MOTOR

Suzuki Maruti customers get tax break

Company will bear significant part of duty increase :

The recent rises in the import duty rates effective April 24, 2011 on vehicles came as a bitter blow to many potential Sri Lankan vehicle buyers. The focus of these duty increases on the lower value cars has had an enormous emotional impact on those customers aspiring to take advantage of the tremendous new and exciting Suzuki Maruti line-up.

Alto

Now, Suzuki Maruti customers will find it hard to stop smiling after AMW made a surprise announcement that the company will bear a significant part of the increase in duty announced last month.

The company announced that customers awaiting delivery of Suzuki Maruti vehicles ordered prior to the recent duty increase will have to bear only a part as of the increased cost.

AMW will absorb a considerable amount from the increased duty on vehicles booked before the new duty announcement on April 25. AMW has also announced that new orders up to June 15 will also receive a special benefit.

The new Suzuki Maruti range is powered by the very powerful and fuel efficient K Series engine and consists of the Worlds best selling small car the Alto & Alto K10.

Since 1994, when Suzuki Maruti rolled out its first millionth unit, the company has been on a continuous growth with high a demand for its successful range.

Recently, in March, the company announced that it has entered the elite list of car manufactures and first in the region by crossing the 10 million units of production.

Toyota denies it will boost output to 90% in June

JAPAN: Japanese carmaker Toyota on Wednesday denied reports that it plans to return in June to about 90 percent of its pre-quake domestic production.

The reports had given a lift to Toyota’s share price on the Nikkei stock index, with the car giant ending Wednesday up 2.15 percent at 3,315 yen.

But spokesman Paul Nolasco told AFP: “We are making efforts to return to normal production as soon as possible but there is no change for now to Toyota’s production plan announced earlier.”

The company said this month it expected to recover around 70 percent of normal levels by June.

The Nikkei daily said Wednesday, however, that the carmaker was planning to boost production to about 12,000 units per day next month at its 17 plants in Japan, as parts procurement had been recovering more smoothly than expected.

Before the quake disaster the firm had an estimated production of 13,000 units per day in June and July, the paper said.

Toyota also aims to bring forward its schedule to be back to normal vehicle output by around November or December, the Nikkei said.

The March 11 earthquake and the resulting tsunami hammered production, shattered supply chains and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic emergency. Amid power and parts shortages, Toyota had announced production disruptions domestically and in the United States, Europe, China and Australia because of the crisis, temporarily slowing output or shutting plants.

Separately, Toyota announced that it will boost production in Indonesia to 140,000 units per year by 2013 from the current 100,000 to meet growing local demand.

The production increase at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia will come with a fresh investment of 16.5 billion yen (200 million dollars), Toyota said in a statement.

TOKYO, Wednesday, AFP

Hyundai says production improving

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor said Wednesday its engine production was returning to normal after thousands of riot police broke up a strike at a key parts supplier..About 2,700 police backed by water cannon and helicopters moved into the main plant of supplier Yoosung Enterprise on Tuesday to evict 540 strikers occupying the premises. Yoosung makes piston rings, cylinder liners and camshafts for the country’s automakers, some of which have had to cut production since the dispute began over pay and working conditions.

Hyundai said it would try to resume normal production as soon as possible, although this depended on when Yoosung got back to normal.

AFP

Chrysler exits government bailout

US automaker Chrysler announced Tuesday it had exited six years early a US and Canadian rescue program with the repayment of billions of dollars provided during the 2008-2009 economic crisis.

Chrysler said it had repaid, six years ahead of time, $5.1 billion along with $865 million in interest and fees to the US Treasury.

It repaid another $1.7 billion in principle, interest and fees to the government-owned Export Development Canada.

After going through a sweeping bankruptcy reorganization underpinned by the government loans, the company said it was “returning as a competitive force in the global automotive industry.”

Earlier this month, Chrysler raised $8.8 billion in private loans and debt placements as well as new equity from key shareholder Fiat, in order to retire the government financing.

That will save it an estimated $350 million a year in interest expenses, Chrysler said. “Less than two years ago, we made a commitment to repay the US and Canadian taxpayers in full and today we made good on that promise,” said Chrysler and Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne in a statement.

“Paying back the loans, along with the financial community’s investment in our refinancing packages, marks another step in the company returning as a competitive force in the global automotive industry.”

President Barack Obama, who went out on a political limb when his administration pushed to use financial industry rescue funds for big carmakers Chrysler and General Motors, called the repayment a “significant milestone” for the company and for people who rely on the auto industry.

“Supporting the American auto industry required making some tough decisions, but I was not willing to walk away from the workers at Chrysler and the communities that rely on this iconic American company,” the president said in a statement.

“While there is more work to be done, we are starting to see stronger sales, additional shifts at plants and signs of strength in the auto industry and our economy, a true testament to the resolve and determination of American workers across the nation,” he said. Canada, which has some 8,000 Chrysler workers in three factories, also applauded the move.

“This marks an important step forward in Chrysler’s recovery and underscores the continued strengthening of the North American auto industry,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.

AFP