surfaces in refrigerators. Other coatings protect components from cor-rosion or aging, for example in a solar cell module or a car engine, without the end user noticing their existence. In industry today, wet chemical processes or vacuum plasma processes are primari-ly used for coating applications. Both have drawbacks. Vacuum units are expensive, limited to smaller components and apply-ing a coating takes a relatively long time. Wet chemical proc-esses often involve high resource and energy consumption with the corresponding environmental damage and can also cause diffi-culties in the handling of material combinations for lightweight con-struction such as plastics/ metals or aluminum/steel.

Dr Jörg Ihde and Dr Uwe Lommatzsch from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen looked for alternative way. Together with Plasmatreat GmbH, the IFAM team developed a new kind of plasma coating process that works at ambient pressure. “Because the pressure is more than 10,000 times higher and the absence of a vacuum reac-

tor, we had to stop unwanted particles from forming and embedding in the coating. That was the key to developing robust and effi-cient industrial processes using the new plasma system.

One nozzle – various functional coatings The central element is a plasma nozzle. The nozzle is no big-ger than a typical spray can. Yet it contains a highly complex coating system. “In the nozzle, an elec-trical discharge generates small flashes - a plasma that is expelled from the nozzle in the form of a jet. We systematically feed into the nozzle outlet those materials that are excited and fragmented in the plasma and then deposited out of the plasma jet as a function-al nano-layer onto the surface”, explains Uwe Lommatzsch. “We achieve extremely high deposition rates, enabling fast and cost-effec-tive production processes to be realized.”

The use of a nozzle allows the coating to be applied very precisely and only where it is needed, thus conserving resourc-es. “We can control the processes so that the same nozzle can be used to apply coatings with vari-ous functionalities, for corrosion protection or for increasing or reducing adhesion, for instance”, adds Jörg Ihde. Only very small amounts of coating material are required and practically all mate-

rials and material combinations can be coated. The process offers, in addition to the coating quali-ties and functionalities, even more benefits: it can be easily integrated into an inline produc-tion process, requires little space and is easy to automate, meaning it can be controlled via a robot. Other advantages include low investment costs and easy on the environment. The positive characteristics benefit indus-trial production: depositing an adhesion-promoting coating on a car window edge before gluing it in, to replace environmentally damaging chemicals or as a sub-stitute for thick protective paint on printed circuit boards, which improves heat dissipation and hence prolongs service life. The process is already employed in the automotive industry and the energy sector to provide protec-tion against corrosion and aging.

One of this year‘s Joseph-von-Fraunhofer prizes was awarded to Dr Jörg Ihde and Dr Uwe Lommatzsch for their devel-opment of a resource-efficient process for the high-rate deposi-tion of functional nano-layers.

(Courtesy: Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials)

Metalworking plays a key role in industry. Drilling, milling, turning

and grinding operations all use lubricants to prevent work piec-es and tools from overheating and from excess wear. Standard lubricants today are based on mineral oil. This has draw-backs: fossil mineral oils come from finite resources, transport relatively little heat away from the work piece, are harmful to health and are flammable. All of this calls for extreme technical efforts, for occupational safe-ty, fire safety and disposal, for example. So there‘s a need for alternative lubricants.

The idea hatched by Andreas Malberg, Dr. Peter Eisner and Dr. Michael Menner from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising sounds simple as well as surprising: lubricate with water, not oil. “At IVV here in Freising, we have been looking at the issue of cooling lubricants for some considerable time”, explains Michael Menner. “In two projects supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we have success-fully replaced oil with water. One surprising thing we found was that water is no worse a lubricant than oil, the key to it all being the additives.” Adding natural polymers to water can dramat-ically improve its lubricating properties. The Freising-based researchers set about testing renewable raw materials such as celluloses, starches or bacterial polysaccharides and improving their use as lubricant additives. Their aim: to make water more viscous by adding biopolymers,

so it lubricates better.For the idea to become a

marketable product, other part-ners were brought on board: the Institute for Machine Tool Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Braunschweig, and Carl Bechem GmbH - a lubricant manufactur-er from Hagen, Germany. The basic fluid made by the IVV, the viscous water, was improved by adding water-soluble additives so it could be used as an anti-corrosion agent, for example. That‘s how it meets the require-ments during processing: withstanding high tempera-tures and shearing stresses.

In addition to the signifi-cantly lower impact on the environment and the high raw material efficiency, the new lubricant also offers technologi-cal benefits. It reduces wear and prolongs tool life, for example. The processed components are also easier to clean. This cuts costs and improves the cost-effi-ciency of the entire production process. Converting to the new lubricant is very easy for com-panies to carry out”, explains Peter Eisner. “In principle, once thoroughly cleaned, the same machine tool circulation sys-tems can be used.” In addition, the use of the aqueous lubricant improves occupational health and safety and hygiene: no for-mation of oil mists, addition of fewer biocides, it smells better and is gentler on the skin.

The newly developed lubri-cant is already being distributed by Carl Bechem GmbH under the brand ‘BERUFLUID’.

(Courtesy: Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials)

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C O R P O R A T E1018 JUNE 2012

ACMEE widens oppurtunities for MSMEs

Exhibitions like ACMEE wil l propel rapid progress and industri-alisation of the Tamil

Nadu, which will usher in eco-nomic development not only for the people of the state but for the whole country in addition to benefitting various participating countries, said Minister for Rural Industries, Government of Tamil Nadu, MC Sampath.

Delivering his inaugu-ral address at the ACMEE 2012 -10th International Machine Tools Exhibition, organised by Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association – AIEMA Technology Centre, Sampath said the state has more than 7.6 lakh tiny and small scale units with a capital outlay of `39,438 crore employing nearly 53 lakh people. While compli-menting AIEMA for championing the cause of small and medium enterprises he said the Vision 2023 document of the govern-ment will make unemployment in the state a thing of past with the annual average per capita income of the people to more than $10,000.

Theme of the current edi-tion is ‘Opportunity for growth’. The Managing Director of ACE Manufacturing Systems, P Ramadas said the company had its major customer base in Tamil Nadu. However, due to power crisis the sales of machine tools had dropped significantly. While insisting the government to look

at the options to address the power shortage, he also under-lined the need for a bigger space to conduct future editions of ACMEE, as it is set to grow leaps and bounds. According to COO, Indiamart.com, Brijesh Agarwal, the Indian machine tool indus-try, as per IMTA, is estimated at `70,000 crore. Since ACMEE covers automobile & ancillaries, consultancy & services, machin-ery & machine tools, electrical & electronics and energy & envi-ronment, it is addressing a market size of over ̀ 100,000 crore and therefore may require bigger exhibition centre.

