Tag: vehicles

Kia India targets to produce up to 2.5 lakh vehicles in 2021

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Kia, which entered in the India market in 2019, has sold more than 2 lakh units in the domestic market till now.

South Korean auto major Kia is aiming to increase production in India to about 2.5 lakh units per annum in 2021, anticipating an increase in sales driven by ‘overwhelming’ domestic as well as growing exports demand, a senior company executive said.

“To meet the increasing demand for Kia cars in both domestic and global markets, we are looking at operating three shifts at our Anantapur plant, which is capable of producing 3 lakh units per year,” Tae-Jin Park, executive director and chief sales and business strategy officer Kia Motors India, said. “We are targeting to produce 2.30 lakh to 2.50 lakh vehicles, including the export target of 20%, in 2021,” he added.

While Mr. Park did not share the current production figures, the company, which entered in the India market in 2019, has sold more than 2 lakh units in the domestic market till now.

He added that while the pandemic had unleashed a new world of challenges by shaping new customer behaviours and trends across businesses globally, the company was seeing an upward trend in demand in the last few months given the increasing preference for personal mobility for safe travel, pent up demand during the festive season, and more customers accessing digital methods as a purchase and enquiry mechanism.

“Introduction of scrappage policy and the new PLI scheme has set a very strong foundation for boosting the overall demand for newer vehicles with focus on manufacturing and exports,” Mr. Park said. “This gives us the confidence that 2021 will be a year of fast recovery for the industry,” he said. He, however, added that recovery was still a work in progress given the overall industry potential.

Asked about the company’s plans for introducing electric vehicles in India, Mr. Park said Kia aimed to establish a full EV line-up of 11 models and reach a 6.6% global EV market share by 2025. The company’s Anantapur manufacturing plant was capable of producing electric vehicles, he said. “We believe the success of EV in India primarily relies on developing infrastructure capabilities; supported by steady and streamlined policies to evaluate its viability,” he added.

On the product roadmap for India, he said currently, the company was focusing on meeting the overwhelming demand for the three existing products — the Seltos, Carnival and Sonet. “The Seltos and the Sonet are experiencing strong demand not only in India but in global markets as well…we are ambitious and constantly evaluate consumer and market trends…Our product strategy relies on what will be relevant to India in the coming years and we will accordingly introduce more products and upgrade our successful products to suit the needs of customers,” he said.

Mr. Park added that the company was witnessing good demand from the Tier III and Tier IV markets and is looking to enhance their reach in smaller towns and cities. “Network expansion remains to be one of our primary strategies for sustaining growth. We are foraying in Tier IV and up-country cities/towns,” he added.

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Ford to partly assemble some vehicles, idle two plants due to global chip shortage

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The trucks and SUVs being assembled without certain parts include some electronic modules with the scarce chips, Ford said

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Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it for now will assemble its flagship, highly profitable F-150 pickup trucks and Edge SUVs in North America without certain parts and idle two assembly plants due to the global semiconductor chip shortage.

The U.S. automaker said the chip shortage, combined with the shortage of a part caused by the central U.S. winter storm, is prompting it to build the vehicles and then hold them “for a number of weeks” until they can be completed and shipped. The affected vehicles number in the “thousands,” a spokeswoman said.

Ford said it is also idling production at plants in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cologne, Germany.

The costs associated with these actions are covered in the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s previous forecast that profits this year could be hit by $1 billion to $2.5 billion due to the chip shortage.

Also Read | Global semiconductor shortage spurs run on vintage chipmaking tools

The trucks and SUVs being assembled without certain parts include some electronic modules with the scarce chips, Ford said. It did not identify suppliers of the affected parts, but a spokeswoman said the parts needed for the F-150 and Edge vehicles are tied to basic vehicle functions, such as windshield wiper motors and infotainment systems.

Ford is canceling the late shift on Thursday and both shifts on Friday at its Louisville Assembly Plant, which builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs. Production is expected to resume on short shifts on Monday and full production the following day.

In Cologne, where the Fiesta car is built, the plant is being idled March 1-16 and March 22. The company did not say what volume was being lost due to that action.

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Auto companies to pay max Rs 1 crore penalty for mandated recall of ‘faulty’ vehicles – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Come April and auto manufacturers and importers may have to pay a penalty of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore for selling “defective vehicles” if the government orders mandatory recall.
The rule for testing of vehicles and mandatory recall under the Central Motor Vehicle Act, notified by the transport ministry, provides for the penalty in case manufacturers or importers fail to undertake a voluntary recall.
While many are critical of the low penalty level, the ministry sought to defend its action with officials arguing that currently there is no penalty. The penalty will be in addition to the cost of fixing the fault.
In 2012, auto industry lobby SIAM had refrained from levying any penalty and sought a code for voluntary recall, something that was not palatable to the government, which wanted a penalty provision as a strong deterrent.
The new rules will apply to vehicles that are less than seven years old with the ministry defining defects as a fault in a vehicle or component or software that poses or may pose undue risk to road safety or environment.
Mandatory recall of over six lakh two-wheelers or over one-lakh four wheelers will attract the maximum penalty of Rs 1 crore. In the case of vehicles carrying over nine passengers and all heavy goods vehicles, the maximum penalty of Rs 1 crore will be imposed, if more than 50,000 vehicles are recalled on the basis of a government diktat.
The government has also finalised the threshold for triggering the recall, which will be notified soon. For example, in the case of a car or SUV, if the annual sale is up to 500 units, 100 complaints (20% of the sold units) will be enough to initiate the recall process.
In the case of cars and SUVs, which register annual sale is between 501 and 10,000 units, the number of complaints have to be at least 1,050 and in the case of cars sold beyond 10,000 units in a year, the number of complaints need to be at least 1,250 for initiating the mandatory recall process.
Similar formula has been worked out for two-wheelers, three wheelers and quadricycles.
There will be a uniform formula for other categories of vehicles including large passenger vehicles, buses and trucks. In these cases, the complaints of defects equivalent to 3% of the annual sales will trigger the government to start the process of recall.
The government intends to set up a portal for vehicle owners to register and lodge their complaints. Based on complaints notices will be sent out with auto companies given 30 days to respond. Based on the responses, the designated agency probe if the vehicle is a “defective motor vehicle” before ordering a mandatory recall.

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