Airtel joins tariff war; introduces pay-per-second plan

NEW DELHI: Joining the tariff war, India's largest mobile operator

Bharti Airtel on Friday introduced a "pay per second" plan across the country

In this plan, called Freedom Plan, Airtel customers will be charged one paise per second for all Local and STD calls to Airtel numbers and 1.20 paise per second for local and STD calls to other networks.

Some of the new operators, however, are offering pay per second tariff plan across networks.

The plan will be available initially only to pre-paid subscribers of Airtel, an Airtel statement said.

This will be one of the tariff plans besides others already existing

Premier Rio launched!

Premier Automobiles has launched the Rio compact SUV, in a bid to reclaim its place as a player in the Indian automotive scene. The vehicle was launched today in Mumbai, and is expected to rival not only entry level SUVs but also some of the larger hatchbacks in the markWith its significantly higher headroom, the Rio also offers more storage space than the large hatchbacks without enlarging its exterior dimensions significantly. Premier is touting the vehicle as India's first compact diesel SUV, which in fact is true given that the similarly structured and positioned Maruti Suzuki Gypsy comes only with a petrol engine option.eThe pricing of the Rio, after taking the Premier brand into consideration, could have been a little more cut-throat. The car has been launched at a price of Rs 5.25 lakh for the base version without air-conditioning and power steering, Rs 5.50 lakh for the mid-version with A/C and power steering, and Rs 5.95 lakh for the top of the line model with alloy wheels, roofrails and ABS with EBDt..

ArcelorMittal returns to black after 3 qtrs; Net at $900 mn

LONDON: After posting losses for three consecutive quarters, the global steel giant, ArcelorMittal, today posted a net income of USD 900 million for the quarter ended September 30.

The firm's net income of the company in the third quarter of this fiscal was, however, 76 per cent lower from the year-ago period.

The company had a net income of USD 3.8 billion in the year-ago period, after which it posted three consecutive quarterly losses amid demand slump.

"As anticipated, we have seen the first signs of recovery in the third quarter," ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO L N Mittal said in a statemen

India’s top auto brands in dealer service satisfaction

For a 10th consecutive year, Maruti Suzuki ranks highest in customer satisfaction with authorized dealer service in India, according to the JD Power Asia Pacific 2009 India Customer Service Index (CSI) Study released on Tuesday. Maruti Suzuki achieves an overall CSI score of 824 and performs particularly well in the service advisor and service facility factors. Following Maruti in the rankings are Honda and Mahindra.

The study finds that the proportion of customers who defected from dealership service facilities to non-authorized service centers for their vehicle service requirements has decreased to 7% in 2009 from 11% in 2008. This decrease in defection rates is attributable to brands expanding the reach and quality of their service networks, as well as to manufacturers making greater efforts to retain customers.

The study, now in its 13th year, measures satisfaction among vehicle owners who visited their authorized dealership service center for maintenance or repair work during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership. Redesigned in 2009, the study measures overall satisfaction by examining five factors (listed in the order of importance): service quality; vehicle pickup; service advisor; service facility; and service initiation. Overall customer satisfaction is measured on a 1,000 point scale, with a higher score indicating higher satisfaction. The study, which is based on responses from more than 5,800 owners of nearly 50 different vehicle models, was fielded from May to August 2009 and includes customers who had purchased their vehicles between May 2007 and August 2008.

Here we take a look at India’s top auto brands in dealer service satisfaction:

Growth-inflation trade-off a challenge: RBI

MUMBAI: The economic outlook is a mix of recovery prospects and downside risks, and managing the trade-off between supporting growth and reining

What is IIP? Top 10 challenges for India Implications of a rising inflation rate

in inflation poses a complex policy challenge, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.

The combination of weak recovery and elevated consumer price inflation has magnified the complexity of policy challenges despite low headline wholesale price index numbers.

"The overall economic outlook, thus, is conditioned by both upside prospects of recovery with downside risks and emerging inflationary pressures," the Reserve Bank of India said in its review of the second quarter for 2009/10 (April/March).

The RBI is expected to hold interest rates steady when it reviews monetary policy on Tuesday.

It said anchoring inflation expectations in the face of sustained high inflation in essential commodities would be a key challenge and cautioned that weak private consumption and investment demand continued to be a drag on faster recovery.

The RBI said delayed withdrawal of the annual monsoon augured well for winter wheat and oilseeds crops due to high moisture retention in the soil, but this year's deficient summer monsoon could hinder faster recovery.

India's headline inflation rose at a faster-than-expected pace in the year through mid-October to its highest level in 20 weeks, but government officials and analysts expect the RBI to maintain its focus on stimulating growth and leave rates unchanged at its policy review on Tuesday.

The widely watched wholesale price index rose by 1.21 percent in the 12 months to Oct 10, its highest level since May 23 when it was 1.34 percent.

Maruti to launch Alto, Wagon R with new generation engine

NEW DELHI: The country's largest car maker

Maruti Suzuki will launch two of its best selling models -- Alto and Wagon R, with a new generation

New SUVs to hit Indian roads Electric and hybrid cars Cars with Class Lexus sports car Check out the world's fastest cars

engine as it prepares to meet April 2010 deadline of stricter emission norm.

According to industry sources, the company will discontinue the old F-series engines in both Alto and Wagon R and replace them with its new K-series engine, which is Bharat Stage IV complaint.

When contacted a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson said, "the successful K series engines will be mounted on more models in a phased manner," without specifying details and timeline for the change in engines.

Alto is MSI's best selling model. In November last year it crossed one-million mark in domestic market, while Wagon R also accounted for a good number to its compact car sales.

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The company's newer models such A-Star, Ritz and the new Estilo are powered by K-series engines, which the company claims are more fuel efficient and have lesser emission.

With 11 cities in India scheduled to move to stricter Bharat Stage (BS) IV emission norms from the current BS III by April next year, MSI has been preparing itself for the change.

It has already upgraded its mid-sized sedan

SX4 to make it BS IV compatible and it will be shortly launched in the market. A similar upgradation for premium compact car Swift and entry-level sedan DZire is also on the cards but the company has decided not to upgrade its oldest model M800 to meet the new emission norms

Toyota to merge housing ops into one unit

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it would merge its housing production and technology development operations with its home building

unit.

The company split its housing business and formed Toyota Housing Corp in 2003 but kept some related operations separate, the firm said in a statement.

It has decided to integrate them to achieve faster decision-making, it said.

The automaker entered the home-building business in 1975