The Executive Vice President (worldwide sales and service), Hurco Companies Inc, John P Donlon said ACMEE has been key part of growth of India as a whole. Events like this help the company in learning the specif-ic value and the technological needs of the market that became part of the growth trajectory. India has the opportunity to become a leading destination for the manufacturing industry,

however, like in every country, it is challenged with availability of skilled manpower and training. In the modern era the employ-able population is more inclined to non-manufacturing seg-ment eventually depriving the manufacturing sector of qual-ity manpower. Exhibitions such as ACMEE will help reveal the excitement in the manufacturing industry, which can be a stimu-lant for them to take up career in

this field, he said.Releasing the show direc-

tory the CMD of TANSIDCO, Niranjan Mardi said his organ-isation was focussing on skill development, technology and best management practises, especially for MSMEs. Besides, it is focussing on three initia-tives such as district industry development centres, common facilitation centres for 20 indus-trial clusters and a special

programme to encourage first time entrepreneurs.

ACMEE is the largest event in the southern India and gained a lot of attention from various foreign countries. This year the event had 440 participants including 120 exhibitors from 30 countries - Austria, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the US among other coun-tries. The event has become a trendsetter as it showcased the latest in manufacturing tech-nology targeting perfection, time and cost cutting, energy saving and mass production. The product profile include auto components, CNC, special purpose machines, hydraulics, pneumatics, instrumentation, environment, cutting tools, low cost automation, industri-al robotics and welding. There were live demonstrations of lat-est machine tools by several companies from both India and abroad.

Ashok Leyland has delivered 100 units of ‘Falcon’ buses to Ghana recently. These

vehicles were inducted into the fleet of Metro Mass Transit Limited, a transport compa-ny, in which the Government of Ghana has 45 percent stake, for both inter and intra-city applications on 360 routes throughout that country.

At a recently held event, the buses were handed over to John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana by Arijit Dutta Chowdhury, RM -SEWA, Ashok Leyland at Accra in the presence of Rajinder Bhagat, Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Dzifa Aku Attivor, Deputy Minister for Transport and other digni-taries from Ghana.

All these 100 buses were spe-cially customised into 57-seater, left-hand drive buses to meet specific customer requirements. Ashok Leyland also becomes the first commercial vehicle manufacturer to introduce a mechanical inline fuel injec-tion with a Euro-III engine and electronic destination board in Ghana.

This is second such major launch by Ashok Leyland in Ghana after the induction of 160 waste management trucks last year.

ALL MD Vinod Dasari said, “Africa has been one of our key focus markets and presents some very unique opportuni-ties for a commercial vehicle manufacturer like us. Our buses hold a premium sta-tus in the Bus Rapid system in Lagos, Nigeria which is the only such model in sub-Saha-ran Africa.”

Continental expand-ed its manufacturing and validation com-petence in India by

setting up a new test and valida-tion lab for fuel supply systems at its Bangalore development centre, while two product lines for fuel rail assembly and in-tank fuel pumps are being inaugurated at the Pune facility. The lab and the two new prod-uct lines are intended to attain Continental’s proposed goal of achieving localisation across the value chain and also to sat-isfy the increased demand from customers.

The new lines added at the Pune plant will have the capac-ity of producing one million additional units of fuel rail injec-tors and fuel pumps of different range. The test and validation lab

for fuel supply systems ensures local testing infrastructure and competence. With standardised testing and validation process at Continental, the results at the India centre can be shared and compared with other global locations.

Dr Markus Distelhoff, Executive Vice President, Business Unit, Fuel Supply at Continental AG added, “We are witnessing a huge traction for our powertrain systems and technologies in India and we have been working on the Indianisation of these solutions tailor made for Indian OEMs over the past few years. The cur-rent investments will definitely help us in meeting the increased customer demand and also to leverage our global expertise in the powertrain domain for Indian OEMs”.

The company collaborates its technical expertise and global

exposure with the know-how of its Indian engineers and special-ists. With sales of €30.5 billion in 2011, the company is among the leading automotive sup-pliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers.

Can you tell us the quan-tum of business that will be transacted during the show?

About Rs 160 crore of business was transacted during the last edition of ACMEE where about 430 companies participated. In the current edition, despite only ten more participants, the busi-ness transaction will be more due to increasing number of participants from abroad. More than 120 companies participate from over 30 countries in the

current edition against 12 com-panies in the previous edition. In this edition we envisage about Rs 260 crore turnover and about 50,000 business visitors.

How do you see ACMEE 2012 help spur economic activ-ity in this part of the country?

ACMEE is a good platform, not only to exchange ideas but also expand business as the exhibitors can meet several cus-tomers from India and abroad, at one shot. It throws several business opportunities to the participants.

With the current global and national economic scenar-io not conducive for aggressive growth, how do you see ACMEE fair in this edition?

There is recession but we have to accept that it is a sinusoi-dal cycle – there will be ups and downs. In addition to business, there is huge opportunity for building the brand at the expo.

Do you see scope for the manufacturing industry as a whole?

Yes there is. There are inter-national delegates and pavilions from Korea and Taiwan. Also there are few associations including Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association, which can help establish col-laboration, technology transfer or some kind of tie-up. Therefore there is great opportunity at the macro level too.

What is in store for MSMEs?Majority of the exhibits

include latest and next genera-tion machines and equipment that help the entrepreneurs to upgrade enabling them to match the growing trend and emerging requirements. Large scale com-panies can afford to travel abroad and buy their machines, which may not be possible for MSMEs. We are bringing the machines from across the world to our MSMEs through ACMEE.

