Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, is gearing up for a major product onslaught with the launch of 15-20 new vehicles in five years. To remain competitive and protect market share, the auto giant will continue to focus on low-cost vehicles, with 70-80% of its future offerings likely to be in the small car segment, including facelifts and variants. Of the new products planned, five are in advanced stages of development. The company is likely to roll out sub-4 meter Swift Dzire at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi. This will be followed by a multi-purpose vehicle based on the R-III concept, an A Star facelift, Ritz backlift, and next generation Alto 800 by early 2013. The company will invest Rs 1,000-1,500 crore on product development, including its upcoming R&D unit at Rohtak, over the next three-five years.
To increase its international footprint, state-run Allahabad Bank is mulling over opening overseas branches in four Asian cities. The bank has approached RBI for four new branches one in Singapore, another in Dhaka and other two in Shanghai and Kowloon in Hong Kong. However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is yet to give a go-ahead on the proposal. Presently, the Kolkata-headquartered bank has its sole overseas branch operational in Hong Kong and also has a representative office in mainland China’s Shenzen. The bank is planning to augment its capital base in the last quarter of the current fiscal, but is yet to decide about the component to be raised and the route to adopt. The bank is targeting a higher-than-industry credit growth of 24-25 percent for the fiscal, which demands capital augmentation.
Drug firm Wockhardt plans to launch 12-15 products in the US market this fiscal and also increase its reach in the European market. The company received 7 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) approvals this year. The company has plans to launch 12-15 products in the US market during the financial year 2011-12. In US, the company has an excellent range of existing products and expects to add a number of new products in the coming year. Currently, the company markets over 60 products in the US. The company, however, did not specify the details of the products that it would launch this fiscal. The company’s sales during 2010-11 exceeded $225 million for the first time in the US. Apart from more product launches in the US, Wockhardt also plans to spread its reach to the entire European region.
Indo Thai Securities Ltd 