A load of crap from an idle brain

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said Wednesday it expects to complete the acquisition of South Korea’s Ssangyong Motor Co. Ltd in four months and that the two auto makers may share vehicle platforms, helping reduce vehicle development costs.

“While we will maintain a distinct identity between Mahindra and Ssangyong vehicles, there is a potential for sharing platforms,” Pawan Goenka, president incharge of Mahindra’s automobile and tractor business, told reporters at a news conference.

Mahindra was selected as the preferred bidder by Ssangyong’s creditors on Aug. 13 to acquire a majority stake in the Korean firm, which has been under court-led bankruptcy protection since early last year after experiencing a severe cash shortage due to a slump in sales of its mainstay SUVs.

Goenka said synergies between the two companies might help bring down vehicle development costs. He refused to elaborate on the likely deal size or on the stake it plans to buy in the Korean auto maker.

But Goenka said Mahindra may consider introducing in India Ssangyong’s new sport-utility vehicle, Korando C, which goes on sale in South Korea by December.

Ssangyong is likely to sell between 70,000 and 75,000 of its vehicles in its home market this year, more than double of the 35,000 units it sold in 2009, Goenka said.

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Above pictures courtesy: Businessweek & 4theloveofjeeps

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Anyone got spare change?

Finally, the beast and the beauty kept their rendezvous with India. The niche, but growing, club of luxury car owners on Sunday got a booster shot with Tata Motors ushering in the British auto icons Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) after almost a year of acquiring them from Ford Motor Co.

A hot cat, Bollywood hearthrob Hrithik Roshan owns a Jag, or any of the three Rover models Discovery 3, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport would cost anything between Rs 65 lakh to Rs 1 crore. A Tourbillion, the most expensive watch from the Dior stable, too comes at the higher end of that range.

Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata said, “This launch heralds the entry of Jaguar Land Rover brands in India. The brands in days gone by were well received in India. However, in the last few years, they had been disconnected with consumers here.”

The India foray comes at a time when worldwide sales of luxury cars are falling. The global meltdown dragged JLR into huge losses as consumers halted purchases. Sales, after the $2.5 billion takeover by Tata Motors last June, dropped a third to 1.67 lakh vehicles.

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