We bring the world to MSMEs through ACMEE: MV Robert, Chairman, ACMEE 2012

ACMEE had 440 participants including 120 exhibitors from

30 countries - Austria, Australia, Brazil, China,

Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand,

Turkey, the UK and the US

Our Bureau Chennai

Our Bureau Chennai

Our Bureau Mumbai

Markus Distelhoff, EVP, Business Unit, Fuel Supply at Continental AG

Fair Directory Released by Dr Niranjan Mardi, Principal Secretary, MSME

Continental expands manufacturing, validation capabilities in India

Ashok Leyland delivers buses to Ghana

Auto Monitor

C O R P O R A T E1218 JUNE 2012

India joins Canada to develop infrastructure, improve road maintenance

In a bid to facilitate sharing and exchange of knowledge and technical expertise in the areas of infrastructure

development, operation and maintenance of roads, intelli-gent transport systems, India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canada. The MoU was signed during the visit of the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, C P Joshi, to Canada last week on the invi-tation from the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure & Communication, Government of Canada, Denis Label.

India has shifted focus towards the Private-Public-Partnership Mode for undertaking devel-opment and upgradation of national highways network across the country as also devel-opment of expressways which are going to be access-control-led with all modern construction technology, information tech-nology, including electronic toll collection system. It is expected that there will be an increase in involvement and participation from the Canadian industry in India’s National Highways and the Expressways Development Project. It is sealing a long-standing bilateral relationship and providing for co-operation between the two countries in the roads and road transporta-tion sector.

Joshi also addressed the first plenary session of the 15th annual conference organised by the ITS - Canada and the Indo-

Canada Business Council. The theme of the conference was ‘Transportation in Transition towards a new Digital Economy.’ He highlighted the plans of India for development and mod-ernisation of national highways and expressways requiring an investment of about more than $one trillion, for financing the intended infrastructure and informed that India is look-ing forward for extensive use of information technology and such modern technology to adopt the Intelligent Transport System across the country. Acknowledging that India has to travel a long distance before coming up with a full intelligent transport system, the Minister emphasised that Canadian expertise in these areas will enable India to achieve the goal through enhanced cooperation, technology transfer and capac-ity building programmes under

the MoU signed between the two countries.

The Minister informed that the objectives of India’s plans for adopting the Intelligent Transport System are manifold including collation, develop-ment and management of a huge networked and compatible database on various aspects of transport, road infrastruc-ture and regulatory aspects of transport logistics like national register for standardised data-base of all registered vehicles, data on driving licenses and permits issued. The programme envisages real-time logistic, dynamic mobility applications in respect of road condition, traffic congestion, vehicle movements, tracking vehicles and watch-ing and containing accidents along the highways and express-ways, especially at black spots by extensive use of GIS-based applications. Environment-

friendly logistics and capturing of the relevant data on pollu-tion, impact on environment by the road development, road con-ditions, weather are also on the agenda included in intelligent transport and green transport logistics in India.

The conference was attended by ministers of various govern-ments, industry representatives, non-government organisations and academic institutions and had extensive discussions on understanding the options and best practices, advanced tech-nical approaches for adopting Intelligent Transport System as a tool in the tough economic times. The focus was on promot-ing efficient, environmentally responsible transport, driving using a real-time onboard vehicle evaluation system, application-enabled devices, applications for managing city logistics and traf-fic management.

Our Bureau Chennai

Delegates At Signing Ceremony

Ruukki has estab-lished a new sales office in India to provide special steel

products and solutions to Indian and international cus-tomers operating in India. The company is looking to provide high-strength Ruukki Optim and wear-resistant Ruukki Raex special steels for custom-ers in transportation as well as in construction and mining equipment manufacturing.

Raex steels are used in wear-ing parts of construction and mining machinery and can help to decrease the repair cost of equipment. The lifetime of an excavator bucket made of Raex wear-resistant steel can be

about 2 or 3 times longer than a similar bucket made of stand-ard steel. In applications that require increased payload, the use of wear-resistant Raex and high-strength Optim steels can reduce the thickness of steel and the weight of the tipper bodies by 20 percent. Use of spe-cial steel products can reduce weight and noticeably cut fuel costs and CO2 emissions. The company operates in some 30 countries and employs around 11,800 people. Net sales in 2011 totalled Euro 2.8 billion.

Ruukki establishes sales presence

Auto Monitor

C O R P O R A T E 1318 JUNE 2012

India looks for Brazilian investment in infrastructure sector: Anand Sharma

Mini calls on Delhi

Minister of Commerce, I ndu st r y a nd Texti les, Anand Sharma had a

ministerial dialogue with his counterpart Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel in Brasilia recently.

Sharma invited the Brazilian investment in recently launched National Infrastructure and Manufacturing Special Economic Zone as well as in the food processing industries. Both sides agreed that infrastructure was one area in which lot of opportu-nities existed on both sides for the companies to participate in.

Indian side also sought for an early meeting of the existing Joint Working Group in Hydrocarbon sector to move this area of bilat-eral cooperation on fast track. The co-operation in the plurilat-eral as well as multilateral context was also discussed dur-ing the ministerial dialogue and

both sides expressed satisfaction at the increased level of co-oper-ation in this context.

Both sides stressed the importance of re-launching the India-Brazil CEOs Forum, a decision taken in the form of declaration at the Summit level in March 2012. They also agreed that the proposed meeting of the two Co-chairs of CEOs Forum would be a positive step in tak-ing this initiative forward.

During her recent state visit to India in March, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had invited the minister to visit Brazil for advancing the bilateral economic and commercial rela-tions, as also to address the larger issue of making essential drugs available at affordable prices to our population. In this context, Sharma has been accompanied by a pharma delegation of 15 top Indian companies coordinated by Pharmexil.

During the ministerial dia-logue, both sides agreed that the establishment of a working group in the pharmaceuticals and life

sciences would be a welcome step towards furthering the co-oper-ation between India and Brazil in this area. Brazil expressed keen interest in collaboration with India in joint production of essential drugs for fighting HIV Aids and malaria.

A Memora ndu m of Understanding between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), through National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the National Institute of Metrology (INMETRO), Brazil was also signed for scientific and techno-logical cooperation in chemistry, physics, engineering measure-ment sciences, development of certified reference materials for thermo physics properties, nan-ometrology, analysis of surface and thin films, biofuels and biotechnology.

The purpose of this agree-ment is to provide a framework for the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge and the enhancement of scientific and technical capabilities of the two sides in the areas of chemistry, physics, and engineering meas-urement sciences.

BMW Group owned Mini India recently opened its second dealership, established by Bird

Automotive, in India to display the Mini Hatch, Mini Convertible and Mini Countryman.

