Automobile Industry Archives

2023 Kia Seltos crosses 50,000 bookings in two months of being launched

Kia India on Tuesday announced that its new 2023 Seltos has crossed the 50,000-mark for bookings in just two months of being launched. With this, Kia has become one of the fastest OEMs to cross the mark in the mid-SUV segment. The company has also completed four lakh units domestic deliveries of Seltos this month and a total of 5,47,000 deliveries of the model, including exports.

Revealing key facts about the bookings analytics, the company said that more than 800 bookings are being made for the model every day and 77% of the total bookings have been made for the top-end variants, HTX onwards. While 47% of the total bookings were made for variants that come equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), pointing to the growing preference for safety and technology features among Indian buyers.

Another key revelation is that 40% of the consumers have opted for diesel variants of the 2023 Seltos. In response to the growing demand for the model, the OEM has optimised its production with an aim to keep the waiting period at a minimum. “Seltos has become one of the most trusted and comfortable driving experience for new-age customers,” said Myung-sik Sohn, Chief Sales and Business Officer, Kia India.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/2023-kia-seltos-mid-size-suv-surpasses-50-000-bookings-gets-800-bookings-every-day-41695114807239.html

Ferrari fever? Classic cars roar into investment funds

In 1977, a Ferrari owner offloaded his 1962 250 GTO because his wife complained it was too noisy, recounts Andrea Modena, head of Ferrari’s classic car division. It was either her or the car.

[1/12] Florian Zimmermann, owner of a collection of more than 300 classic cars poses with cars in Lindau, Germany, April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

“Nowadays, I’m not sure the wife would have won out.”

Times have indeed changed. In 2018, the same Ferrari model became the most expensive car ever sold when it fetched $48 million at auction. Last year, that record was flattened by a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé that raced to 135 million euros ($149 million).

These kind of megadeals are at the vanguard of billions of dollars of annual spending on classic cars globally in a wave of investment in this alternative asset.

Vintage cars have risen 185% in value over the past decade, outstripping the growth of luxury rivals wine, watches and art, and ranking second only to rare whiskies, according to Knight Frank’s 2023 wealth report.

The market has expanded beyond a comparatively small community of collectors to include investors drawn by the prospect of high returns plus a lack of correlation with mainstream portfolio assets such as stocks and bonds.

“We’ve been monitoring the market for a long time,” said Giorgio Medda, CEO and global head of asset management at Italy’s Azimut (AZMT.MI). “The track record of the past 30 years tells us classic cars have become a financial asset class we want our clients to have in their portfolios.”

This year, the asset manager is launching what it describes as the world’s first “evergreen” fund to invest in vintage vehicles, and says it’ll only bet on cars worth more than 1 million euros each.

Advised by Alberto Schon, head of Ferrari and Maserati dealer Rossocorsa, the fund says it will pick vehicles with a unique history.

While Azimut’s fund will have no end date and can receive new money indefinitely, small Swiss asset manager Hetica Capital launched a 50 million euro ‘closed-end’ fund in 2021, which it also said was the first of its kind.

The Hetica fund, which is targeting returns of 9%-15% after seven years, has bought a dozen cars so far and aims to get to 30-35 cars by the fifth year, leaving the last two years to sell the vehicles and pay investors.

The plans are bold.

“We’ve seen more than 100 attempts at setting up funds in the past. Nobody managed to build both a diversified investor base and a diversified car portfolio,” said Dietrich Hatlapa, founder of classic car research house HAGI, which supplies the sector data used by Knight Frank.

It’s also not a sector for the financially faint-hearted.

Registered in Luxembourg, both the Azimut and Hetica funds have a minimum entry investment bar of 125,000 euros.

“We get loads of calls from people who’re looking to invest 1,000-2,000 euros and we have to turn them down,” said Walter Panzeri who runs Hetica’s Klassik Fund.

