The continuous increase in rubber prices till second quarter of current financial year has severely dented competitiveness and profitability of the industry.

“The tyre Industry has passed through an extremely difficult phase of continuous and significant increase in the price of natural rubber and other key raw materials. Since raw materials account for approximately 70 per cent of industry turnover, the input cost pressure has resulted in severe erosion of net margins. We keenly look forward to the budget for addressing specific concerns of automotive tyre industry,” Mr Neeraj Kanwar, Chairman of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), said.

All large tyre companies have made substantial investments for new projects and expansions primarily in radial truck and passenger car tyres. The radial tyre investments have multiple benefits in terms of fuel saving, longer life and efficient utilisation of scarce raw materials. However, the industry needs an enabling policy framework from the government for these investments to be meaningful.

To increase competitiveness of the industry, ATMA has also asked for waiver of customs duty on those raw materials that have no domestic production.

More detail at:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/agri-biz/article2857892.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy

Bajaj Allianz has convinced auto makers to make small changes in the process and supply child parts at service station and include high end equipment to reduce repair costs.

Denting are very common to include into insurance claim and increase cost of repair because of labour. The insurance company claims that in a four-year car a dented door is replaced, the owner will have to bear half the cost because of depreciation. But if the dealer had hi-tech dent removal equipment, the repairs would be done at a fraction of the cost.

All private companies are making use of data and approaching manufacturers. “We have been in continued dialogue, encouraging them to introduce child parts and bring down costs,” said Gaurav Garg, MD & CEO, Tata AIG General Insurance.

Source: TimesOfIndia

How many times did you stop your car on the way and doubt if there is a problem to your car? Very Common. Sometime we notice car has a problem and try to find out ourselves without calling to car mechanic. Here are some common problems you can guess yourself.

1. Your car steering wheel vibrates at certain speeds.

It happens because of a front wheel is out of balance. You feel the vibration only in your seat, it’s probably a rear wheel. You can check up with your car workshop for wheel balancing. You will be surprised at the difference it will make in the way the car will ride.

2. Your car drifts to the left or to the right when you let go of the steering wheel on a straight and level road.

There is a possibility that your car tires may not have proper air pressure. If air pressure is ok, then you need to check wheel alignment. Also your all 4 tires should be of same size, type and brand.

Some cars have adjustments to correct pulling problems. Your car mechanic should check for bent or worn front end parts that can cause this condition.

3. When You drive over a speed bump or a dip in the road, your car bounces 2 or more times before settling down.

This condition is usually caused by worn or broken shocks or struts. This condition happens gradually over the life of the shocks and it is hard to notice the change, but when they are replaced you should notice a big difference in the ride and stability of your car.

You can ask the expert at MeriCAR Expert Section to get your answers to your problems which you can ask before you decide to go to car workshops.

For More Reading:
http://www.familycar.com/CarRepair/symptoms.htm

Recently came in contact with some customers, everybody have similar complaints and negative reviews about Skoda after-sales service. Dealerships are good to sell Skoda but after-sales service is not good. Some still like to buy this because of its quality and security features.

According to Skoda buyer “When I decided to take Skoda Fabia , there was a lot of negative reports of Skoda but now I feel things are changing after the parent company also has come into India, the Volkswagen. I planned to take the risk of taking Skoda keeping in mind its quality and Safety features which I didn’t find in many other cars, the quality is what keeps Skoda apart from rest of the lot.” Says Yeswant ( yeshwanthlive.com)

Skoda is known to be good in luxry interior and popular for its sporty look, it always attracts car owners.

Some believes Skoda is certainly not a car which has low cost of ownership. Though the car is great, there are significant cost attached to it in owning, so they do not mind having costly after-sales service.

Even it is a fine product, but after sales servicing is not good, here are some of the reasons:

1. Lack of trained mechanics at some Skoda dealers workshop.
2. Skoda servicing and spare parts are costlier and not easily available.
3. Lack in standard processes and customers expect quick solutions to their servicing issues.

Skoda is cosly vehicle and car owners find servicing cost very high after warranty and search for another car workshops. Few multibrand workshops can make them satisfy because of skilled mechanics and non-availability of spares.

Search for authorized and multibrand workshops at: http://mericar.com/skoda/

Source: Public Forum.
http://www.team-bhp.com
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum

skoda-service-cost.html

Imagine you are going on a trip with your family and your car has a breakdown on the road. Everybody wants to avoid this situation. This is always recommended to have your car properly checked from car service station when you go for any trip. Not only trip, but regular check up at service station saves you from any problem on the road.

There are following possible options available to get out of on-road breakdown situations.

1. Enroll with Car Breakdown Helpline company

There are many companies which help customers for on-road emergency service. They charge for one year membership. Their 24×7 call center receive calls for these enquires. For non-members, they agree to help in case of their Emergency Van is just nearby. They avoid serving to non-members who can manage other mechanics without informing them and they had to waste their time reaching to them.

2. Keep Your Mechanic’s Number

Small garages owners are aggressive to serve customer at anytime. If you trust some mechanics who serve you on regular basis. You can keep their contact number. Sometime your mechanic may be busy and he cannot see your car, so you must have alternatives.