Lifestyle StatementBird Automotive Vasant Kunj,

is an exclusive Mini dealership that offers a display area of over 5,000 sq ft. It has a six car dis-play set-up spread across two floors. The dealership also has a Mini DJ Lounge, Mini Lifestyle Collection and Mini Accessories on display.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Manager Director, Bird Automotive, Gaurav Bhatia said, “We have been working with BMW Group India since 2007 and this association has been very successful and tremendously

exciting.” Bird Automotive will provide after sales support to MINI customers from its work-shop located at Gurgaon.

Model RangeSince its launch in the

January, this year the premium small car has got tremendous response. With the launch of MINI, MINI Convertible and MINI Countryman, the MINI range is available in India as CBU.

In April, it sold around 50 cars and has over 100 more bookings which it will deliver in the period next three months. The group also launched Mini Financial Services as a separate brand under BMW Financial Services India. Potential cus-tomers can avail finance and insurance options, a compre-hensive insurance package: Mini Smile (similar to BMW Secure) above their basic motor insurance.

Brazil expressed keen interest

in collaborating with India

in joint production of essential drugs for

fighting HIV Aids and malaria

Our Bureau Chennai

Our Bureau New Delhi

Dr Andreas Schaaf, President & MD, BMW India with Gaurav Bhatia

Auto Monitor

G L O B A L W A T C H1418 JUNE 2012

BMW will tap its Hams Hall facility near Birmingham for the new generation of three

cylinder petrol engines for the future BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car.

“The new 3-cylinder petrol engines will enable our future BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car to set new standards for dynamic performance in com-bination with industry-leading fuel-efficiency and low carbon emission levels,” said Member of the Board, BMW, Ian Robertson.

The BMW i8 Concept is a con-temporary sports car boasting an innovative eDrive plug-in hybrid concept combining an electric drive system with a high performance three cylinder TwinPower turbo engine produc-ing 349hp/300Nm. Acceleration of 0-62 mph in under five seconds combined with the fuel con-sumption in the European cycle of under approximately 78 mpg gives sports car performance with small car fuel consump-tion. Most daily journeys can be taken in zero-emission all-elec-

tric mode with an electric range of approximately 20 miles. The 2+2 seater provides enough space for four people giving a high level of everyday practicality.

Robertson also welcomed the UK Government’s activities to help stimulate the early market for ultra-low carbon emission vehicles and emphasised the need for continued support in develop-ing the market for electric vehicles which will play an important role in further reducing CO2 emis-sions and achieving increasingly ambitious carbon reduction tar-gets in the years ahead.

Despite the current econom-ic difficulties in many countries in Europe, including the UK, Robertson declared his con-fidence and optimism in the positive development of the auto-motive sector and its ability to play an increasingly important role as a key sector of the UK economy.

Over three million engines have been produced to date at the Hams Hall engine plant for a wide range of BMW and MINI vehicles. This milestone follows record production in 2011 and confirmation that facilities are to be upgraded to enable production

of the new generation of engines. The UK-built engines are supplied in sequence to production plants in Germany, Austria and Oxford and power the BMW X1, BMW 1 Series, the new BMW 3 Series as well as all MINI petrol engines.

In 2011, the BMW Group sold about 1.67 million cars and more than 113,000 motorcycles world-wide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2011 was euro 7.38 billion on revenues amount-ing to euro 68.82 billion. At 31 December 2011, the BMW Group had a workforce of approximately 100,000 employees.

UK plant to build engines for BMW i8 plug-in hybrids

Lexus is developing a small petrol-elec-tric hybrid powertrain for the new GS to compensate for the absence of a diesel in the range. The new GS range

goes on sale as the GS 250 with a 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine or the GS 450h hybrid powered by a 3.5 V6 and an electric motor. The fuel con-sumption and emissions of the hybrid are up to 23 per cent better than those of the previ-ous model, but at 46.3mpg and 141g/km they are still way above those of the four-cylinder diesel cars from other manufacturers which dominate sales in this class.

However, Lexus admits it is working on another hybrid which will be more competi-tive for economy and emissions - and therefore company car tax - with small diesels. It will be introduced in 2013. This is likely to pair the 2.5-litre V6 engine with an electric motor and be sold as the GS 300h. This combination is offered in another Lexus, the ES 300h - a model sold in Russia, the Ukraine and Azerbaijan, but not in western Europe.

Lexus GS to have smaller hybrid to battle diesel dominance

The fuel consumption and emissions of the hybrid are up to 23 per cent better than those of the previous model, but are way above those of the four-cylinder diesel cars

Auto Monitor

G L O B A L W A T C H1618 JUNE 2012

Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre, based in northern Italy, will open to glo-

bal customers and offer drive advancements in vehicle and racing driver development via its full motion driver simulator, proven simulation and modelling software, driver development programmes (including an onsite fitness suite) and range of on and off-track technology services. The company’s on-track arm, Bhai Tech Racing, will also com-pete in selected rounds of the 2012 Italian GT Championship with a new McLaren MP4-12C.

Bhai Tech is the vision of Ferdinando Bada, the head of automotive OEM and motor-sport supply companies Bimecc Engineering SPA, a market lead-er in manufacturing accessories, and APP TECH, a specialist producer of aluminium and mag-nesium forged wheels. Bada’s 30 years’ industry experience includes co-ownership of a

Formula 3000 team and most recently, a successful GP2 team. Sharing his passion for motor-sport and running the company on a day-to-day basis is Bhai Tech’s managing director, Keith Parmar.

The Bhai Tech team includes some of motorsport’s most talented and renowned engineers including technical director Roberto Costa. Costa has worked his way through all motorsport formulae (FF1600, Formula Opel Lotus, FF2000, F3, F3000 and GP2) for Ralt, Reynard, Draco Racing and Piquet Sport amongst others and developed F1 drivers such as Pastor Maldonaldo and Rubens Barrichello. Fellow ex-Piquet Sport engineer Giuseppe Callea is head of vehicle dynam-ics, bringing a wealth of expertise in modelling, simulation and tyre development. The technical tri-umvirate is completed by multiple championship winner and expert engineer Stefano Alessi, who is head of engineering and has suc-cessfully, partnered Roberto Costa for over 10 years.

