Peugeot and and India brand are joining forces to build and sell cars and components in India.

The PSA Group and the CK Birla Group sign joint-venture agreements to produce and sell vehicles and components in India by 2020

• Indian project in line with PSA strategic plan “Push to Pass” and the growth plan of the CK Birla Group in the automotive sector
• “Be Indian in India”: Long term partnership with an initial investment in capital expenditure close to €100 million (INR 700 cr) for vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in the State of Tamil Nadu
• Bring state of the art technology for an eco-friendly and safe new product range in line with future industry norms and customers’ expectations

The ceremony of signature held today lays the foundation for a long term partnership between the two Groups and represents a key milestone in the development of the PSA Group in India, a cornerstone of its strategic growth plan “Push to Pass”. The CK Birla Group further deepens its capabilities in the auto component and automotive sector in India.

The partnership entails two joint-venture agreements between the PSA Group and the CK Birla Group companies. 

As part of the first agreement, the PSA Group will hold a majority stake in the joint-venture company being set-up with HMFCL for the assembly and distribution of PSA passenger cars in India. 

None of the pictures below should be considered as cars that will or will not be

produced in India in Joint agreement with Peugeot.

As per the second agreement, a 50:50 joint-venture is being set-up between the PSA Group and AVTEC Ltd for manufacture and supply of powertrains. The manufacturing sites for both vehicle assembly and powertrains will be based in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The initial manufacturing capacity will be set at about 100,000 vehicles per year and will be followed by incremental investment to support a progressive ramp-up of the long term project. The manufacturing capacity for powertrains will cater to the domestic market needs and global OEMs. The performance of the industrial set-up will be supported by a significant level of localization, in order to reach the necessary cost competitiveness.

This long term partnership will allow both companies to participate in the growth of the Indian automotive market, which is expected to reach 8 to 10 million cars by 2025⁽¹⁾ from current 3 million in 2016.

Commenting on the agreements, Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Managing Board of PSA Group said: "Benefitting from the strong support of our Indian partner, the CK Birla Group, and a shared vision, this project is consistent with the strong execution of our Push to Pass strategic plan and represents a major step in PSA Group’s worldwide profitable growth in key automotive markets.”

Speaking to the press in Paris on this momentous occasion, Mr. CK Birla, Chairman, the CK Birla Group, said “We have embraced ‘Make in India for India and the World’ for several decades and are among the early adopters of frugal manufacturing in the country. I am confident that the coming together of the latest state-of-the-art technology from the PSA Group and the engineering and manufacturing excellence of the CK Birla Group will benefit the automotive sector in India.”

Isuzu buys one new truck as an incident command vehicle to replace three older ones, for the WMAS.

With the recent arrival of its latest state-of-the-art Isuzu 7.5 tonne command unit, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has been able to replace three of its current vehicles with the single Isuzu, which will act as a brand-new bespoke incident command vehicle incorporating the latest technology to deal with major and prolonged incidents.

The dedicated state-of-the-art Isuzu provides a communications hub and base for WMAS commanders at the ground scene, for the duration of an incident, acting as a ‘mobile mini headquarters’. It is planned to send the command vehicle to support air, rail and multi-vehicle incidents, or more prolonged incidents, such as flooding, within the West Midlands region.

As the new Isuzu command vehicle enters service in the West Midlands, Tony Page, general manager fleet services at WMAS said, “The unit will enable a tactical command post to be deployed at the incident ground, housing operators and commanders, whilst also accommodating multi-agency responses, where required. The Isuzu will also provide us with a regional command training suite.”

The WMAS command vehicle is based on an Isuzu Forward 7.5 tonne N75.190 rigid chassis, which has been supplied by local West Midlands Isuzu Truck dealer, Aquila Truck Centre.

As WMAS’s Tony Page commented, “We already operate an Isuzu vehicle within our major incident fleet and are familiar with the excellent payload facility. With this latest fleet addition, we realised that the complex body specification would prove to be quite a challenge. However, with the proven payload of the Isuzu, we were also confident that this was achievable. From a technical viewpoint, the weight and overall footprint of the Isuzu rigid chassis was ideal for this detailed specification and, of course, we had the proven previous experience of the durability and reliability of the Isuzu brand in service.”

From the initial design stage, WMAS required a vehicle with the very best equipment to keep its staff safe and enable them to provide the best care, the best treatment and the best service for patients should the worst happen in the West Midlands.

