Ford Fusion priced at Rs.6.2 lakh
New Delhi: Ford Motor India has announced the price of its new urban activity vehicle `Fusion' at Rs6.20 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) and said that it would wipe out accumulated losses in the next three to five years.

The premium variant of the Fusion would cost about Rs75,000 more. The Indian arm of the US automobile major plans to launch `Hurricane', a variant of SUV `Endeavour' this month and a version of luxury sedan `Mondeo' early next year.

The company aims to sell 500 to 1,000 units of `Fusion' initially, which will be ramped up gradually. With the launch of `Fusion' and the company's projected sales of 27,000 units of the `Ikon' sedan this year, Ford Motor has started the second shift of production at its plant on the outskirts of Chennai.
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Tata Indica launches two more variants
Chennai: Tata Motors has launched two variants of the Indica, taking the total variants to four each in petrol and diesel engine options. The variants - LGi (petrol) and DLG (diesel) - are priced lower than the top end variants in both engine options, according to company officials.

The basic variant of the Indica is an AC offering in both petrol and diesel versions (LEi and DLE), followed by one with a power steering (LSi and DLS) and a fully loaded top end model (LXi and DLX). The LGi and DLG have been positioned between the LSi and DLS and LXi and DLX variants.

The two new variants have front power windows, central locking, fog lamps, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning and rear demister.

The LGi carries a tag of Rs3.71 lakh (ex-showroom Chennai) and the DLG, Rs3.89 lakh. The Indica is now available in a price range of Rs3.11 lakh to Rs3.98 lakh for petrol and from Rs3.16 lakh to Rs4.10 lakh for diesel, with different variants available across an average price gap of Rs20,000.
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Tecumseh India exceeds export target
Hyderabad: Tecumseh Products India Ltd (TPIL) reached a milestone on Wednesday by exporting its 400,000th compressor in the current year (January 1-November 3, 2004).

Exports from Tecumseh India have exceeded the targeted sale by over 35 per cent this year mainly due to wider acceptance of its products in West Asia, Turkey and Korea. It is looking at exports to the US and Australia, according to a company press release.
Tecumseh has been targeting air-conditioner manufacturers in China who, in turn, are reaching the West Asian markets. The export sale this year would be in the vicinity of 425,000-450,000 units, which is double of last year's sale.

TPIL is selling its compressors to many leading brands in India as an original equipment manufacturer. The company, which is building a rotary compressors plant in Hyderabad, is eyeing the huge rotary compressors market with exports expected to begin sometime in 2005.
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Cellular market: Average user revenues stabilising
New Delhi: For the first time in four years, cellular operators said that the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) has remained at Rs402 during the last six months. While operators had reported a 6.8 per cent fall in ARPU during the previous quarter, the revenue analysis for the quarter July-September 2004 has shown that the revenue per user has been arrested at the levels of the previous quarter.

Adding to the cheer is the fact that the total revenues of the operators have increased to Rs 2,930 crore during July-September, 12 per cent higher than in the previous quarter, said a statement from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). During the financial year 2003-04, there was an average fall of as much as 4 per cent every quarter in the ARPU.

The biggest gainers during the quarter include Bharti Cellular in Kerala and Hutchison in Haryana with a 14 per cent increase in ARPU.

Overall, Bharti has the highest total revenue across the country at Rs 1,064 crore during the July-September quarter, 17 per cent higher than in the previous quarter. Hutchison is at the second spot with Rs 868 crore, 10.5 per cent higher than its revenues in the previous quarter.
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BPL Mobile targets students in Mumbai with Mots Zone
Mumbai: BPL Mobile has introduced an aggressively priced prepaid package (the Mots Zone card) targeted at college students that offers a rate of 2 paise per minute for calls to any phone within the city made from within the 15 Campus Zones that the company has marked out in Mumbai.

