After two-month slide, auto industry steadies for festive jumpstart
At the country's largest carmaker
Maruti Suzuki
, wholesale volumes were largely unchanged at 137,776 vehicles last month. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) said while Maruti has seen an uptick in bookings ahead of the festive season, starting with Onam in Kerala, conversions are slow.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Please select course:
Select a Course Category
Data Science
Degree
Product Management
Digital Marketing
CXO
MCA
Management
Design Thinking
Healthcare
Data Science
others
Data Analytics
Artificial Intelligence
Leadership
MBA
Cybersecurity
Others
Technology
healthcare
Operations Management
Public Policy
PGDM
Finance
Project Management
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
30 Weeks
IIM Kozhikode
SEPO - IIMK-AI for Senior Executives India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
10 Months
IIM Kozhikode
CERT-IIMK DABS India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
11 Months
IIT Madras
CERT-IITM Advanced Cert Prog in AI and ML India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
11 Months
E&ICT Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
CERT-IITG Postgraduate Cert in AI and ML India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
10 Months
E&ICT Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
CERT-IITG Prof Cert in DS & BA with GenAI India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
'Growth in rural markets which stood at about 10% last year, has now come down to 2-3%. In urban areas, with layoffs in the IT sector, buyers are cautious,' Banerjee said, adding, 'We have, however, seen an increase in bookings which is a positive sign.'
'With the advent of the festive season, as things stabilise, we expect the demand momentum to pick up,' said Banerjee.
Maruti Suzuki has so far recorded a 10% increase in bookings in Kerala. Korean rival
Hyundai Motor India
too saw sales dip by 10% to 43,973 vehicles in July. Tarun Garg, chief operating officer, said, 'While the overall auto industry has seen some softness in recent months, we remain optimistic with the onset of the festive season and are fully geared up with robust supply and product offerings.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
From silos to synergy: What happens when CEOs and CHROs build strategy together?
Advt Advt One HR metric every CEO should track? 'IPO retention,' said Banerjee, underscoring the value of loyalty in growth companies. 'IPO retention,' said Banerjee, underscoring the value of loyalty in growth companies. Gut feel or data in hiring? 'Both,' said Hardjoe. 'Values guide the gut; data validates the decision.' 'Both,' said Hardjoe. 'Values guide the gut; data validates the decision.' Who plays for your company every single day? 'The staff,' replied Suen. 'Happy staff, happy patients.' 'The staff,' replied Suen. 'Happy staff, happy patients.' One word for the leader of the future? 'Trust,' said Seah, the essential anchor in a brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible world. By , ETHRSEA In boardrooms across industries, from luxury retail to healthcare, a paradox is emerging. CEOs openly recognise the workforce as one of their most pressing priorities, ranking third behind growth and technology, yet investment in people is beginning to to Gartner's HR research , 57% of CEOs plan to increase investment in people and culture for the year 2024-25, down from 69% in 2023. Even fewer, just 46%, expect to increase hiring, compared to 54% in shift is not due to neglect but to a profound recalibration. With 86% of CEOs planning to leverage AI to maintain or grow revenue and over half anticipating at least an 11% productivity boost from generative AI within two years, workforce strategies are being overshadowed by technology-driven growth agendas The Gartner findings illuminate a tension: CEOs are focused on the future, but talent, the very engine that will power that future, risks being sidelined. CHROs, therefore, must not only align with CEOs' strategic imperatives but also challenge and refine them, ensuring workforce investments don't lag behind dynamic set the stage for one of the most anticipated sessions at The Economic Times Future Forward Singapore 2025: 'Power Duo: CEO & CHRO as Architects of Business Reinvention.' Moderated by Manu Khetan, Founder & CEO of Rolling Arrays, the panel brought together leading CEOs: Satyaki Banerjee (LUXASIA Group); Suen Ming Lee (Thomson Medical Singapore); Ardi Hardjoe (Ang Mo Kio – Thye Hua Kwan Hospital); and Chin-Seong Seah (formerly of the Singapore Institute of Management & IDA International), to tackle the central question: How can CEOs and CHROs transform their relationship from transactional to transformational, and co-lead reinvention in an AI-driven era?Chin-Seong Seah opened with a candid observation: 'CEOs usually have a blind spot, and the blind spot is HR .' Most CEOs inherit organisational structures rather than design them, he explained, and rarely revisit whether those structures still serve the strategy. This leaves a critical gap: who ensures that strategy and structure align?For Seah, the answer is clear: CHROs must step into this vacuum. By mastering organisation design and anticipating systemic issues, unclear accountabilities, siloed teams, and mismatched incentives , CHROs can become 'ballroom relevant,' stepping confidently into the CEO's strategic arena rather than waiting on the Satyaki Banerjee, CEO of LUXASIA, the journey toward transforming HR starts with something deceptively simple: the words we use.'I've never liked the term human resource. It feels transactional, as if people are commodities. At LUXASIA, we call it Talent and Excitement because that's what our people truly are: our energy, our differentiator,' he strategy fuses high-touch training with technology-enabled personalisation, ensuring employees feel both empowered and connected to the brand. 'Retail is tough,' he admitted. 'But when someone celebrates 20 or 25 years with us, you realise it's not just a job, it's a calling.'For Suen Ming Lee, leading a hospital workforce that spans clinicians, administrators, and ancillary staff demands more than operational expertise; it requires a shared people-first philosophy at the very top. 