Month: August 2020

FCA recalls 547 units of MY20 Jeep Compass over ‘brace nut’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Automobile maker FCA India on Saturday said it is recalling 547 units of its ‘MY20 Jeep Compass’ model to rectify fitment of a ‘brace nut’ which is used in wiper assembly as a precautionary exercise.

The company said it identified “an opportunity to improve the fitment of a ‘brace nut’ which is used in the wiper assembly of MY20 Jeep Compass vehicles” during a regular vehicle quality audit process. The affected vehicles were all manufactured in 2020, the company said.

Also read: Jeep India joins the digital platform route, starts Book My Jeep portal

“The torque-induced brace nut should firmly clamp the wiper arm on to the wiper pivot assembly, enabling them to swivel as one unit when activated. A malfunction of the brace nut can result in the wipers not swivelling when activated by the wiper combi-switch behind the steering wheel,” FCA India said in a statement.

Increased tightening of the brace nut would improve its grip on the wiper pivot, ruling out the probability of a malfunction. This precautionary modification is necessary for consistent wiper function in the vehicle, the company said adding “FCA India is unaware of any MY20 Jeep Compass customer reporting of a malfunction of this nature”.

FCA India said it has commenced proactively informing affected MY20 Jeep Compass customers about this campaign and will be followed by its authorised workshops contacting customers to plan and implement an organised assessment and take necessary action. “The tightening of the brace nut will take no more than 15 minutes and will be at no cost to customers,” it said.

In pics: Despite lockdown, these top auto brands launched some superb cars and bikes

Commenting on the recall, FCA India president and managing director Partha Datta said, “We give the highest priority to the safety of our customers and to the quality of our vehicles. I am pleased that we could quickly identify this issue, and take precautionary measures to keep our customers safe and happy. We take pride in ensuring that Jeep Brand vehicles remain the most trusted and reliable vehicles on the road.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

MG Motor retail sales up by 40% to 2,105 units in July

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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MG Motor India on Saturday said its retail sales increased by 40 percent to 2,105 units in July compared to 1,508 units in the same month of last year.

“The overall market environment continues to be challenging with uncertainties due to variable lockdowns in various phases. The component supplies continue to remain impacted especially from the Chennai region,” MG Motor India, director-sales Rakesh Sidana said in a statement.

However, despite these challenges, the production has remained at similar levels in July as compared to June 2020 and the company expects the situation to improve during the festival season, he added.

The company said it is witnessing encouraging traction for top trims of Hector Plus that was launched last month.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

From today onwards, Facebook users in India can music videos on its platform

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Facebook on Saturday introduced official music videos on its main platform in India, along with launching a new music destination on Facebook Watch to allow people to view their favourite content.

The social network said that users in India will be able to watch music videos from labels like T-Series Music, Zee Music Company and Yash Raj Films on its platform.

Also read: After Jio partnership in India, Facebook wants to expand Whatsapp commerce globally

According to the company, the users will now be able to discover, enjoy and interact with top-charting tracks to old catalogue favourites across various music genres on the platform.

“We have been working with partners in the Indian music industry to build the foundation of a music video experience for our consumers, and are thrilled to launch official music videos on the platform,” Manish Chopra, director, and head of partnerships, Facebook India, said in a statement.

The company has revealed that official music videos on Facebook will create new social experiences that go beyond just watching the video.

Also read: Here’s what Amazon, Google, Facebook say about India during their Q2 earnings

On Facebook, people will be able to discover new artists and tracks through social sharing, clicking through to a song (from a Music Sticker/Music Video] shared to a friend’s story or a post in News Feed.

Without leaving Facebook, the users can connect with and learn more about an artist and their creative ambitions, watch the story behind their music on their Page, a label page and connect through real-time interactions on Facebook Live.

The music video experience on Facebook is available in India, Thailand, and the US, and the users will be able to watch their favourites from the country’s top music labels.

Also read: Australia to make Facebook, Google pay for news in world first

“We will continue to find opportunities to add more unique social sharing experiences and bring music into the ways people share and connect on Facebook,” said Chopra.

On Friday, The social network announced to bring official music videos from top artists to its main platform in the US.

Facebook launched the music videos in partnership with Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, BMG, Kobalt and many others across the independent music community, publishers and societies.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco as world’s most valuable company

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Riding on strong quarter results despite the pandemic, Apple has surpassed Saudi Aramco to become the worlds most valuable company with a market cap of $1.84 trillion.

