BUZZ WORLD

Harley-Davidson ready for India launch; sales to start 2010

The iconic US cult bike maker Harley Davidson is set to enter Indian markets, two years after it was first granted permission to start operations in the country.

Sales will, however, begin only by 2010, the company said in a statement."

As a first step, we are looking for local dealer partners who share our passion and commitment to building customer relationships, the Harley-Davidson brand and our business in India for the long term," Harley Davidson Managing Director India, Anoop Prakash said.

Harley Davidson was first granted permission to start operations in India in 2007 but it had to hold back on its plans Because of a crushing import duty of over 100 per cent.

However, two years hence, the cruiser’s popularity seems to have far outweighed other considerations like price.

"Given the rapid development of India’s economy and physical infrastructure, this is exactly the right time to bring the world’s greatest motorcycles to one of the world’s largest motorcycling nations," Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and COO Matthew Levatich said.

The excitement over the famed bike maker entering India is already palpable online. A clock on the Harley Davidson-India website is counting down hours, minutes and seconds for the "adventure" to begin.

Under the terms of the appointment, Prakash would be responsible for sales, business development and marketing activities in India."Given the rapid development of India’s economy and physical infrastructure, this is exactly the right time to bring the world’s greatest motorcycles to one of the world’s largest motorcycling nations," Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and COO Matthew Levatich said.

Harley-Davidson is the global leader in cruising and touring motorcycles and ranks as one of the Strongest brands in the world, with motorcycle sales now in more than 70 countries.

Harley-Davidson Inc is the parent company for the group of companies doing business as Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC),Buell Motorcycle Company (Buell), MV Agusta and Harley-Davidson Financial Services(HDFS).

India’s rapidly growing economy, rising middle class and significant investment in construction of new highways have opened the door to leisure motorcycle riding, the company said.

Coca-Cola launches new marketing campaign for Thums Up

Coca-Cola India announced the launch of a new marketing campaign for their brand Thums Up. The new campaign takes forward the daredevil image formed in its previous campaigns.

The campaign shot in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia shows the brand ambassador AkshayKumar’s excitement in getting Thums Up after a daredevil action sequence.

The new television commercial went on air in the last week of August. The commercial is directed by Malaysian Director Farouk Aljoffery, the ad has been conceptualized by Sainath Saraban, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett and produced by Cutting Edge Pictures.

In addition to the television commercial, Coca-Cola would be carrying out various on ground activities and contests in all major markets.

According to Kashmira Chadha, Director -Marketing, Coca-Cola India, "The latest communication further builds on the core values of the brand and takes the whole idea of ‘I will do anything for my thunder’ further.

"Lavasa-Wipro ink partnershipto build India’s firstcomplete e-City

Lavas a Corporation Ltd. and Wipro Limited announced their partnership for planning, implementing and managing Information &Communication Technology (ICT) services across Lavas a city. Lavas a is free India’s first and largest Hill City being developed by Lavas A corporation Ltd, a part of HCC Group. Wipro will support Lavas a city in the areas of City Management System & Services, E-Governance, ICT infrastructure and value added services, including providing intelligent home solutions and digital lifestyle. The ICT services will include voice-video-data services to various businesses operating out of Lavasa city.

The strategic partnership is intended to focus on providing integrated and effective solutions for enhancing IT operations within the Hill city. It will identify governance services and operating models, and define processes for delivering best-in-class governance. It will also provide the necessary infrastructure support including technology selection, supply, installation and management of platforms, networks, data centre etc. The estimated revenues out of t his partnership from Lavasa city’s first town Dasve is about US$ 100 Mn over next 10 years.

US restaurants keen to setup shop here

Following the successful entry of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and various other global brands, some of the leading food and restaurant brands in the US seek to foray in to the Indian market through the franchisee route.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Aileen Crowe Nandi, Principal Commercial Officer, US Consulate-General, Chennai, said the US Commercial Services’ Franchise team in India has designed a unique program – Focus Franchising – to assist Indian franchisees to establish "new and profitable commercial relations "with US companies.

According to her, US brands such as Church’s Chicken (quick service restaurant chain brand), CKE Restaurants Inc (another quick service restaurant company listed in the New York Stock Exchange), Tropical Sno (shaved ice brand), The Melting Pot (restaurant brand), Round Table Pizza (5th largest pizza chain in the US) and Papa Johns (pizza chain) are keen on setting up shop in India.

