24-NOVEMBER-2009 “Maruti, Hyundai and Tata seek engineering talent from Detroit”

From what is left of Detroit, Maruti, Hyundai Motors India and Tata are sifting the gold from the rust. The once-iconic automobile now going through a journey of bankruptcy, is turning out to be the ideal hunting ground for the car-makers who are eyeing talent laid off by General Motors. Chrysler and Ford.

The Big Three of Indian auto sector are scouring Detroit and other such fallen auto hubs across the US and Southeast Asia, placing advertisements in leading auto magazines seeking engineering talent, expats as well as NRIs, to run factories back home.

“With big automakers like GM, Ford and Chrysler downsizing people, we found that there was a capable population in the US, which can be effectively used to meet our own requirement,” says SY Siddiqui, Maruti Suzuki’s managing executive officer for HR & IT.

India’s largest car maker had sent a team to Detroit to shop for talent. It bagged 10 engineers so far, two of them expats. “We are so happy with our talent acquisition that we are looking at hiring more from Motown next year,” Mr Siddiqui says.

Maruti plans to hire around 500 people in managerial capacity next fiscal. An equal number of people will be recruited by the automaker on the shopfloor.

The company plans to enhance its R&D capability to become a 1-million unit carmaker by 2010. For this, it plans to scale up its R&D workforce from 781 to 1,000, apart from adding to the talent pool in other departments. In the current fiscal, Maruti plans to hire 500 engineers and 200 technicians.

The compensation package for those automobile engineers shifting base from US to India depends on three factors: competence, the comparative cost of living and the prevailing compensation market in India.

Sunil Goel, director of GlobalHunt India, says there is a serious shortage of skilled manpower in India, which has forced these companies to look outside. He believes that hiring trends in the automobile sector in India are showing signs of a turnaround, and expects recruitment to increase in Q3 and Q4 this fiscal.

Hyundai Motor India is using the advertising space of  Automotive News, US, source manpower, says Arvind Saxena, senior VP (sales & marketing).

“We have always believed in hiring the best and if this means extending the boundaries to include those living outside India, we are open. I am sure this will be a good opportunity for many Indians as well, who want to come back home. It will be an excellent opportunity for us too since we will be able to get experienced people, who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in international markets,” he says.

Hyundai has recruited some 1,200 people on the shopfloor this year.

 

24-NOVEMBER-2009 “Mahindra eyes Rs 500 crore turnover”

Mahindra and Mahindra, a renowned name of auto-mobile sector, which entered into the business of sale-purchase of pre-owned cars in 2007, is eying the turnover of Rs 500 crore in the current fiscal.

“Market of sale-purchase of pre-owned cars was at least 20 times big than the market of new cars and we want to tab the market to double our current Acquired Turn Over of Rs 250 crore in the current financial year”, Sharad Agarwal, General Manager, Sales (North) of the Mahindra First Choice Wheels Limited, a wing of Mahindra and Mahindra, told reporters while inaugurating a showroom of the company here today.

At present the company had 97 dealers in the country, which would be increased to 300 by 2013 apart from opening 27 super showroom for sale-purchase of at least one lakh cars, he added.

“The newly opened showroom of the company will display several brands of pre-owned cars and will function as a one-stop shop for all those wishing to either buy or sell a car. We will offer a wide range of services for customers, including purchase and sale of pre-owned cars, car finance and insurance, fitment of car accessories and assistance with paperwork and documentation,” said Agarwal.

24-NOVEMBER-2009 “BMW xDrive: A rear axle pitches in to steer”

Engines, transmissions, chassis controls and cockpit infotainment systems have all had their turns as the must-have features that brought shoppers into showrooms. Could it now be time for the lowly differential – a vital drivetrain part seen by few drivers and understood by even fewer – to shine?

The differential is a compact gearbox that lives in the dark recesses between a vehicle’s drive wheels, earning its keep by allowing a smooth delivery of engine power while going around turns. Its array of gears and shafts makes it possible for the left and right wheels to spin at different speeds even though they are geared together on the same axle.

