Breaking News !

[LeoRahi 31]

Yep! a nice catch indeed. Thanks for sharing.

[LeoRahi 31]

Diesel Prices Hiked by Rs. 1.09

[LeoRahi 31]

Petrol price hiked by Rs 1.69 per litre, diesel by Rs 0.50 with effect from midnight tonight.

[ishanb1 2]

Maruti, Tata Motors, 12 Others Fined Rs.s. 2,545 Crore by Fair Trade Regulator

Ref:profit.NDTV.com, August, 26th , 2014

New Delhi: In the first major order against the auto sector, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday slapped a penalty of Rs. 2,545 crore on 14 carmakers, including Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors, for violating trade norms in the spare parts market.(Also read: Shares in car makers fall on CCI penalty)

Honda Siel Cars India, Volkswagen India, Fiat India Automobiles, BMW India, Ford India, General Motors India, Hindustan Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz India, Nissan Motor India, Skoda Auto India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have also been penalised.

In a 215-page order, fair trade watchdog CCI has imposed a penalty totalling Rs. 2,544.64 crore on the 14 auto companies.

For each entity, the individual fine amounts to 2 per cent of their average turnover. The penalty is to be deposited within 60 days of receipt of the order.

Nissan Motor India spokesperson declined to comment on the order. Comments from 13 other companies could not be immediately obtained.

A detailed investigation revealed that these car companies violated competition norms with respect to their agreements with local Original Equipment Suppliers (OESs) as well as in terms of pacts with authorised dealers.

Through these agreements, the carmakers "imposed absolute restrictive covenants and completely foreclosed the after-market for supply of spare parts and other diagnostic tools", the regulator said.

CCI also said that it found that these companies, which were found to be dominant in the after-markets for their respective brands, abused their dominant position affecting around 2 crore car consumers.

"The 14 car companies were found to be indulging in practices resulting in denial of market access to independent repairers as the latter were not provided access to branded spare parts and diagnostic tools which hampered their ability to provide services in the aftermarket for repair and maintenance of cars."

The fair trade watchdog has also directed the carmakers to "cease and desist" from anti-competitive practices.

According to the regulator, having a monopolistic control over the spare parts and diagnostic tools of their respective brands, the car companies charged arbitrary and high prices for their spare parts.

"The car companies were also found to be using their dominant position in the market for spare parts and diagnostic tools to protect their market for repair services, thereby distorting fair competition," it said.

Among the 14 carmakers, the maximum fine of Rs. 1,346.46 crore has been slapped on Tata Motors, followed by Maruti Suzuki (Rs. 471.14 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs. 292.25 crore) and Toyota Kirloskar Motors (Rs. 93.38 crore).

Among others, a fine of Rs. 84.58 crore has been imposed on General Motors, followed by Honda Siel (Rs. 78.47 crore), Skoda Auto India (Rs.46.39 crore), Ford India (Rs. 39.78 crore), Fiat India Automobiles (Rs.29.98 crore), BMW India (Rs. 20.41 crore), Mercedes-Benz (Rs. 23.08 crore), Hindustan Motors (Rs. 13.85 crore), Volkswagen India (Rs. 3.25 crore) and Nissan Motors (Rs. 1.63 crore).

Noting that cars are an intrinsic part of life in today's world, the fair trade watchdog said that owners have to take care of their maintenance over a long period of time with significant financial implication.

"As such, anti-competitive conduct of the opposite parties (14 companies) impacts a very large number of consumers in the country estimated to be around two crore," the CCI order noted.

"...the anti-competitive conduct of the opposite parties has restricted the expansion of spare parts and independent repairers segment of the economy to its full potential, at the cost of the consumers, service providers and dealers."

The regulator also observed that some of these companies have made consumer-friendly commitments in other jurisdictions like Europe but failed to adopt similar practices in India.

"This makes their conduct even more deplorable," it said.

The regulator has asked the companies to allow Original Equipment Sellers (OEMs) to sell spare parts in the open market without any restriction, including on prices.

"OESs will be allowed to sell the spare parts under their own brand name, if they so wish. Where the OPs hold intellectual property rights on some parts, they may charge royalty/fees through contracts carefully drafted to ensure that they are not in violation of the Competition Act," the order said.

Besides, they have been directed not to impose any restrictions or impediments on the operation of independent repairers/garages.

Further, CCI has suggested that the carmakers may develop and operate appropriate systems for training of independent repairer/garages, and also facilitate easy availability of diagnostic tools.

"Appropriate arrangements may also be considered for providing technical support and training certificates on payment basis," it added.

