New Delhi, June 2
Hero Honda Motors, post the split with Honda of Japan, has posted record sales of over 5 lakh vehicles in each of the last three months. The rural markets have contributed strongly to sales, with the segment now comprising 45 per cent of total volumes.

Anil Dua, senior vice-president, (marketing & sales), Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML) told The Tribune the company had crossed sales of a million units in the first two months of this fiscal (2011-12).

He said HHML was on course to meet the guidance of over six million unit sales this fiscal. To meet the expected market demand, it has now scaled up capacity at the three plants to 6.15 million units.

Dua said the strong sales performance had been driven by a multi-focal strategy which includes building a robust product portfolio across categories, exploring new markets across urban and rural regions, aggressively expanding the network and investing in brand building activities.

As part of this strategy, Hero Honda has been launching seven-eight new products every year, including completely new models.

In addition, while strengthening its presence in the urban markets, the company has also launched several initiatives to expand its presence in semi-urban, upcountry and rural markets. In 2007, it launched a dedicated rural vertical with the vision of “Har Gaaon Har Aangan” (Every Village Every Household).

Under the various rural initiatives, over 1 lakh villages have already been covered. All non-metro dealerships conduct opinion leader contact programs (OLCP), loan melas and exchange camps on a regular basis in up-country and rural markets.

All these initiatives have led to 45 per cent of the company’s total sales coming from the rural markets, up from about 42-43 per cent about two years ago.

Since R&D will now be a challenge, Dua said R&D would be a focus area of sustained investment in the coming years. “We have plans for the long-term as we are moving fast to further enhance our in-house Research & Development capabilities by investing in equipment and facilities. We have also undertaken a recruitment drive to bring in new talent to further strengthen our in-house Research & Development team,” he said.

He added that while enhancing its indigenous technologies, the company was also open to partner with international design houses and technology suppliers.

Dua said the company had also doubled the distribution network over the last four years, which now consists of more than 4,500 touch points (including authorized dealerships, service & spare parts outlets and authorised representatives of dealers).

By the end of this year, this will go up to 5,000 touch points.

On exploring new markets, Dua said while domestic market in India would continue to be the main focus, a dedicated cross-functional team had also been set up with the mandate to work on a range of subjects with regard to export opportunities.

Plans for furthering the businesses in existing overseas markets including brand migration was one focus area.

The other was to enter and establish footprints in new overseas markets, including Africa, Latin America and south-east Asia, he said.

Post the split, the company is innovating by building a new brand identity. Close on the heels of bringing on board the brand and innovation specialist Wolff Olins to work on the new brand identity.

It has also roped in a creative partner Law & Kenneth (L&K) to give shape to the communication for launching the new brand.

Under the rural programme, it has also launched a service initiative in which Hero Honda dealerships across the country regularly conduct camps in village locations, on the same specified day of every month.

This will enable customers to get bikes serviced in their own villages, rather than travelling several miles to nearby towns and cities for the same.

About 1,100 specially-designed Hero Honda motorcycles, fitted with customized boxes are currently deployed across the country for these camps. 

Chandigarh, June 2
BMW India has sold 271 cars in Punjab this year till now and plans to expand in the market. “We have 44 per cent market share in the luxury car segment in Punjab, and we will continue to grow. We have opened a new dealership in Ludhiana and are examining the possibility of expanding our dealership in the state,” said Dr Andreas Schaaf, President BMW India.

Last year, the company grew 110 per cent in the Punjab market. The company sold 415 vehicles in Punjab last year.

He said that though 70 per cent of the company’s sales was still coming from Delhi and Mumbai, a shift in trends was visible. The company sees growth coming in from the secondary and tertiary car markets, with the share of these markets growing to 50 per cent. “We are looking to expand our presence in these areas. We have 22 dealerships and hope to expand these to over 40 by 2012 end, and to 60 by 2015. Most of these dealerships will be opened in the smaller cities,” he added.

Schaaf said that across India, BMW was on a growth path. “Even though the automobile sector is showing signs of a slowdown in growth, BMW India has bucked this negative trend, and is growing at 90 per cent on a monthly basis. Last year, we sold 6,246 vehicles in India, growing 70 per cent over 2009. This year, we hope to sell over 10,000 units. Till May, we have sold 3,634 vehicles,” he said.

The growth drivers for the company are the BMW 5 series and the recently-launched X1. “These two models will drive volumes growth for BMW India. Last year, we sold 2,400 units of BMW 5 series, and till date this year (January till date), we have sold 1,185 units. The SUV segment growth has been driven by XI, and since its launch in January, we have sold 790 cars,” he said.

He said the BMW X3 will be launched in India by September this year. The company had recently launched its convertible.

Jalandhar, June 2
Inability to keep up with technology has led the region’s pipe-fitting industry to the verge of extinction. Government apathy and lack of funds has meant that the industry has no hopes for revival soon.

Over 200 pipefitting units, in Jalandhar city alone, are struggling to find a market. Scores of ancillary units, that feed the industry with raw material, are closing down. The industry provided employment to over 70,000 labourers, most of which are now working in other industries.