This is necessary because the wheel on the outside of a turn rolls along an arc that’s significantly longer than the path tracked by the inside wheel – so it must rotate faster, much as a rider on the perimeter of a merry-go-round travels faster than a rider near the center. Vehicles that drive through all four wheels have a differential in the front axle and another in the rear axle.

Over the years, refinements have been added to address the differential’s one glaring foible: allowing the drive wheel with the least amount of traction to spin fruitlessly while the wheel with a better grip on the road takes a break. One solution, the so-called limited-slip differential, has proved effective in distributing torque more effectively during acceleration, and it is a lifesaver when your garage is at the end of a steep, slippery driveway.

The rear differential at the heart of the BMW xDrive all-wheel drive system used in the X6, X6M and X5M goes beyond maintaining forward motion in adverse weather. This is a differential with brains – one smart enough to lend a helping hand in extreme cornering maneuvers.

The version of xDrive in these BMWs includes a capability called Dynamic Performance Control whose purpose ist o contribute what engineers call a yaw torque. To understand yaw torque, visualize a scale-model car with a toothpick stuck vertically through its roof. Spinning the tooth pick between your fingers mimics the vehicle’s yaw motion – movement about its vertical axis – experienced during cornering. In this example, your fingers supplied the torque that produced the yaw motion.

All four tires generate the lateral forces that cause a vehicle to track around a corner in response to a driver’s commands at the steering wheel. Together, those four forces yield a yaw torque. But some tires work harder than others; in a front-heavy vehicle, the right-front tire does most of the work guiding the vehicle around a curve to the left.

Dynamic Performance Control pitches in once the hardest-working tires have reached their traction limits. This added yaw torque – essentially an extra nudge to help the vehicle complete the cornering maneuver – is generated at the rear. By forcing the outside rear tire to push forward while the inside-rear tire pulls back a bit, a helpful turning force is generated about the imaginary vertical axis.

What accomplishes this feat is an ingenious collection of clutches and gears inside the differential. The device, called Vector Drive by its maker, ZF, a supplier of transmissions and steering hardware based in Germany, is commanded by a computer that keeps abreast of the vehicle’s every move through speed sensors positioned at all four wheels.

When cued by the control computer, a planetary gearset inside the differential temporarily changes the speed ratio between the left and right wheels from the normal ratio of 1:1 in straight-ahead driving to 1.25:1. In other words, the outboard wheel strains to speed up while the inboard wheel strives to slow down. The resulting push-pull is the yaw torque that supplements cornering forces normally generated by the tires. In principle, it is like a bulldozer, which turns by changing the relative speeds of the tracks on each side.

The beauty of this arrangement is that it works independently of the BMW’s propulsion system. Whether the driver is accelerating, braking or coasting through a tight turn, this computer-controlled differential is always on call to add a yaw-torque contribution.

Also packed inside the Vector Drive housing is a conventional ring-and-pinion gear set as well as the components that provide a limited-slip function for slippery roads.

There are no alarm bells or warning lamps to alert the driver when the Vector Drive differential is at work. Instead, this high-riding BMW hatchback adeptly executes maneuvers that would otherwise be beyond its reach. And, for those who push too hard – you know who you are! – the BMW stability control system is still on duty as a safety net.

 

24-NOVEMBER-2009 “Maruti Suzuki to launch van to replace Versa”

The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), today said it will launch a new van within this fiscal to replace its MPV Versa , whose production has been stopped.

“We will be launching a new van by the end of this fiscal. This vehicle will replace the Versa, whose production has already been stopped,” Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) I V Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the Fourth Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Conference here.

He, however, did not give the price point of the soon-to-be launched vehicle.

MSI is also looking to produce one million vehicles by the end of this fiscal.

“Hopefully, we will have one million units in production by the end of this financial year by utilising our full capacity,” Rao said.

