Well I’m back after a long long lay off. Let me then start with one of the hottest topics in the Indian automotive scene. We all have been hit by the hike in fuel prices, which now occur more regularly then the monsoon hits our coast. So where does the poor common man run. His choices are:
1. Walk – Nah!
2. Use public transport – Do we have that in our cities? And where public transport does work, it seems to be hunting grounds for some fundamentalist psychopaths.
3. So, finally he is driven to the novel invention of one MR. Rudolf Diesel (now don’t tell me you can’t get the hint).
The stage seems to be well set then, for Bosch which has recently set up a 550 crore facility in Bangalore. The confidence that Bosch has in the diesel Indian market can be easily seen by the fact that the plant is geared up to produce 300,000 pumps a year, a quantum leap from the 40,000 it produces currently according to the present market demand.
And the initial signs are good. Maruti and M&M have already inked deals for different kinds of pumps that suit each company’s product’s requirements. Also Hyundai is in the foray and holding talks for using Bosch pumps in most of its products.
What further adds to the customer’s joy is that he will not only spend less on fuel, but also get the latest technology engines (well no one does it better than Bosch), cause less pollution and all this at a lower initial investment too. This is possible due to the high localization content in the Bosch products that help keep costs in check more than anything else.
So gone are the days when we used to associate diesel engine vehicles as noisy, uncomfortable, planet killing machines suited only to the rural environs. Instead now we’ll see them giving their petrol counterparts a tough time in any comparison whatsoever. So lets all just keep our fingers crossed as coming ahead are a flurry of great launches from all manufacturers (and some new too) in every price band and genres one can imagine.