3. Calling Workshops at Night

Mostly car workshops are closed after working hours but some good workshops have car mechanics at night for serving their existing customer. You can find those workshops and keep their owners contacts.

4. Manufacturer’s 24×7 Call Centres.

All new cars come along with 24×7 helpline service access from Manufacturer. Mostly these companies are the same who enroll their own memberships, but work on Manufacturer’s behalf. You can look for stickers when you buy new car and keep them handy.

For any on-road emergency in New Delhi and NCR, you can call PROMPT SERVICE. And can enroll for membership at: http://www.mericar.com/car_breakdown_services.php

Source: Image: theleader.info

Visit to any car repair service centre, look around, there is a possibility you will find a customer who would be having problem with his bill. The problem is wrong cost estimation or few items are overly charged. In other countries car owners still find some data from website to compare charges, but there is no such system in India. Even car manufacturer has listed down fixed charges for warranty servicing but if car needs any repair done, you can not guess what would be the bill.

Targets for selling spare parts at dealer and other workshop is another major reason for “wrong” recommendation of replacing parts even that is not required. Read story at link:-why do car mechanics suggest for extra parts.

As per experts start shopping for a repair facility before you need one; you can make better decisions when you are not rushed or in a panic. Once you have chosen a repair shop, start off with a minor job; if you are pleased, trust them with more complicated repairs later.

In India, mostly car owners start finding car service centre when their car has problem or somebody remind about servicing.

MeriCAR.com is helping car owners to SEARCH for car service centers in your nearest area and sends automatic Service Reminder once you are registered members.

Source:
5PointsAutomotive

I remember when i bought my first car. It is Maruti Alto. It was obvious i was looking for car which is affordable and easy to maintain. Maruti always comes first when we think about better car servicing because if its large network of maruti authorized service station. Maruti Alto is considered to be rough and tough car which is fit for India roads and mileage is better in the same category. Maruti Alto was improved version of Maruti 800 with more comfort and features like well balanced chasis, better interiors and powerful AC.

Today, Maruti got world’s best small car. According to HT report, the Alto sold over 310,000 units in India during the year and was the only small car in the world to have sold that much units. Volkswagen Gol, Fiat Uno are the next ones in the world.

There are launch of new small cars Tata Nano. Bajaj is trying to launch new one in the same category, but Maruti is still house-hold name in small cars. Maruti has a large network of 2992 maruti authorized serive station all across India.

Source:
http://www.hindustantimes.com

Today’s news report of Maruti shows first time losses in three years. Labour problems and fuel price hikes re major reasons for these losses. Experts think people have more choices in the market and Maruti could not meet demands because of less production at their plants. There are different assumptions and debate.

In Nov 2011, according to JD Power Report, Maruti Suzuki India has topped in customer satisfaction with dealer service for a 12th consecutive year. The reason is a large network of service center and strict guidelines for dealers to follow during audit process. JD Power also said that highly satisfied customers with overall service performance show more loyalty to both dealerships and the brand.

Maruti has made a trusted name at every home with a large network of 2992 car service centers all across India. There are three 3 categories of Maruti authorized service station, A-category, B-category and C-category. Apart from dealer, Maruti has Service Zone, which gets upgrade from MASS and have different guidelines for maintaining quality servicing and repairing.

Source:
http://www.zigwheels.com

http://indiatoday.intoday.in

You get up in the morning and your car won’t start. Its common. Check out what things you need to take care to avoid having this situation.

Check Your Battery

In Winter car battery gets discharged easily and it is common problem. Battery produces fewer electrons during cold weather, hence less energy to work with when it tries to start the engine, and this causes the engine to crank slowly.

Get your car better checked from your car mechanic if this is producing energy properly. Old batteries are to be replaced.

Use synthetic motor oils

In winter, oil gets a lot thicker. So, when you try to start a cold engine, the engine has to push around the cold oil and that makes it harder for the engine to spin. In really cold places people must use synthetic motor oils because these oils stay liquid in cold temperatures.

Check ignition switch
Faulty ignition system leads to starting problem. Try jiggling ignition key whilst turning it.

For free check up, you can search for nearest car service center

Search for car battery shops and buy cheaper one.
http://mericar.com/batteries.php

Source: http://auto.howstuffworks.com
- Car won’t start

There is a report of German car makers Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) and BMW AG (BMW.XE) recalling more than 500,000 vehicles due to possible technical problems.
As per spokesman for Volkswagen has earlier recalled 299,000 cars with diesel engines last year due to possible problems caused by cracks in the fuel-injection system.

VW has sent notification to car owners but didn’t say how many vehicles have been recalled had been recalled so far.

The affected models are VW’s Golf, Passat, Jetta, Tiguan and other models built since 2009. Audi, Skoda and Seat brands are also affected.

BMW AG (BMW.XE) is recalling a total of 235,000 cars of its Mini brand worldwide due to a possible malfunction of the electric water pump that cools the turbo charger.

BMW will notify the car owners and dealers will replace the water pump free of charge. The recall is expected to start next month.

Last year, a similar technical issue triggered the recall of around cars of BMW’s namesake brand as well as more than 500 Rolls-Royce ultra-luxury cars.

Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120116-706746.html