He added the company is working on making all its models Bharat Stage-IV compliant as required under the government norms.

“We have not completed BS-IV compliance norms on all our models but we are working towards that direction,” Rao said.

The company is also working on hybrid and electric vehicles for demo cars, but Rao said it has no plans for a full-fledged launch of vehicles with such alternative fuel technologies.

1-NOVEMBER-2009 “Car companies come up with sporty, stylish designed models for young buyers”

It was the biggest challenge for the country’s largest carmaker looking for some success in the domestic market it had ruled for over two decades after its premium multi utility vehicle Versa, flopped. Despite Maruti best ever glitzy campaign, Versa endorsed by Bachchan father-son duo hardly had any takers. Looking for obvious answers to save its mammoth market share, Maruti played its biggest gamble in India.

After two years of intensive market research and hectic car clinics, it introduced Swift in May 2005 — a design marvel crated by a blend of Mini and Beetle hatchbacks. The car, developed keeping in view the evolving demographic and psychograpy of Indian customers proved to be a runaway success.

Now it’s the largest selling brand in the A2 segment. But more importantly it has paved way for sporty and sharply designed stylish cars carved out keeping in mind the younger customers.

Why? The obvious answer comes from Maruti’s chief general manager (marketing) Shashank Shrivastava: “Customers are getting younger, so make cars they love to buy.” New car buying customers are now six years younger at an average age of 33 years over the past decade.

Swift has answered most of Maruti’s woes. From mere 3,000 cars per month since 2005, now over 9,000 cars are sold every month, leaving many market gurus puzzled to become country’s third largest selling brand. It has killed all its competition, cornering almost three-fourths market share in the segment. Most marketers accord success to its superb “Design”.

Swift was a whole new departure in Suzuki’s design philosophy. Styling themes originated from Concept-S and Concept-S2 (S for sports) cars, making Swift the first global platform from Suzuki’s stable to blend urbane appeal with sporty features away from its edgy Ignis and Alto platforms.

Its the first car to have wraparound headlamps (somewhat standard on most new cars in India) and distinct black A and B pillars seen in Ford Mustang earlier. Moreover Suzuki tweaked its proven 1.3 litre Esteem engine by adding up five computer chips to increase torque keeping in mind the younger customers.

Koreans weren’t late to learn the rules of the game. As for design elements Hyundai always stood out be its ‘Tall Boy’ Santro or the curvaceous i20, which has appealed to a very large segment of buyers in India. At least that is what its Getz successor i20 portrays.

Though much pricier than Swift this car with sports embedded in its basic design and every bit of interiors has set the benchmark for top-end premium hatch market. It consistent sales grew from 2,000 car since January this year to over 4,500 cars to date.

Honda’s flagship brand, City has been a precursor of changes in the mid-size car segment where it has maintained its leadership since its launch 11 years ago. One of the most aesthetically designed sedan, its three sporty incarnations have made it common man’s most aspirations car.

1-NOVEMBER-2009 “Audi looks at 50 pc growth; to assemble more models in India”

German luxury car maker Audi today said it is looking at over 50 per cent growth in sales in both this and the next year in India, and is planning to assemble more models in the country as part of its strategy to achieve this target.

The company will also launch one new model in the country next year, besides brining in advanced version of an existing model.

“Our target is to grow by over 50 per cent both in this year and 2010. In 2008, we sold around 1,050 units in India and this year our target is to sell 1,600 units and then continue the momentum next year,” Audi India Head (Marketing) Martin Birkner told PTI.

He said the company had a good growth so far this year but did not provide the exact figures of the number of units sold so far in 2009.

Audi is also planning to assemble more models in India from next year.

“We are looking at shifting assemble operation of at least one or two more models to India in 2010. This will give us a better advantage in the market,” Birkner said, without giving further details.

Audi currently has seven models in India, of which only two — the entry level luxury sedan A4 and the volume model A6 — are assembled here, while the others are shipped in as completely built units.