Providing the role previously carried out by three separate WMAS vehicles, the Isuzu 7.5 tonne rigid truck features a custom manufactured body with slide-out side pods, which house a conference/briefing room facility, together with seating for up to 9 people. This area is also equipped with a conference table, briefing screens, video and phone conferencing units and eight operational laptop positions. A separate operational area houses two workstations with fixed PCs and peripherals, as well as a 46” interactive touchscreen that is to be used for team briefings.

Externally, the command vehicle is equipped with a ‘Sherpa’ automatic pole climbing camera delivery system, manufactured by Excelerate. The optical infra-red camera enables real-time video sharing over high signal loss areas, such as mountainous or built-up locations. Mounted on a telescopic 5m mast, this extends coverage within the incident ground and allows surveillance and transmission of high-quality images in real time over distances in excess of one kilometre.

This vehicle is equipped with an integrated on-board video server that supports the streaming of video content back to WMAS HQ, and other authorised locations, as well as allowing simultaneous displaying, recording, reviewing and exporting of images by operational staff during incident, without any loss of recording capability.

Commenting on the new WMAS Isuzu command vehicle, Keith Child, marketing director at Isuzu Truck said, “The importance of state-of-the-art emergency services vehicles cannot be understated and it has been a great pleasure and privilege for us to be involved in the development of this latest vehicle for West Midlands Ambulance Service. Flexibility and versatility have always been associated with the Isuzu marque, and never has it been demonstrated so aptly as on this latest vehicle, which houses a plethora of equipment and communications technology, as it delivers an effective emergency solution for WMAS.”

BMW invests further in the UK with Hams Hall developing new engines on brand new production lines.

A large investment programme to develop the BMW Hams Hall engine plant near Birmingham is complete. The production of new three and four-cylinder engines is already being ramped up on brand-new production lines, and over one million components will be machined at the plant for the first time this year as supply extends to other plants in the Group.

The investment project, part of £750 million that has been spent across BMW Group’s UK manufacturing sites, has ensured the Hams Hall site remains a state-of-the-art facility, capable of producing the next generation of engines and securing a long-term future for the plant.

Engines, as well as machined components manufactured at BMW Plant Hams Hall contribute to a range of cars across BMW Group’s product portfolio. This includes MINI – the new Clubman model goes on sale in just a few weeks’ time, as well as the new BMW 7 Series, also launched this month.

Plant Director, Markus Fallboehmer says: “The transformation in our plant has been huge. Over the last few years we have completely re-developed our two main production areas and installed over 600 brand-new pieces of equipment and machinery. While a high level of technology and automation ensures our plant remains a state-of-the-art facility, the ergonomics of the workstations where we have more manual input have been carefully thought through and adjusted to suit each individual member of the team.

“A large investment has also been made in our workforce via a number of training programmes and opportunities for people to upskill and take on new job roles. We have changed the make-up of our workforce as well with over 100 people securing BMW contracts, some of whom were previously working for us on a temporary basis. Looking further ahead to the future, we have trebled the number of apprentices training with us to ensure we have a strong, skilled workforce for many years to come.”

Development of the site is another piece of the jigsaw in BMW Group’s global strategy for engine production. The Hams Hall facility is now operating alongside other plants in Germany and Austria, all producing the same new family of next generation engines.

“Our new engine family of highly efficient three, four and six-cylinder engines have a standard design, a high number of similar parts and a uniform process for manufacture,” explains Ilka Horstmeier, who heads up BMW Group’s global production network for engines and electrified powertrain. “This gives us a large amount of flexibility and means we can optimise production between each of our manufacturing locations and respond quickly to changes in customer demand or market developments. The investment in Hams Hall has enabled the plant to grow and play an ever-increasingly important role in the production of these latest engines.”

Production of a small number of new engines was first introduced at Hams Hall last year. Three-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo technology 1.5-litre petrol engines are hand-built exclusively at Hams Hall on a special production line for the BMW i8, the first purpose-built, plug-in hybrid sports car. This engine has already contributed to a series of award-wins for the revolutionary vehicle as well as two class and an overall win at the International Engine of the Year awards.

Overall, the new Efficient Dynamics high-tech engine family includes petrol and diesel engines, all employing TwinPower Turbo technology and ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 litres. With different power ratings, the engines can be adapted to a variety of vehicle concepts. Commonality across the engines makes it possible to be extremely flexible in achieving significant efficiences at high production volumes, as well as being able to produce additional special versions of the engines at relatively small volumes across the network of engine plants.

To get a glimpse inside the Hams Hall engine plant, tune in to the new BBC2 series ‘Building Cars Live’, presented by James May, Kate Humble and Ant Anstead. The Hams Hall plant is one of the key suppliers to MINI production at the Oxford-based vehicle manufacturing plant that will feature in the programme this autumn.