“Motorsport is rapidly chang-ing and accurate simulation and exhaustive preparation are essential for teams that want more than an average perform-ance. Bhai Tech is committed to researching and offering new, integrated methods to dramat-ically condense the learning process for drivers and engi-neers, as well as to exponentially expanding their potential,” says Roberto Costa, technical director.

At the core of Bhai Tech’s offering is its new 6-DOF driv-ing simulator, developed with Cruden BV, and backed up by an infrastructure to support cus-tomers throughout the process. Set up for both driver and vehi-cle development in a formula car configuration, the simulator is fully immersive with five off-board projectors and a 210° 8 m diameter curved screen. The simulator has many advanced features including a revolution-ary harness loading system and a sophisticated rear view mirror

system, where the view behind the race car is played through screens and reflected onto the car’s actual mirrors. A second, interchangeable GT car cockpit is under development. A vast library of global race tracks and vehicle models are available to drive.

Bhai Tech’s own ‘BhT’ fam-ily of vehicle modelling software has been built in house, through years of continuous develop-ment and benefits from the most advanced propriety soft-ware tooling available such as Matlab, Catia and Adams. With BhT Driver and Car Manager, teams are able to write, organise, compare and store all available data in real time whether at the track or workshop. BhT Advanced Vehicle Modeller (AVM) simu-lates dynamic vehicle behavior using extremely accurate mod-els validated against real data and BhT Advanced Vehicle Modeller Workbook where the new simulated information can be analysed in depth.

The Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s location pro-vides clement weather and proximity to race tracks such as Adria, Monza, Mugello, Imola, Misano and Panonia (Croatia). Complementing its techni-cal equipment, office space for permanent and customer engi-neering staff and servers capable of running up to 100 simula-tion tasks in parallel, Bhai Tech offers professional and amateur enthusiast customers access to its fully equipped fitness centre and shower facilities and even a lounge bar area where partners and family can relax.

Bhai Tech’s services include a full-motion driving simulator facility, driver development pro-grammes including an onsite fitness suite, vehicle modelling and simulation software and on and off-track support services. Bhai Tech Racing also competes in selected rounds of the Italian GT Championship with a new McLaren MP4-12C.

Bhai Tech kicks off advanced simulator, R&D facility for motorsport

A new Peugeot Design Lab is launched to offer external clients an exceptional design capability with its main objec-tive to provide the design of products,

services and experiences for external clients from all market sectors. The considerable tech-nical and human resources of the Peugeot Design Centre, at the heart of which the Peugeot

Design Lab is located, gives the Peugeot Design Lab a unique capability in this area, across three continents, in the cities of Paris, Shanghai and Sao Paolo. The automobile is, in terms of design, a complex product but also one of the most accomplished. As underlined by Gilles Vidal, Director of Style Peugeot, “The challenge for automobile designers is ambitious: to anticipate ever higher expectations for quality, safety, and content, while preparing to make a step forward in design with a style that is innovative, attrac-tive, and different”.

Peugeot design lab opens doors to external clients

Auto Monitor

G L O B A L W A T C H 1718 JUNE 2012

BCA recently launched Appraise, Value & Sell, an online service developed specifically

for UK retail dealers by British Car Auctions. The new serv-ice is a first for the remarketing industry and comprises three modular components that pro-vide a range of benefits for used car sellers. Appraise, Value & Sell generate consistent and objec-tive appraisals, accurate real time valuations using the UK’s largest used vehicle databank and a seamlessly linked remar-keting process.

Dealers can use just one, two or all three functions and as a web based tool the product can be used by any computer with an internet connection - from tablet to desktop. BCA Appraise, Value & Sell was launched to selected franchised dealers late last year and is now available from BCA nationwide.

The ‘Appraise’ function ena-bles dealers to accurately and consistently record a vehicle’s condition and automatically generates a condition grade. The process presents a body-specific

Kipper View dia-gram with selectable damage and severity options and image upload facilities. This ensures the cor-rect identification of vehicles, helps to reduce the potential of lost sales due to poor appraisals and professionalises the appraisal approach with customers.

The appraisal is immediately vis-ible online within the dealer or group (without the sales person leaving the customer if using tablet PC’s), making avail-able all the relevant information to accurately value the vehicle. These details can be directly passed to a retail or trade sales route without any re-keying of data, reducing administration and time to sale.

The ‘Value’ function uses BCA’s 600,000 annual auction results combined with over two million additional data points to derive a trade value - which

is adjusted daily using a sophis-ticated logarithmic program developed in conjunction with Deltapoint, the UK’s leading automotive intelligence provider.

The service is currently tested to 99 percent accuracy in the field and BCA believes it is the most accurate, live valuation tool in the marketplace. A value is auto-matically produced as part of the ‘Appraise’ function, but dealers can bypass this and generate a value using an assumed aver-

age (BCA Grade 3) condition. All vehicles stored on the system can automatically be re-valued at the touch of a but-ton, giving dealers real time informa-tion on the value of their retail stock.

With the ‘Sell’ function, dealers can automatically send vehicle details including appraisal report and images to BCA for remar-keting. The dealer

can choose to place the vehicle in one of BCA’s regular online-only sales which include Bid Now, Buy Now and e-Auction, as well as entry into a physical auction. Automatic transfer of vehicle data to BCA saves dealer admin-istration time by removing the need for vehicle entry forms.

The dealer can even retain the vehicle on the forecourt by consigning it to an ‘offsite’ sale at BCA. BCA will remarket the vehicle online while the dealer

retains the vehicle for possible retail, avoiding unnecessary logistics costs and improving the time to sale.

BCA’s Commercial Director D’Vidis Jacobs said, “Appraise, Value & Sell has been developed exclusively for retail dealers by BCA. It has been tested with some of the UK’s biggest and best known motor retail groups and the reaction has been universal-ly positive.”

“Dealers tell us that it helps them achieve a more efficient used car operation, by removing administration and providing a consistent process for apprais-al and valuation on any number of vehicles. Incoming part-exchange vehicles can be processed fluidly, and allocated to retail or trade as appropri-ate. The system can integrate with dealers’ existing process-es, is auditable, transparent and doesn’t rely on subjectivity at any stage. There are added efficien-cies where a vehicle is entering the remarketing chain because all the administration has been done and a simple click consigns it for sale at BCA.”