The strong earnings report helped Apple shares closed up 10.47 per cent on Friday to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing the largest oil producer, reports CNBC.

Saudi Aramco now trails at $1.76 trillion.

Despite the pandemic that hit its supply chain and forced the iPhone maker to close retail stores worldwide, Apple shares are up more than 44 per cent this year.

Apple has posted $59.7 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2020 third quarter that ended June 27, an increase of 11 per cent from the year-ago quarter, as iPhone sales beat the Wall Street estimates.

Apple’s board of directors has also approved a four-for-one stock split, effective from August 31.

“Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our geographic segments,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation,” he said in a statement.

The iPhone sales were $26.4 billion, iPad revenue was $6.6 billion while Mac revenue reached $7.1 billion.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Hyundai Motor India sales dip 28% to 41,300 units in July

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Saturday reported a 28 percent decline in total sales to 41,300 units in July. The company had sold 57,310 units in the same month last year, HMIL said in a statement.

Also read: Hyundai extends warranty options for Kona customers

Domestic sales last month were at 38,200 units as against 39,010 units in July 2019, down by 2 percent. Exports were down 83 percent at 3,100 units last month as compared to 18,300 units in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the sales performance, HMIL Director (Sales, Marketing & Service) Tarun Garg said the company has been able to contribute towards triggering the country’s economic revival.

Also read: Hyundai’s new Creta receives over 55,000 bookings

“With the changing trend of preference for personal mobility, our consistent efforts are towards fulfilling the customer needs and meeting the market demand,” he said, adding that the company’s sales in July were driven by the all-new Creta SUV, Venue and the new Verna sedan besides compact cars Elite i10 and Nios.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nvidia may acquire chip maker ARM for $32 billion: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US chip-maker Nvidia is reportedly in advance talks to acquire SoftBank-owned UK chip company ARM in a cash-and-stock deal worth at least $32 billion.

According to a report in the Financial Times on Friday citing sources, the talks began after “Nvidia approached SoftBank, which has been pursuing a series of other asset sales, about a potential acquisition”.

The proposed deal includes “both cash and stock and that it valued ARM at above the $32bn price that SoftBank paid for the business in 2016”.

Both Nvidia and ARM did not comment on the report.

The British chip designer powers major mobile processor from companies like Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung and Huawei.

Apple last month confirmed its break up with Intel chips for ARM chips in its Mac desktops, announcing it will transition the Mac to its world-class custom silicon to deliver industry-leading performance and powerful new technologies.

Buying ARM would consolidate graphics giant Nvidia’s position at the centre of the semiconductor industry.

SoftBank bought ARM for $31 billion in 2016.

Microsoft makes an ARM-based Surface laptop and a version of Windows designed for ARM.

According to The Verge, Nvidia would make an interesting owner for ARM.

While Nvidia is the leader for GPUs, it has little to do with CPU design or mobile hardware.

Nvidia said this week it delivered the world’s fastest Artificial Intelligence (AI) training performance among commercially available chips, a feat that will help big enterprises tackle the most complex challenges in AI, data science and scientific computing.

Nvidia A100 GPUs and DGX SuperPOD systems were declared the world’s fastest commercially available products for AI training, according to MLPerf benchmarks.

The A100 Tensor Core GPU demonstrated the fastest performance per accelerator on all eight MLPerf benchmarks.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple only vendor to see growth in smartphone sales in Q2 2020: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As the global smartphone market plummeted 14 percent in the June quarter, Apple was the only vendor to grow as it shipped 45.1 million iPhones globally, a growth of 25 percent compared to the previous year, according to a new report.

Samsung fell 30 percent, Huawei 5 percent, Xiaomi 10 percent, OPPO 16 percent and others 23 percent in terms of shipments in the second quarter, reported market research firm Canalys.

Also read: China to Chennai: Apple starts manufacturing iPhone 11 in India

“Apple defied expectations in Q2. Its new iPhone SE was critical in the quarter, accounting for around 28 percent of its global volume, while iPhone 11 remained a strong best-seller at nearly 40 percent,” analyst Vincent Thielke on Friday.

According to him, iPhone SE will remain crucial to prop up volume this year, amid delays to Apple’s next flagship release.

“In China, it had blockbuster results, growing 35 percent to reach 7.7 million units. It is unusual for Apple’s Q2 shipments to increase sequentially,” said Thielke.

Also read: Samsung, Apple contract manufacturers submit proposals for benefits under Rs 50K crore PLI scheme

The smartphone market worldwide fell to 285 million units, a second consecutive quarter of freefall, as lockdown orders caused by the Covid-19 pandemic persisted through April and May.

