Toyota launches the Innova
Mumbai: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has launched the `Innova,' a vehicle that seeks to merge the qualities of a sedan and a multi-purpose van (MPV).

Priced in the Rs6,76,000-9,37,000 (ex-showroom Thane) range for its petrol versions and Rs7,36,000-9,97,000 for diesel versions, the vehicle is projected to fetch sales of 45,000 units this year, with 4,500 units in the first month.

Innova is one of the five models designed as part of Toyota's Innovative International Multi-Purpose Vehicle (IMV) project. According to Atsushi Toyoshima, Managing Director, TKM, over the last five years, the `C' segment of the car market has grown by 20 per cent every year. The MPV segment has also grown at double-digit levels.

Innova brings together the space and fuel economy of an MPV with the style, agility and power of a sedan. TKM has described it as "the first three-row seating passenger car" in the Indian market. TKM incurred an investment of Rs600 crore specifically for manufacturing the Innova.

Toyota expects the Indian vehicle market to be two million units or more by 2010 and the company is targeting a ten per cent market share over the next five years. To get there, it would need other models besides the existing ones, he said replying to a question on whether Toyota would bring in a compact car.

TKM currently has the capacity to produce 60,000 vehicles a year.
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Bajaj Tempo to become Force Motors
New Delhi: Bajaj Tempo Ltd, a Firodia enterprise, will be re-christened Force Motors Ltd. According to the company, an extraordinary general meeting of members will be held on April 5 to approve the new name.

The key reason for the name-change is the request from its former financial collaborator, DaimlerChrysler AG (DCAG), which has requested the company to discontinue using the word `Tempo' which is originally its registered trademark.

DCAG exited the company in 2001 by selling its shareholding to Firodias, but allowed easy transition on the name-change front. It had signed a new technical collaboration with Bajaj Tempo in 2003, to provide technology for common rail diesel engines.

Bajaj Tempo is also an important supplier to DaimlerChrysler India, for the entire requirement of Mercedes engines in India.
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Pfizer FY04 net up 88 per cent
Mumbai: Pfizer Ltd has posted an eighty eight per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs44.5 crore for the year ended November 2004 as compared to Rs23.69 crore for FY03. The company's board has also recommended a dividend of Rs10 per equity share, as per the information supplied to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company's consolidated total income rose 14 per cent to Rs607.16 crore for the year ended November 30, 2004 as against Rs530.33 crore in FY 03. For the fourth quarter ended November 30, 2004 it has posted a net profit of Rs13.71 crore (Rs6.1 crore Q4-03) while its total income rose to Rs149.32 crore (Rs143.75 Q4-03).

The figures for the reporting fiscal include that of Pharmacia Healthcare Ltd and hence the figures are not comparable with the comparable quarter, the company has clarified.
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Orchid inks pact with Alpharma
Mumbai: Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals has entered into an exclusive agreement with Alpharma Inc for marketing its select non-antibiotic generic formulations in US and Europe.

Under this agreement, the company will exclusively develop and manufacture ten non-antibiotic formulations in specific dosage forms and strengths for exclusive distribution and marketing by Alpharma in the US and Europe.

The 10 oral formulations fall under speciality, chronic therapeutic segments such as cardio vascular (CVS) and central nervous systems (CNS) categories. The current market size of the formulations is $10 billion.
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HCL Tech is now largest BPO operator in N.Ireland
New Delhi: HCL Technologies has acquired AnswerCall Direct Contact Centre in Northern Ireland for Rs29.39 crore. The contact centre was acquired by the HCL's subsidiary in Northern Ireland, HCL Technologies BPO Service (NI) Ltd from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The latest acquisition by HCL brings to the company 196 additional people and five clients, including the largest newspaper group in Northern Ireland.

With the acquisition, HCL becomes single largest BPO operator in Northern Ireland.
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VSNL awarded major stake in SA company
Durban: Telecom major VSNL, owned by the Tata Group, has been awarded a major stake in South African telecom operator SNO. VSNL has been given a 26 per cent share in the new company that will compete alongside the former state company Telkom.

South Africa's Telecommunications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburi made the announcement in Durban.

Tatas will control SNO with Black Empowerment companies including NEXUS, which has a 19 per cent share and state companies of Eskom and Transnet, which have 15 per cent stake each, she said.

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata is a member of South African President Thabo Mbeki's International Economic Advisory Council.
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Hutch to provide 'Do Not Disturb' facility
Mumbai: As a likely fallout of the recent public interest litigation against unsolicited calls to personal mobile numbers, GSM cellular player Hutch has announced a 'Do not Disturb' initiative to protect its customers against such calls.

Hutch and Orange (Mumbai circle) users can request to be put on a special list of users who do not want to receive any tele-marketing calls, said a news release from the company.

Mobile users can inform Hutch about unsolicited calls they receive by sending an SMS `STOP' followed by the caller's number to 123, so that Hutch can take up the matter with organisations initiating these calls to prevent further calling from these numbers to its other subscribers.
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Cognizant Tech to invest $76 mn and hire 7,200
Bangalore: Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to invest $76 million in setting up new development centres and expanding the existing ones across India during 2005 and 2006.

The company is investing close to Rs130 crore in its new centre in Bangalore, and will also expand its centres in Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata, which will house over 9,000 people, company officials have said. Cognizant, in a bid to augment its capabilities and offers, is looking at acquisitions in areas such as open source and high-end business process outsourcing, officials said.

It expects to add 7,200 people, ten per cent of whom would be hired overseas. The company expects to finish the current calendar year with over 22,500 employees. About sixty per cent of the new hires would be from campuses while the remaining laterals, officials said. The US-headquartered Cognizant has nearly 70 per cent of its 15,300 employees operating from India.

Cognizant's revenues in 2004 stood at $586.7 million. It expects to increase its revenues to $845 million in 2005.
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STI Knowledge buys Symphony Data
Hyderabad: STI Knowledge, a US-based healthcare business process outsourcing services provider, has announced the acquisition of Symphony Data Corporation, in a cash-cum-stock deal valued at about $8 million.

The company plans to synergise these operations across locations in the US and India, reverse merge the US company and possibly take the initial public offer route in the next 18-24 months.

The company said that the synergy would get the Indian offshoring advantage, as well benefits from its strong presence in the US. The company is also considering two more acquisitions during the year.
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