These companies will assist franchisees with site selection and equipment packages in addition to providing training assistance and restaurant-level marketing guidance, Nandi said.

Quoting some "published market reports", she said the Indian franchise market has recorded a steady annual growth of 30-35 per cent in the last five years. The annual turnover of the Indian franchise industry is $3.3 billion and is projected to grow further in the years to come.

BMW to launch two new models in India

German luxury carmaker BMW said it will launch two new products in India this year as it is targeting to cross 3,000-units mark in sales for the first time in the country. "We will launch a roadster Z4 in October with a 3.5 litre engine. The model is expected to be priced between Rs 50 and 60 lakh," BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM annual convention. BMW India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, would also launch a new petrol variant of its 7-Series cars with a six cylinder engine in September, he added. "Last year, we sold 2,908 units and this year we are confident of crossing 3,000 units on the back of new launches and robust demand for our products," Kronschnabl said. The company has so far witnessed a 14 per cent jump in its sales during January-July period, he added. BMW India has its assembly plant in Chennai with a production capacity of 3,000 units per annum. It produces 3- Series and 5- Series cars from the plant. Earlier, the company had announced that it would consider increasing the capacity of the plant in 2011.

M&M looks to make US largest export market for SUVs

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra is looking to make the US one of the largest export markets once it starts selling its vehicles there next year.

The company, which exported 9,000 units of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-ups across the globe last fiscal, is looking to better its performance this year. "

We will start exporting our Scorpio platform vehicle in the US markets by February- March 2010. We plan to start with around 2,000 vehicles and hope that the US will be our biggest export market soon," M&M executive vice president (international operations automotive sector) P.N. Shah said.

He said the company will start its US exports with pick- ups and then move to SUVs. The company has sold 9,000 units in the international markets in 2008-09 and hopes to improve the number this fiscal. "While we had exported 13,000 units in 2007-08, our exports fell to 9,000 units last fiscal. This year we are optimistic of improving our sales and bettering last year’s performance," Shah said.

He added that the company has a $75-80 million investments planned in the US markets and is open to acquiring some assembly lines there.

India’s animation industry seen at $1 bn by 2012

India’s animation industry is expected to hit $1 billion by 2012 and the gaming industry would touch $830 million then, aided by increased outsourcing and a growing domestic market, a report released on Wednesday said.

The Indian animation market, estimated at $494 million in 2008, is seen growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 22 percent till 2012, a report by National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and Ernst & Young said.

"The industry will witness a dip in growth rates for two years before becoming a billion dollar industry by 2012," Farokh Balsara, Partner & National Leader-Media & Entertainment Practice with Ernst & Young, said at a media briefing, referring to the animation industry.

The gaming industry was estimated at $167 million in 2008 and is seen growing at a compounded rate of 49 percent yearly to hit $830 million by 2012, the report added.

The expectation that the entertainment industry would be relatively isolated from the economic downturn has been disproved as the spending patterns were hit by the financial crunch hurting the growth rates, Som Mittal, Nasscom’s president, said. The economic crisis has hurt the earnings of Indian IT companies, with NASSCOM forecasting a 4 to 7 percent rise in India’s software services and exports for the year to March 2010, sharply slower than the past years’ robust growth.

Walt Disney India working on new marketing initiatives

The Walt Disney Company (India) is in the process of finalizing new marketing initiatives in India, with thrust on localization, interactivity and region-specific approach.

The Director, Strategic Sales and Marketing Development, Walt Disney -Television International (India), Vijay Subramaniam, said the new initiative will be unveiled in the next couple of months. The company wanted to provide high quality creative content to the viewers and innovative business solutions to partners. The local partners could be schools, malls and retail chains. The company expects its television revenues to grow, fuelled by regional advertisements.

Walt Disney South India has an extremely large base and continues to grow , contributing to a third of the regional revenue in advertising. The thrust is on consolidating presence through Disney Channel, Jetix and Hungama, "With Jetix, we are able to better connect with schools and children offering them interactive solutions. We expect to consolidate this approach by partnering malls and retail chains. They could have new channels that would help build and consolidate their business," he said. "After the launch of channels in Telugu and Tamil, we have managed to connect well with the target group. If need be, we could add more languages to the channels."

[ BY LAVANYA GARIKINA ]