Huawei toppled Samsung with shipping 55.8 million units, compared to Samsung’s 53.7 million in Q2 2020. Apple was third with 45.1 million units.

Xiaomi came fourth, shipping 28.8 million units, which was down 10 percent, and OPPO reclaimed fifth place from Vivo, shipping 25.8 million units with a 16 percent decline.

“As well as the new iPhone SE, Apple is also demonstrating skills in new user acquisition. It adapted quickly to the pandemic, doubling down on the digital customer experience as stay-at-home measures drive more customers to online channels,” said the report.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India smartphone market set to recover by 40% in 2nd half: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After going through disruptions in supply chain and curtailed domestic production, the India smartphone market is now showing encouraging signs of revival that sets it on a potential course for market recovery for over 40 per cent in the second half this year, according to a new report.

Over the short-term, the mobile market will improve in mid-Q3, spurred by early online sales festivals, setting the smartphone market on a potential path to recovery towards the all-important festive season.

During this period, smartphone brands will focus on showcasing their consumer-centric value propositions, focusing more on hyperlocal delivery models, and launching more 5G-ready smartphones, according to market research firm CMR’s ‘India Mobile Handset Market Review Report.’

CMR’s current estimates point to a better performance for the India smartphone market in H2 2020, with the market anticipated to recover by more than 40 per cent in comparison to the first half.

“As a consequence of the pandemic, Q2 2020 was, in essence, a lost quarter. While the mobile handset industry faced multiple challenges with respect to their supply and demand side dynamics, the industry looks set on the path to a potential recovery in the coming months,” said Amit Sharma, Manager-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

The initial consumer demand in the unlock phase was driven predominantly through online channels and driven by need for urgent replacements.

“Facing up to the pandemic, smartphone brands debuted innovative hyperlocal delivery models, some of which have the potential to gain permanence,” Sharma added.

The path to potential recovery will be led by pent-up consumer demand, driven by need for upgrades.

In the run-up to the festive season, consumers will seek to go for meaningful value propositions that bring devices and compelling content ecosystem offerings, together.

“This, coupled by smartphone brands bringing more value for money offerings and backed by aggressive messaging, will potentially drive the market,” said Sharma.

Thus far, a key challenge for the smartphone market in India to grow has been the inability to offer value propositions that will help feature phone users to migrate to smartphones.

“We believe recent announcements, such as the Jio-Google deal, augur well for the future of the mobile handset industry in India, and in potentially enabling the migration of feature phones to smartphone users, with its focus on driving affordability,” said analyst Anand Priya Singh.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fuel prices: ATF price hiked 3%; no change in LPG, petrol, diesel rates

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Jet fuel or ATF price on Saturday was hiked by 3 per cent, the fifth straight increase in two months, while there was no change in rates of cooking gas LPG, petrol and diesel.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) rates went up by Rs ?1,304.25? per kilolitre or 3 per cent in the national capital to Rs 43,932.53 per kl, according to a price notification of state-owned oil companies.

ATF price was last hiked by 1.5 per cent or Rs 635.47 per kl, on July 16. This was the fifth straight increase since June. In four hikes, rates went up by Rs 22,483.91 per kl.

Rates were hiked by a record 56.6 per cent (Rs 12,126.75 per kl) on June 1, followed by Rs 5,494.5 per kl (16.3 per cent) increase on June 16. Price was hiked by Rs 2,922.94 per kl or 7.48 per cent on July 1.

ATF prices are revised on 1st and 16th of every month based on average of benchmark international price and foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight.

Petrol and diesel prices, which are revised on a daily basis, were kept unchanged on Saturday.

The price of petrol has not changed for over a month now. It sells for Rs 80.43 a litre in the national capital since June 29.

Diesel, on the other hand, has seen sporadic rates revisions. It currently sells for Rs 73.56 per litre in the national capital.

Petrol price rose by Rs 9.17 per litre between June 7 and June 29 while diesel rates increased by Rs 12.55 per litre since June 7.

Cooking gas rates too were unchanged on Saturday.

Non-subsidised cooking gas LPG rates were last revised on July 1 when prices went up by Re 1 to Rs 594 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital.

This increase reversed a four-month declining trend in rates. Prices had come down from Rs 858.50 in February to Rs 593 in June – Rs 265.5 in all.

Non-subsidised LPG is cooking gas that a consumer buys after exhausting his or her quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg at subsidised rates.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow