Global auto companies start exporting sedans & SUVs from India ...

Source: The Economic Times, Jun 25, 2012

MUMBAI: Japanese carmakers Nissan and Toyota have started exporting midsized cars made in India, spearheading a strategic change that seeks to make the most of the country?s cost advantage and growing technical prowess.

In the next 12-18 months, Nissan plans to export 50,000 units of India-made sedan Sunny to the West, executives familiar with the matter said, adding that rival Toyota will ship Etios cars, made at its Indian unit, to South Africa.

Volkswagen, Ford and Renault are expected to join them soon. Experts say exports not only help in dealing with the slowdown in the domestic market, but also act as a hedge against costlier imports, which have turned dearer by 25-30% in recent months.

French carmaker Renault plans to export to the UK about 25,000 units of its sports utility vehicle Duster over 12-18 months. The shipments may start in October.

Similarly, Germany?s Volkswagen is keen on producing left-hand drive Vento sedans in India for markets in the West. Volkswagen, which exports India-made Vento cars to South Africa and Malaysia, has mandated vendors to develop components for a left-hand drive version of the sedan.
The carmaker plans to export 8,000-10,000 such units by 2013, said an executive, who did not wish to be named.

?Our export of the Vento to South Africa confirms that we are able to produce high-quality cars in India at competitive costs,? Volkswagen India?s spokesperson said, adding, ?This also shows our potential to further extend our exports to other markets. We are looking at various opportunities in the future, also in left-hand drive markets.?

The Volkswagen spokesperson, however, declined comment on target markets and numbers.

Ford Motor, too, is likely to export its yet-to-be launched EcoSport SUV from India, according to people familiar with the company?s plans.

Executives dealing with the projects of multinational carmakers say that over 100,000 sedans and SUVs manufactured in India are slated for export over the next 12 months. The depreciating rupee, which ended at a record low on Friday, is only likely to accelerate such plans.

Experts say the growth in exports, which comes at a time the global economy is slowing down, could accelerate once the economy picks up. There are not many right-hand drive manufacturing bases that are as cost competitive as India, said Kumar Kandaswami, director at Deloitte.

?The cost of engineering, both at the carmaker?s end and supplier?s level is very competitive, which gives India an edge. Manufacturers use exports as not only an opportunity to mitigate risk arising out of volatile currency, but even to balance the demand in the domestic market,? said Kandaswami.

Toyota Kirloskar, the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker, has already received orders to export 20,000 units of the Etios sedan to South Africa. The company?s deputy MD, marketing, Sandeep Singh, told ET the exports will help cut losses on account of the falling rupee.

Ford, too, is firming up plans to export its EcoSport SUV from India to South Africa next year.

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News Corp considering splitting into two: WSJ

(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is considering splitting into two to separate its publishing assets from its more lucrative entertainment business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Shareholders have been pushing for some time for a spin-off of the slower-growth publishing division after a phone hacking scandal hit its British newspapers, sending shockwaves through the group and forcing News Corp to pull its biggest-ever acquisition of the pay-TV group BSkyB.

A final decision on the split has not been made, the News Corp-owned paper said, and the Murdoch family is not expected to lose its effective control of any of the businesses involved if the plan goes ahead.

News Corp's Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said in May that the management and board had discussed spinning off its publishing business following investor pressure but that they did not have any plans to push ahead with it at the time.

Murdoch had earlier opposed the move and as recently as May released a statement saying the group was not considering spinning off its British newspapers to protect the rest of the empire. But the Journal reported that he has recently warmed to the idea, citing one person familiar with the situation.

The publishing division includes the HarperCollins book publisher, the education arm and newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, the Sun, the New York Post and The Australian.

The remaining film and television businesses would include 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel. The entertainment business would dwarf the publishing unit, with assets in the entertainment division generating revenues of $23.5 billion in the year to June 2011, compared with $8.8 billion for the publishing business.

Analysts believe investors and some management will feel emboldened by the hacking scandal to push for a change at the company, where the 81-year-old Murdoch has long been seen as the main block to a spin-off of the newspapers.

The Australian-born tycoon made his name by buying newspapers in Australia and then the News of the World, the Sun and the Times newspapers in Britain and talks often about his love for newspapers and the publishing industry.

Analysts in London said the move would make sense and would be welcomed by investors, who saw the value of the company plummet last year at the height of the phone hacking scandal, before recovering this year to four-year highs helped by a share buyback scheme.

Shares in News Corp in Australia closed up 2.6 percent On Tuesday.

London-based analyst Ian Whittaker at Liberum Capital noted that a spin-off of the publishing division could enable News Corp to make another bid for BSkyB once the hacking scandal has died down.

"It's credible and it makes sense, given that the newspaper part has been the scandal-hit element of the business," he said. "It also suggests that they may even have another tilt at Sky in the medium term. I imagine it would be seen as positive by the shareholders outside of the family."

News Corp pulled the $12 billion bid for the 61 percent of BSkyB it did not already own last July under a weight of public outrage sparked by the admission that staff at the News of the World tabloid had repeatedly hacked into phones to source salacious stories.

The scandal reverberated throughout the wider New York-based media conglomerate and disrupted what was thought to be a smooth plan for Murdoch to be succeeded as CEO by his youngest son, James.

It has also revealed the close relationships in Britain between the government and News Corp executives. Police have arrested over 50 News Corp staff and public officials while the former head of the British newspaper division Rebekah Brooks, a close confidante to Murdoch, is awaiting a trial for interfering with the police investigation.

Julie Henderson, a spokesperson for News Corp. declined to comment while a spokeswoman in London also refused to be drawn on the report.

(Reporting by Kate Holton in London; Balaji Sridharan and Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore Editing by Matt Driskill and Hans-Juergen Peters)

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The Bachelor's Courtney Robertson To Pen Tell-All

In an effort to repair her tarnished reputation, In Touch can exclusively reveal that Courtney Robertson ? the much-maligned fianc?e of Bachelor Ben Flajnik, 29 ? is planning to pen an explosive tell-all.

?She felt like she was portrayed as the villain, so she wants to get her side of the story out there,? an insider tells In Touch.

The source says that Courtney plans to expose some of the show?s biggest secrets! ?From the late night calls from producers telling her exactly how to act and respond, to calls from the production company to talk about her appearing on Bachelor Pad, Dancing With the Stars, and The Bachelorette, Courtney wants everyone to know what really goes on behind the scenes of some of Hollywood's most beloved reality TV shows,? the insider tells In Touch.

No word yet on how much the 28-year-old model will dish on the famous men in her past, including Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe and Jim Toth (before he was married to Reese Witherspoon). However, she will be spilling about Ben and ?the truth about their much-gossiped-about relationship.?

?She knows she may have to change names and facts for legal reasons, but she's ready to do it,? says the insider to In Touch.

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T-Mobile USA to buy, swap spectrum with Verizon

NEW YORK (AP) ? T-Mobile USA says it has agreed to buy wireless spectrum rights from Verizon Wireless and swap other spectrum holdings with the company, bolstering the ability of both to offer faster wireless data services.

Verizon doesn't yet own all of the spectrum that it wants to transfer to T-Mobile. It has agreed to buy spectrum rights from a consortium of cable companies, but that deal is facing tough scrutiny from regulators in Washington.

The T-Mobile-Verizon deal is contingent on the Verizon-cable deal going through, and gives added reason for regulators to approve it. T-Mobile is the fourth-largest cellphone carrier in the country, and is starved for spectrum compared to its larger competitors.

Neither T-Mobile nor Verizon said what T-Mobile would pay Verizon for the spectrum.

Associated Press

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