BCA launches new Appraise, Value & Sell tool

Saab Automobile was rescued from insolvency when an Asian consortium sealed a deal to buy the brand’s main assets with the aim of making elec-

tric cars. The price tag for Saab’s assets, which includes the main parts of the automobile manufacturing division, was not made public. The buyer, National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, is owned 51 percent by Hong Kong-based National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd. and 49 percent by Japanese investment group Sun Investment. It was formed with the purpose of bidding for Saab.

At a news conference at Saab’s manufac-turing plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, NEVS said it would initially focus the sale of elec-tric cars on the Chinese market, but that it also has wider plans to expand more globally. The consortium said it is already in the proc-ess of hiring key staff. The carmaker’s Saab Parts unit was not included in the agreement, and the intellectual property rights for the Saab 9-5 car model, owned by the brand’s former owner General Motors Corp., were also excluded. Saab filed for bankruptcy in December last year after its previous owner, the Dutch luxury car group Spyker — later named Swedish Automobile — failed to get sufficient backing.

Karl-Erling Trogen, a former executive of Volvo Trucks and chairman of the new con-sortium, said he was thrilled to “start a new future-oriented venture.”

“We will match Swedish automobile design and manufacturing experience with Japanese electric vehicle technology and a strong pres-ence in China. Electric vehicles powered by clean electricity are the future, and the elec-tric car of the future will be produced in Trollhattan.”

Asian car consortium secures deal to buy Saab

Auto Monitor

G L O B A L W A T C H1818 JUNE 2012

Visteon Corporation dis-played a wide range of automotive electronics and climate innova-

tions at the 2012 China Auto Parts and Service Show in Shanghai from June 12-15. Visteon’s exhib-it highlights solutions for growth market and new energy vehicles that are particularly relevant to the needs of Chinese consumers.

“Our flexible solutions focus on integrating consumer and automotive electronics based on market needs identified through extensive consumer research in mature and emerging markets, including China,” said Visteon Product Group President, Steve Meszaros.

Leveraging its global and local market and consumer research, Visteon showcases electronic products and innovations that address consumer perceptions of the ideal vehicle electronics experience. Some of the key dis-plays include wireless charging solution for a high-volume pro-

duction vehicle platform. The company’s technology provides a convenient way to ensure port-able electronics equipped with compatible inductive charging receivers are always charged and ready to go, eliminating the need for dedicated power cords for each portable device in the vehicle. The user simply places the device on Visteon’s charger, and power is transferred wire-lessly to the portable device, at a rate comparable to a plug-in power cord.

Mid-range driver information platform to meet ever-increasing demands for higher-resolution colour displays in vehicles at a competitive cost, this platform fea-tures high-quality graphics, video and animation on up to two TFT displays, combined with tradition-al analog gauges. The scalability feature can be applied to a wide range of vehicle segments, making this platform particularly attrac-tive to vehicle manufacturers.

Enhanced connectivity solu-

tion for audio infotainment for easy and convenient integration of their electronic devices into the vehicle, Visteon has developed a wide range of connectivity solu-tions to include a smartphone remote control featuring bluetooth wireless technology and an optical media-less audio system solution with USB and SD card port.

As a leader in automotive thermal management, the com-pany has broad capabilities, from serving small-car segments with cost-effective technology and packaging to supporting new energy vehicles with advanced solutions.

Other products displayed at the expo include compact HVAC that contribute to higher per-formance in a package that is smaller, lighter and consumes less energy than traditional units, electric compressor that operates independently from the engine, thus enabling it to pre-condition the cabin for increased passenger comfort.

Its compact design enhanc-es packaging space under the hood, rotary suction compres-sor that supports improved fuel economy through its higher effi-ciency refrigerant flow design and lighter weight compared with a traditional fixed dis-placement compressor and A/C lines and metal seal fittings for

enhancing cooling efficiency, along with Visteon’s patented fitting technology that enables zero refrigerant leakage.

Visteon is a leading global automotive supplier that designs, engineers and manufactures innovative climate, electronic, interior and lighting products for vehicle manufacturers.

Visteon displays electronics solutions at China auto parts show

Toyota Motorsport will demonstrate its high-performance electric power-train technology at North America’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in

Colorado on July. Last year TMG set a new elec-tric lap record (9.1 minutes) at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the road-legal TMG EV P001 car, a record which still stands. TMG’s advanced electric and electronic department has spent the past months developing on an updated elec-tric powertrain, which is more powerful and more durable than its predecessor.

That high-performance electric powertrain is the heart of the new TMG EV P002 car, which will compete at Pikes Peak as part of a project from RK1. Fumio Nutahara will drive the car which features prominent branding from Yokohama. Based on a Radical chassis, the TMG EV P002 has a predicted top speed of 240km/h in Pikes Peak configuration, with combined maximum power of 350kW from its two axial flux motors. The hill-climb, which begins at an altitude of 2,800m and reaches the summit of 4,300m, is an ideal envi-ronment to showcase the strengths of an electric powertrain. TMG’s high-performance electric powertrain maintains full power despite the thin atmosphere at high altitude while deliver-ing an impressive 900Nm of torque through its single-speed gearing.

The TMG EV P002 underwent a success-ful three-day testing session at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France in May to verify car and powertrain performance. Ludwig Zeller, General Manager Electric & Electronics said, “Pikes Peak is a great showcase for TMG’s elec-tric powertrain technology. We already proved at the Nürburgring that TMG is leading the way in developing such powertrains for motorsport and this is another sign of our commitment to this technology. TMG wants to be increasingly involved in electric motorsport. Electric pow-ertrain technology in motorsport is still in its development phase but through projects like this one, TMG is laying the foundations for the future of high-performance and motorsport cars.”

Toyota brings electric tech to Pikes Peak

Wireless charging solutions; (inset) mid range driver information platform

Auto Monitor

T E C H N O L O G Y2018 JUNE 2012

Denso Corporation recently achieved the milestone of produc-ing its 100 millionth

segment conductor (SC) alterna-tor, its flagship alternator and a major product for the company at its Anjo Plant in Aichi, Japan. The company began producing its SC alternator in December 1999 and manufactures it in all major regions of the world, including Japan, the United States, Thailand, China, Italy, India and Taiwan.

“With the increas-ing demand for more sophisticated safe-ty, information and communication technologies, there is a greater need for more electric-ity from the vehicle, and this requires a higher powered, more efficient alter-nator,” said Senior Executive Director, Denso’s Electr ic Systems Business Group, Masahiko Miyaki. “To meet these growing needs, SC alternators generate more elec-tricity, compared to traditional alternators due to the winding copper wire technology. The SC alternators are among the small-est and most efficient alternators in the world.”