'Healthcare isn't one industry; it's hospitality, banking, food and beverage, and retail rolled into one. The throughline, however, is empathy. Our patients come to us in moments of stress. Happy staff, happy patients, that's the equation,' he Hardjoe echoed this sentiment, stressing that values must guide talent strategy. 'In healthcare, compassion trumps credentials. You can teach skills, but you can't fake empathy,' he said. With Singapore set to add 24,000 new clinical professionals in the next five years, he underscored the CEO–CHRO partnership in embedding values-based hiring and culture-building as the key to scaling without eroding quality of this alignment between business leadership and HR ensures that empathy isn't just a soft skill; it becomes a strategic differentiator in patient outcomes and organisational Khetan offered a candid reframing of the CHRO's role. 'Problems are the only things that reach a CEO's desk, when CHROs arrive with their own problems, it rarely resonates. But when they ask, 'What are your problems, and how can I help solve them?,' that's when the partnership transforms,' he mindset shift, from reporting issues to actively solving the CEO's most pressing challenges, is, Khetan argued, the bridge between perception and impact. When CHROs co-create strategy and take ownership of execution, they stop being seen as cost centres and start driving growth, a critical evolution in today's AI-driven era of constant session concluded with a lighthearted yet revealing rapid-fire round:As the session drew to a close, one takeaway crystallised: the future of leadership is shared leadership. In an age of constant reinvention, CEOs cannot succeed without CHROs who can translate vision into culture, and CHROs cannot drive change without CEOs willing to share the strategy companies navigating the twin tides of AI and workforce transformation, this 'power duo' may well determine who thrives and who is left behind. Continuing this crucial conversation, The Economic Times Future Forward Malaysia will host a dedicated session, 'CEO–CHRO Duo Insight: How We Built It Together: The CEO–CHRO Playbook for People-powered Business Growth', on 21st August 2025 at Crowne Plaza Kuala Henrick Choo (CEO – Malaysia, NTT DATA) and Nadiah Abdullah (Chief Human Capital Officer, Malaysia Airports), the session will explore actionable frameworks for CEOs and CHROs to co-create people-centric strategies that drive business reinvention. Explore the agenda of the event here
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
New CAFE rules on way, automakers speed up flex fuel vehicle devpt
Kolkata: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) have all stepped on the flex fuel accelerator following minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari's recent remark that the new Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) rules would balance both electric and flex fuel engines. This means the new CAFE 3 framework, due in April 2027, will give flex fuel vehicles that run on petrol-ethanol blends the same regulatory benefits as EVs. Flex fuel refers to petrol mixed with ethanol anywhere between 20% and 100%, which is derived from the fermentation of sugars and starches found in plants. Gadkari's remarks follow a meeting he held last year with representatives of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in which he asked automakers to look into ways of making these flex fuel vehicles more acceptable to the public, citing Brazil's successful integration of flex fuels and biofuels in its transportation. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata During the Bharat Mobility Show 2025, automakers displayed flex cars — Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Toyota Hycross, Hyundai Creta, Tata Punch and Mahindra XUV 3XO — that can run on up to 85-100% ethanol. While ethanol is less expensive than petrol, there is a downside to the fuel: it delivers less efficiency or mileage by 30% than pure petrol. Toyota plans to overcome this disadvantage by electrifying the flex fuel vehicle using strong hybrid technology. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like See Results for Car Selling Websites Search Now Undo "Strong hybrid cars with petrol engines are usually 40% to 50% more fuel efficient than petrol-only vehicles. So, the loss in efficiency from E100 will be more than compensated by the improved efficiency of a strong hybrid with less carbon footprint," said TKM senior VP & director (technical & purchase) Sudeep S Dalvi, who expects the rollout of flex fuel vehicles to be aligned with govt policies and regulations. Maruti Suzuki has in its 2030 product plan said 25% of its vehicles will be compatible with ethanol-blended fuel E20, while another 25% will be hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). At present, it has two HEV products in its portfolio: the Grand Vitara and Invicto, which use Toyota's strong hybrid technology.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- The Hindu
Distribution of 43,000 newly approved priority ration cards begins
Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil on Wednesday inaugurated the Statewide distribution of 43,000 newly approved priority ration cards. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had identified 2,94,578 ineligible families holding priority ration cards. As many as 17,596 cards were confiscated from ineligible card holders through the government's intensive verification drive 'Operation Yellow'. As part of such efforts, over 5,29,000 ration cards were reassigned since the LDF government came to power, he said. Clarifying that the revision of the priority list is an ongoing process, he said: 'If a family member secures a government job or the family income exceeds the eligibility threshold, they will be removed from the list,' he said. He added that applications for new priority ration cards will be accepted online from September 16 to October 15. The Minister also highlighted a significant surge in sales at Supplyco outlets. A total of ₹168.28 crore has been reported in sales for the month of July alone, with a daily average of ₹6.5 crore. On August 2, sales reached ₹8.01 crore, followed by ₹8.84 crore on August 4 and ₹7.56 crore on August 5. These numbers indicate a strong upward trend expected to continue in the coming days during the Onam festive season, Mr. Anil said. Antony Raju, MLA, presided over the function.