Moreover, a small scratch or dent, or a replacement part, can deal a heavy financial blow. For example, replacing just the bumper of a rare vintage car can cost $15,000, said Modena.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ferrari-fever-classic-cars-roar-into-investment-funds-2023-04-15/

Tata records highest-ever annual sales in FY2023 led by Nexon, Punch, Harrier

Tata Motors reported its highest-ever annual sales in FY2023 as the company sold 538,640 passenger vehicles between April 2022 and March 2023, growing by 45.43 per cent year-on-year when compared to 370,372 units sold in FY2022. The automaker continues to be the third largest player in the PV segment after Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. Tata’s growth was driven by its SUVs – Nexon, Punch, Harrier and Safari – which recorded their highest-ever annual sales respectively, contributing over 66 per cent to the total volume.

Tata Motors’ domestic passenger vehicle sales (ICE + EV) stood at 44,044 units in March 2023, a growth of four per cent over 42,293 units sold in March 2022. Exports contributed 181 units to overall volumes last month, growing by 5 per cent compared to 173 units in March last year. Meanwhile, electric vehicle sales grew 89 per cent in the last month to 6,509 units, from 3,452 units in March 2022.

Speaking on ending the fiscal on a high, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. said, “FY23 has set a new record for passenger vehicle sales in India. The steep growth witnessed by the industry was driven by post-COVID pent-up demand in the early part of the year, the launch of several new vehicles and the easing of the semiconductor shortage. While SUVs and EVs led this growth, customers’ rising preference for safe vehicles and smart technology features was equally pronounced. Tata Motors scaled a new sales peak by posting its highest-ever annual domestic sales of 5,38,640 units, achieving a robust 45 per cent sales growth over FY22 and registering its third successive year of industry-beating growth. All four SUVs – Nexon, Punch, Harrier and Safari, recorded their highest-ever annual sales, contributing a substantial 66 per cent of the total volume.

Tata Motors continued to lead the EV (domestic + exports) segment in FY2023 with 50,043 units sold, an impressive hike of 154 per cent in volumes over 19,668 units sold in FY2022. Sales grew by 70 per cent in the last quarter of FY2023 (January to March 2023) for EVs, up from 19,668 during the same period a year ago.

“Being the leader in the fast-growing EV segment, we continued to accelerate both its adoption as well as the development of its enabling ecosystem. Tata Motors crossed the significant landmark of 50,000 EV sales in FY23, its highest ever, to post a significant growth of 154% over FY22. In addition, we also recorded the highest-ever quarterly and monthly EV sales of 15,960 (Q4FY23) and 6,509 (Mar’23) respectively. EV penetration in our portfolio continued to increase from ~7 per cent (Q1FY23) to ~12 per cent (Q4FY23) of our total sales,” Chandra added.

Tata Motors expects the demand to remain strong for passenger vehicles in the new financial year with the demand for EVs growing rapidly as well. The automaker commands an 85 per cent market share in the passenger EV segment in India. That said, Chandra did say that the growth rate of the PV industry “may moderate due to a strong base effect as well as macro factors including interest rates, rising inflation, and the cost impact from progressive regulatory norms.”

For Commercial Vehicle (CV) sales, Tata Motors’ domestic volumes stood at 393,317 units in FY2023, growing by 22 per cent over 322,182 units sold in FY2022. CV exports stood declined by 42 per cent in the last fiscal to 20,222 units from 34,790 in FY2022. CV sales in March remained nearly flat at 45,307 units, up by 2 per cent from 44,425 units in March 2022. The passenger carrier segment showed the strongest growth for Tata Motors last month with 3,973 units sold, a hike of 47 per cent year-on-year over 2,703 units sold in March 2022. Meanwhile, the medium and heavy vehicle segment grew by 10 per cent with 10,963 units sold in March. CV exports in March 2023 stood at 1,516 units, a decline of 42 per cent over 2,625 units shipped in March last year.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/tata-records-highest-ever-annual-sales-in-fy2023-led-by-nexon-punch-harrier-41680341386660.html