Denso, which has supplied alternators since 1962, has been reducing the size and weight of alternators while also increas-

ing their efficiency. Denso will continue to research and devel-op alternators with higher power generation efficiency to meet vehicles’ growing demand for electricity. In addition, Denso also will use its accumulated technologies to develop alterna-tors tailored to meet the needs of emerging countries for its cus-tomers around the world.

Since 1988, DENSO has been a leading supplier of alternator

globally. Currently, SC alterna-tors account for 70 percent of DENSO’s alternator production.

Denso, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and infor-mation and safety. Its customers include all the world’s major carmakers.

Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 35 countries and regions (including Japan) and employs approximately 120,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the f iscal year ending March 31, 2012, totalled US$38.4 billion. Last fiscal year, the company spent 9.5 percent of its global con-solidated sales on research and development.

Denso produces 100 millionth SC alternator

Denso also will use its accumulated

technologies to develop alternators

tailored to meet the needs of emerging

countries for its customers around

the world

Haas Automation demonstrated its latest CNC machine tools at Asian Machine Toool Exhibition, in New Delhi, including an ST-30 CNC

turning centre, an ST-20Y with live tooling and its hugely successful DT-1 drill tap centre, launched two years ago.

“AMTEX promises to be a key exhibition for us this year which is why we opted to be one of its sponsors. The events in Europe, currency fluctuations and global economic uncertain-ty are all combining to create tough trading conditions, especially for importers like Haas. However, irrespective of where a small to mid-sized machine shop is based, they all share the need for reliable, high-productivity, well-sup-ported and affordable machine tools,” said Haas India, Managing Director, Terrence Miranda.

The largest CNC machine tool builder in the Western World, Haas Automation manufac-tures a full line of CNC vertical and horizontal machining centres, CNC lathes, rotary tables and 5C indexers.

“Notwithstanding the difficult trading con-ditions, we are expecting good enquiry levels at AMTEX and a positive second half to 2012,” says Mr Miranda.

Haas ST-30 CNC Lathe has 26” max capacity, 31.75” swing, 30 hp vector drive, 3400 rpm, A2-6 spindle,10” chuck, 12-station bolt-on turret, 15” colour LCD monitor, memory lock key switch, USB port and rigid tapping. Standard tool hold-er kit included with BOT or Hybrid turret. Haas ST-20Y CNC turning centre has 12” x 21” max capacity, 31.75” swing, ±2.00” Y-axis travel, 20 hp (14.9 kW) vector drive, 4000 rpm, A2-6 spin-dle, 8.3” (210 mm) chuck, 12-station hybrid turret (6 VDI/6 BOT), high-torque live tooling w/C axis, 15” colour LCD monitor, memory lock key switch, spindle orientation, USB port and rigid tapping. Includes standard tool kit. Haas CNC Drill has 20” x 16” x 15.5”, BT30 taper, 15 hp (11.2 kW) vector drive, 12,000 rpm, 2400 ipm (61 m/min) rapids, high-speed 20+1 side-mount tool changer, power failure detection module, 1 MB program memory, 15” colour LCD monitor, USB port, memory lock keyswitch, rigid tapping and 45- gallon (170 L) flood-coolant system.

Haas demonstrates CNC range at AMTEX 2012

Auto Monitor

G L O B A L W A T C H 2118 JUNE 2012

GM and DTE Energy partnering on solar power system

GM and DTE Energy Co will break ground Monday on a two-acre solar installation at GM’s Orion Assembly Centre. DTE Energy will own, operate and maintain the 345-kilowatt ground photovoltaic solar sys-tem at Orion Assembly in Orion Township, said Scott Simons, a DTE Energy spokesman. The system — smaller than the 516-kilowatt solar installation at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant — will be complete this fall, Simons said. It’s expected to pro-duce enough electricity to power 45 homes.

The project is part of the Detroit energy company’s SolarCurrents program in which DTE wants to have 50 megawatts of electricity produced through photovoltaic solar systems at its facilities or on Southeast Michigan customers’ property or rooftops. In return, GM will receive an unspecified credit on its energy bill during its 20-year contract, Simons said. Separately, GM said it will announce a glo-bal environmental milestone at its GM Lansing Customer Care & Aftersales facility.

France studying aid for car sector, industry minister says

France is considering giv-ing financial support to the car industry, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said in response to a call for aid from Renault. “We’re working in that direction,” Montebourg said when asked about possible assist-ance for automakers at a press conference. Renault and rival PSA/Peugeot-Citroen are strug-gling with excess capacity as demand for new vehicles shrinks across Europe. Renault’s sales

have dropped about 21 percent from January to April, compared with a 14 percent decline at PSA, according to data from industry association ACEA.

Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares yesterday said he would welcome “any kind of measure of support.”

Skoda sales rose 4 percent in May on Russia, China gains

Skoda’s deliveries in May rose 4 percent to 81,500 vehicles because of strong demand from Russia and China, the Czech

carmaker said. Through five months, the Volkswagen Group subsidiary’s deliveries rose nine percent to a record 405,500, top-ping its previous all-time high for the period of 373,400 set last year.

In Russia last month, Skoda’s deliveries increased 38 percent to nearly 8,500 vehicles. The Skoda Octavia led the way with a 49 percent rise in May sales to 4,500 units. In China, Skoda’s deliveries grew 13 percent to 21,000 vehicles last month. After five months, Skoda’s deliveries in China are up eight percent to 100,600, pushing the auto-

maker above the 100,000-unit mark in the country faster than ever before. China has been Skoda’s top sales market since 2010. “Despite increasingly dif-ficult conditions in western Europe, May 2012 was anoth-er month in which Skoda Auto managed to increase its deliv-eries worldwide year on year,” Juergen Stackmann, the com-pany’s board member for sales and marketing, said in the state-ment. “Economic headwinds are going to be felt in many markets in the months ahead.”

Hyundai to boost Czech plant output on demand for new compact

Hyundai will boost output by 20 percent to 300,000 units this year at its plant in Nosovice, Czech Republic, to meet strong demand for its new i30 model line. The South Korean automak-er started production of the i30 compact wagon recently. When combined with a production doubling to 200,000 units at its plant in Izmit, Turkey, Hyundai will have capacity to make a half million cars in Europe by the end of 2013.