Local SMS is for 50 paise per message and free SMS is allowed to any one local number. A facility allows the mobile number to function as a personal e-mail ID to send and receive e-mails through SMS.

A subscriber chooses his or her CampusZone that includes the entire college campus as well as certain favourite hangouts around it. A network innovation makes this zoning possible, said a news release from BPL Mobile.

A CampusZone is not restricted to one college but to all colleges falling within a chosen CampusZone.
This product is targeted primarily at the 15 to 24 age group, said the release.

"Today 20 per cent of the mobile base in the city falls in the 15-24 age group and this segment is growing rapidly," said Mr Krishna Angara, Executive Vice-president, Business Operations, BPL Mobile. Stating that the new product offers great value to their growing mobile usage, he said: "Our focus in the next six months is to innovate with technology and network to differentiate through services to build affinity in these emerging segments."

"At BPL mobile we are constantly investing in the latest technology to offer differentiated products and services across all our markets," said Mr Sandip Basu President and CEO, BPL mobile. "This will help increasing the brand edge and maintain our leadership position in the pre-paid category."
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New inkjet printers from Canon India
Chennai: Canon India Pvt Ltd has launched nine inkjet printers under the new sub-brand Pixma and hopes to capture 27 per cent of the Indian market by 2005.

These new products are targeted at homes and SOHOs. These products have been designed to be economical and also futuristic, as consumers cannot upgrade very often. Besides the facility of printing on both sides of the paper, consumers can print on CDs and DVDs.

The products' prices range from Rs3,995 to Rs27,995.
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Patni completes Cymbal buy-out
Mumbai: Patni Computer Systems has announced the completion of its acquisition of the US-based Cymbal Corporation for $68 million. With this the company gains entry into the $60 billion telecommunications market vertical for IT services, said a news release from Patni.

Patni also gains an advanced entry into the large telecommunications professional and support services segment, which is expected to grow to over $65 billion globally by 2007, according to Gartner Group.

The acquired company is an IT company focused on telecom service providers. It brings with it domain expertise, consulting skills and global delivery capability, and an employee and consultant base of over 500, said the release.

Cymbal also provides Patni access to 14 key strategic communication service provider accounts including Virgin Mobile, Hutchison Telecom and Comcast.
Cymbal will be integrated into Patni and will function as a business unit headed by Neeraj Gupta, former Chief Executive of Cymbal Corporation.
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Emami forays into baby care segment
Mumbai: Emami, the personal and healthcare major, has announced the launch of Sona Chandi ayurvedic baby massage oil, marking its foray into the baby care segment. .
According to a press release, this is the first of its kind baby oil, which not only provides healthy muscles and bones, but also a fairer glowing skin.

Sona Chandi oil is a formulation based on research by Himani Ayurvedic Science Foundation, says the release. It is available in 2 sizes - the 50 ml pack priced at Rs28 with an introductory offer of Rs9 off; and the 100 ml pack priced at Rs50 with an introductory offer of Rs 1 off.
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Star News launches services in the US
Mumbai: Star News has announced the launch of its services in the US. With this Star News now has a footprint across Asia, West Asia, the UK and the US.

The channel will provide a link to India for the Indian community in the US. The channel offering will include continuous updates, news and views from India and abroad, in-depth analysis on the day's top news and newsmakers from the world of politics, current affairs, sports as well as entertainment, a news release said.
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Detergent-free washing machine from Haier
Mumbai: Haier Appliances India Pvt Ltd is offering a detergent-free washing machine. At Rs34,990, the product is targeted at the high-income bracket. The company has set a target of Rs10.5 crore by November 2005 for the product.

The revolutionary detergent-free washing machine works on the principle of membraneous chemistry and uses electrolysis and activated water treatment technology for getting the desired results, a press statement said.

Haier Appliances has set up 116 service franchisees in around 70 cities. The company currently has a presence in 1,800 retail outlets and plans to extend its footprints to 3,000 outlets by March 2005.
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