The industry suffered a major set back when Multi-National Companies (MNCs) entered the market with innovative ideas and started manufacturing Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes, replacing steel pipes.

Narinder Kumar, joint secretary, Pipefitting Manufacturers Association, Jalandhar, demanded that the government should come up with strategies so that the industry could compete the MNCs on the international market. 

Mumbai, June 2
Media conglomerate Sun TV Network and low-cost air carrier SpiceJet nosedived on the bourses, amid reports that Dayanidhi Maran — the brother of the owner of both the companies — was named in a public lawsuit over the 2G Spectrum scam.

Extending its initial losses, Sun TV plummeted by 27.90 per cent to settle at Rs 272.10 on the BSE.

In intra-day trading, the stock plunged by 31.08 per cent to touch a 52-week low of Rs 260.10.

SpiceJet, which is owned and run by Kalanithi Maran, the brother of DMK leader and Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, also dropped by 16.06 per cent to close at Rs 34.50 on the BSE.

"The entire condition of the market is so fragile that any negative news comes heavily for any stock. Both the stocks have witnessed free fall in today's session," Sharekhan's head research Gaurav Dua said.— PTI

New Delhi, June 2
Rice exporter Kohinoor Foods today announced a joint venture with US-based spice maker McCormick, which will invest over Rs 500 crore in the venture for marketing of basmati rice and other food products in India.

McCormick would invest $115 million (about Rs 516 crore) for 85 per cent stake in the JV — Kohinoor Speciality Foods India Ltd— and transfer of certain trademarks and non- compete undertakings from Kohinoor Foods and its promoters.

"McCormick has agreed to form a joint venture with Kohinoor Foods to be named Kohinoor Speciality Foods India Pvt Ltd. The new joint venture will market and sell 'Kohinoor' brand rice and food products in India," McCormick said.

"McCormick will invest a total of $115 million for this transaction, which will include McCormick holding an 85 per cent interest in the new joint venture, the transfer of certain trademarks and non-compete undertakings from KFL and the Arora family entities," the statement said.

The JV would enter into an exclusive agreement with KFL to source, process and package branded basmati rice through KFL's existing facility.

Annual net sales of Kohinoor Speciality Foods India are projected to be about $85 million. Upon closing, McCormick will finance the transaction through cash and debt.

"This JV is an important step in our strategy to accelerate growth in the Asia/Pacific region. Kohinoor Speciality Foods India will takeMcCormick's investments in India to more than $150 million and we have plans to continue investing," McCormick Chairman and CEO Alan Wilson 
said.— PTI

Mumbai, June 2
Capital market regulator SEBI today said the equity market should not be considered as a market of speculators. "Don't treat the capital market as a market of speculators," Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman U K Sinha said at a conference.

Stressing on the importance of removing bottlenecks from the system, Sinha said that procedures must be simplified to increase retail participation.

"If you look at the IPO process, the prospectus are huge, and in fine print. We will simplify the IPO form. The group has started working and it won't take too much time," he said.

He said that the retail participation accounts for 8 per cent of the total funds in the equity market, while in China, South Korea and Brazil, participation from the retail side was 20-30 per cent.

Sinha added that the regulator had become tech-savvy and is in the process of setting up a world-class facility for surveillance of activities in the capital market.

He said that savings money has to be converted into investment for the economy to grow in a fruitful manner.

He added that pension fund amounts should be allowed to be invested in equities and would help the capital market get 1.5 per cent more funds if 15 per cent of the pension fund money was invested in the capital market.— PTI 

New Delhi, June 2
Food inflation fell to 8.06 per cent for the week ended May 21 on the back of cheaper pulses, wheat and some vegetables, with the latest numbers likely to be seen by the government as a silver lining after the slowdown in economic growth during the first quarter.

The rate of price rise of food items was as high as 21.15 per cent in the third week of May, 2010.

As per data released by government today, prices of pulses were down by 9.22 per cent year-on-year, while wheat became cheaper by 0.77 per cent.

This seems to be a reflection of the record production of wheat and pulses during the 2010-11 crop year (July-June). During the week under review, prices of vegetables overall were down by 1.06 per cent on an annual basis, while potatoes became cheaper by 2.15 per cent.— PTI

Mumbai, June 2
Amid rising instances of debit and credit card frauds, a RBI panel has recommended that banks should put in place secure systems to check such cases within a year's time.

"All acquirers and issuers may put in place adequate fraud risk management systems and processes (within) 12 months," said the panel in its recommendations for an action plan to implement additional authentication for all card transactions.

It said that in case of unique identification (UID) based biometrics is adopted, then the ATMs and POS terminals should be enhanced to accept biometrics.

For the benefit of debit card holders, it suggested that all transactions through such cards should have a PIN (Personal Identification Number) as an additional factor of authentication at point of sale (POS).

It has also suggested evaluation of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for securing payment through credit cards.

There are about 24 crore debit card users and 1.8 crore people have credit cards. As per RBI, the number of POS terminals in the country is about 5.6 lakh and 70,000 ATMs.— PTI