Hyundai’s big gains in pro-duction and new-car sales come as mass-market rivals such as Fiat and Ford have been forced to halt output at their Europe plants for days at a time to adjust to weak demand in Europe, which is headed toward its fifth-con-secutive year of declining overall

sales. The i30 wagon, which was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva auto show, will account for about 30 percent of the 115,000 i30 vari-ants Hyundai plans to make this year for Europe. The car’s five-door hatchback variant will account for the other 70 percent of the model line’s production.

Hyundai says it has received more than 57,000 orders of the new i30 hatch since the car went on sale in March. With a volume of 101,328 units, the previous-generation i30 was Hyundai’s best-selling model in Europe last year ahead of the ix20 and ix35, according to data from market researches JATO Dynamics. About 70 percent of the cars Hyundai sells in Europe are produced at its plants in Turkey and the Czech Republic. The automaker also builds the ix20 small minivan and ix35 compact SUV in Nosovice. By the end of next year, Hyundai will move production of the next i10 for Europe to Turkey from India. The minicar will be built at Hyundai’s joint venture plant with Kibar Holding along-side the i20 subcompact.

Hyundai plans to achieve a 3.5 market percent share in the EU and EFTA countries this year, up from 2.9 percent in 2011. Through May, it’s share in the EU and EFTA was 3.3 percent because of a 10 percent increase in sales to 187,667 vehicles, according to data from industry association ACEA.

International auto round-up

Fiat is cutting investments in Europe by Euro 500 million ($632 million) on expectations that the region’s auto market won’t recover in the second half. “The capital expenditure reduc-tion is about half a billion euros from what we planned last year for 2012 in Europe,” CEO Sergio Marchionne said. A recovery in Europe “depends on many fac-tors: first Greece, then the way in which the euro currency will continue and what Europe will do to sustain growth,” the CEO said. Fiat, which owns 58.5 per-cent in Chrysler Group LLC, has stopped additional investments and postponed the introduction of new models in Europe.

Marchionne, who is also CEO of Chrysler, plans to eventually merge Fiat and the US carmaker in a bid to increase sales to more

than 100 billion Euros by 2014 and reduce the Italian manufacturer’s reliance on Europe. He said that the new Grande Punto model, which was originally scheduled to be built beginning in 2013, “is one of the projects we are recon-sidering in line with the changes” to the market in Europe.

Fiat is discussing partner-ships “with several people, and in some cases our architectures, including the one for the Punto, are involved in the talks,” he said. “We’re definitely going to be at these lower sales levels for some time to come in Europe,”

Fiat will pay less than Euro 200 million to increase its stake in Chrysler by 3.3 percent to 61.8 percent, Marchionne said. The CEO said there won’t be ‘any spectacular news’ on a full acqui-sition of Chrysler in the second

half. Fiat is not currently in talks with the United Auto Workers’ retiree health care trust, VEBA, to buy its remaining holding in the US carmaker, said Marchionne. Fiat is not considering an ini-tial public offering of its Ferrari supercar maker to finance an acquisition of Chrysler, the CEO said. “We have enough cash.”

Federal safety investigators are expanding a government probe into whether fuel tanks in 5 million Chrysler SUVs pose a serious fire risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation, opened in August 2010 to look at three million 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees, has been expanded to cover 5.1 million vehicles, including the 1993-2001 Jeep Cherokee and 2002-07 Jeep Liberty.

In its notice, NHTSA said it was upgrading its preliminary investigation to an engineering analysis. At the conclusion of its analysis, the agency can demand a recall, if it determines vehicles are unsafe. NHTSA says it has reports of 15 deaths and 46 inju-ries from rear-impact crashes linked to 26 fires from fuel tanks. Its analysis that compared non-Chrysler models shows ‘a higher incidence of rear-impact, fatal fire crashes for the Jeep products.’ David Dillon, Chrysler’s head of product investigations and cam-paigns, said that the company believes its SUVs pose no great-er fire risk than its competitors’ vehicles. The Auburn Hills-based

automaker says they are “neither defective nor do their fuel sys-tems pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.”

Chrysler reviewed 21,000 rear impacts in its vehicles and their peers, and found no increased safety risk. NHTSA opened its initial investigation in response to a petition filed by the Centre for Auto Safety in October 2009, which pointed to several deaths — including that of a 4-year-old — that it claimed were linked to faulty fuel tanks. The centre contends the plastic fuel tank’s placement, behind the rear axle and below the rear bumper, makes it more prone to rupture or leak when hit from behind — or, in the case of rollover crashes, when it hits other objects. Chrysler moved the gas tank inside the frame starting in the 2005 model year. Dillon said Chrysler increased the vehicles’ wheelbase and moved the spare tire. As a result, it moved the gas tank between the axles, but no safety issue led to the change, he said.

The number of fatal vehi-cle fires in 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees is about four times higher than for SUVs made by

other companies, the Centre for Auto Safety alleged. Grand Cherokees in those model years have a fatal fire rate six times that of newer models, the peti-tion claimed. The centre cited government records showing 185 fatal fire crashes with 254 fatali-ties involving the Jeep Grand Cherokee from model years 1992-2008. Dillon said that figure ‘is all fatal fire accidents,’ not specific to the rear impacts or the fuel tanks. The key issue NHTSA must deter-mine is whether the fires caused by high-speed rear impacts are a result of a bad design or whether crashes would have caused fires no matter where the gas tank was located.

The centre, founded by the

Consumers Union and safety advocate Ralph Nader in 1970, said fire was listed as the predom-inant factor or ‘most harmful event’ in at least 64 fatalities since 1992, in Jeeps and other vehicles. Chrysler attributes the deaths to high-speed collisions and not to a ‘design or manufacturing defect in the fuel system.’

The group’s petition in 2009 said “the design is so bad that Chrysler frequently settles law-suits without extensive discovery and subject to confidentiality agreements.”

Chrysler doesn’t dispute it settles some lawsuits with con-fidential settlements, but said there is nothing improper about those.

Marchionne reduces Euro 500 million from Fiat’s European investments

Wider safety probe of Chrysler SUVs

Auto Monitor

C L A S S I F I E D S2218 JUNE 2012

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