Auto majors gear up to develop greener, smaller cars

The Indian automotive industry is set for a major transition, with manufacturers in the country looking at developing greener and more compact cars, in a bid to combat the on-going surge in the fuel prices and to stay competitive in the budget conscious market.

"In the next three to five years,the Indian automotive sector will see a major transition from conventional cars to greener and more compact cars," say Manish Khurana and Saurabh Jain, automotive analysts, Data monitor Ltd.

The work has already begun. Companies like Tata Motors have not only gone ahead and developed cars like Nano, which is set to race through the super mini segment in the country, but have also announced plans to introduce a petrol electric hybrid version of Indica. Market leader Maruti Suzuki is also set to launch an LPG (liquid petroleum gas)version of its popular model M800. This is over and above the company's LPG variant of WagonR.

Even Mahindra & Mahindra does not want to be left behind and has already unveiled a diesel electric hybrid version of Scorpio at the recent Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Says Arun Jaura, chief technology officer, Mahindra group, "We have a presence in hydrogen-hybrid, bio-fuel, electric, and CNG technologies.And now are working with the government on hydrogen-CNG technology." He ex plains that in addition to the technology changes the company is undertaking, there has also been reduction in the weight of the cars with more use of aluminum, while engines have been made smaller but with more power."All this is in line to make cars more fuel efficient." "The power density in the engine has gone up than what it was in the past, "Jauraadds." Earlier,the power in the engine was 25-30KW/litre,which now stands at 40KW/litre," he said.

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Indian Oil Corporation to start rationing fuel supplies

Crore a day on the sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and has posted a net loss of Rs 414.3 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal2007-08, against a profit of Rs 1,609.67 crore in same period the previous year.

Despite recording a new high of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in sales in FYO8,up 2.1% from FYO7's Rs 2.21 lakh crore, IOC's PAT fell by 7.1% to Rs 6,963 crore in 2007-08. Crude prices are ruling at over $130 a barrel in the international market, and the company loses Rs 16.34 a litre on sales of petrol, Rs 23.49 on diesel, Rs 28.72 on kerosene and Rs 305.90 a cylinder on LPG. It's alarming now. There are reports of oil shortage coming in from some parts of the country And what's worse is it's only the tip of the iceberg. With soaring international crude prices, bleeding oil marketing companies (OMC) Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) have sent out a missive to petrol pumps across the country that they will not import until and unless there is an emergency. Besides, these companies have decided to close down with immediate effect loyalty and discount programmes offered to consumers. On top of it, the present crisis has forced supplies from OMCs.

In some cases, petrol dealers have started providing petrol and diesel in a limited quantity to vehicle owners against their requirement while some of them have been providing auto fuel after certain intervals. In Navi Mumbai, dealers have facing fuel scarcity and thus have been forced to sell it in a limited quantity to vehicle owners. Similarly, serpentine queues were seen in Nashik which is fast growing industrial city.

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