While the complaint was only against three companies, others were included in the Director General's investigation due to the prevalence of anti-competitive issues throughout the automobile industry.

DG is the investigation arm of the Competition Commission.

Officials of different companies stated they would need to study the order.

With respect to penalty, CCI said there were some mitigating circumstances including the fact that "many of the opposite parties, though not all, indicated willingness to voluntarily discontinue many of these practices and offer greater choice and freedom to the consumers, repairers and dealers".

The fair trade watchdog also mentioned the companies' contention that absence of appropriate legislative and regulatory framework for safety and standards relating to spare parts and after sales services is a handicap vis-a-vis the position prevailing in many other jurisdictions like European Union, France, USA and even developing nations like Brazil, China and South Africa.

"This is something which may be separately brought to the notice of the government for appropriate action, which could include suitable legislation and setting up of an appropriate regulator as stated earlier in this order," the order said.

A copy of the order would also be sent to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association).

[Kuntal 0]

http://www.cci.gov.in/May2011/OrderOfCommission/27/032011.pdf

That's the link to the actual report.

[LeoRahi 31]

And when something seemed to be going Tata's way after the launch of the Zest and Bolt, they faces another huge problem.

[librankur 39]

As per a filling with NSE , M&M will be contesting this order and so would Tata Motors , they fell its not fair on them.

[ashokkumar 0]

Google Maps App now supports Hindi Language. Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jaxyhock 0]

On Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 9:54 PM, onjfunny said:

Old cars deserve this observance. Great news!

whats the new budget  hatchback in Indian with best in category.

[Alisha Hessle 1]

Hyundai reveals Genesis G70 compact sedan

Source: https://autoportal.com/news/hyundai-reveals-genesis-g70-compact-sedan-11667.html

The new G70 is unveiled to compete in the most hotly contested segments around, with competitors like the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

[mehul266 1]

New hyundai elentrafacelift

Source

[VET5 0]

BIG NEWS! Maruti Suzuki has stated it will phase out all of its diesel cars starting April 2020. This move is forced by the fact that the BS-VI emission norms come into effect on April 1, 2020, and as it stands, Maruti Suzuki’s diesel engines will not be ready to meet the more stringent emission norms.

At present, Maruti Suzuki has two diesel engine options in its range – the ubiquitous 1.3-litre, Fiat-sourced MultiJet engine, and its brand-new 1.5-litre, four-cylinder DDiS engine that debuted in the Ciaz. This announcement means that by April next year, there will no diesel variant of any Maruti Suzuki model.

More info here: https://www.autocarindia.com/car-news/maruti-suzuki-to-phase-out-all-diesel-cars-by-april-2020-412488 

[sachins 51]

This is quite shocking considering they just launched the 1.5 L diesel in Ciaz.

It was thought that this in house 1.5 L diesel engine will be made BS6 compliant by Maruti.

Wonder what made them take this decision to back track.

 

[sachins 51]

Can't edit my earlier post hence adding.

I will take this news with a pinch of salt.

I think Maruti will stop offering diesel in small cars (Ignis, Swift, Baleno etc) but same will be offered in their bigger cars like Ciaz, Ertiga, Brezza and S-Cross.

Stopping diesel offering by Maruti means a complete stop to Brezza and S-Cross sales, which I very much doubt they can do or afford to do.

[ketika 1]

I am not sure about this car from Maruti Suzuki and the details that I had found on some website doesn't seems to be authenticated. I just want to know brief of Maruti Suzuki Future S.

[VET5 0]

19 hours ago, ketika said:

I am not sure about this car from Maruti Suzuki and the details that I had found on some website doesn't seems to be authenticated. I just want to know brief of Maruti Suzuki Future S.

Hey Ketika, Maruti had displayed the Future S concept SUV at the 2018 Auto Expo.  The production version of the Future S is expected to be launched some time this year. You can find more info here: https://www.autocarindia.com/car-news/maruti-micro-suv-to-launch-in-2019-409882 

[ketika 1]

3 hours ago, VET5 said:

Hey Ketika, Maruti had displayed the Future S concept SUV at the 2018 Auto Expo.  The production version of the Future S is expected to be launched some time this year. You can find more info here: https://www.autocarindia.com/car-news/maruti-micro-suv-to-launch-in-2019-409882 

Thanks a lot for sharing this information. I thought that Maruti has already announced the date of launch for this SUV. I was not able to find any exact price or launch date details and so did I asked the same.

[booms1 0]

That's very interesting stuff to know about. Thank you so much for the valuable information.

[sandy0555 0]

Very Good stuff here. Thanks for sharing.