Unconventional methods in the auto industry

Issue #24, Nov 2nd 2020

The automotive industry is no longer 'traditional' in its truest sense. The IC Engine is being phased out by electric vehicles. New bio-friendly fuels are used. Cars are becoming digital boxes of software as more and more lines-of-code and onboard electronics grow. These are some recent happenings in the industry, unconventional from what we usually see in media.

Demand for CNG cars in India

Though passenger vehicles’ sales fell 18% in India last year, CNG car sales increased 7% to over 117,000 units in FY20. The number of CNG vehicles on the roads rose from 22 lakh to 34 lakh in the last 5-7 years. Car buyers are realising that the gap between the prices of petrol/diesel and CNG is widening and the diesel BSVI engines are leading to a huge increase in the cost of vehicles. - Economic Times

The price war for autonomous features

Ford Motor Co., seeking to steal shoppers from Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co., is aiming to install its hands-free driving technology on 100,000 vehicles in its first year. Ford claims its prices give it an edge over rivals. - Bloomberg

Breaking speed records

SSC North America, a small American carmaker that recently claimed a production car speed record on a highway near Las Vegas, announced it's going to do it all over again after questions were raised regarding video of the event. The vehicle, which was tested on a seven-mile stretch of a Nevada highway on October 10, reached 331.15 miles per hour -- the highest speed ever achieved on a public road, according to the company. - CNN

Regulating speed limits in EU highways

The EU is proposing kit that renders the accelerator pedal temporarily unresponsive when the speed limit is reached. The driver has to push hard on the pedal to de-activate the system and deliberately break the limit. Car makers suggest the cheaper option of a bleeping light on the dashboard. - BBC

A cloud-based platform for the car experience

Tekion became a unicorn last week after it raised $150 million in a Series C financing round. A cloud technology company that Jay Vijayan founded in 2016, Tekion offers a software as a service (SaaS) platform for the automotive industry that helps connect customers, car manufacturers and dealers on its cloud-based platform, helping create seamless experiences from buying a car to managing its inventory and spare parts. “There is a trust issue in the industry, That’s what we are solving with Tekion.” says Jay. - Forbes India.

Honda's shift to the premium segment in India

After a few years of abortive attempts to gain a foothold in the mass segment, the Japanese carmaker is clear and committed to staying away from any volume aspirations by mending its strategy by reversing it to the time of glory it achieved with Honda City. This comes in line with another Japanese carmaker Toyota’s last year’s plans to exit entry-level and mass segment products. “We will continue to provide premium products and premium brand image to the customers in India.” Gaku Nakanishi, President & CEO of Honda Cars India - ET Auto

Choice of car usage - a short poll

This is a small poll to understand the preference of end-customers of an automobile. It will take less than a minute with just one question. Please do vote to share your option. Thank you in advance.