Brand

The Rs 1655 crore Greenply Industries Limited (GIL), India's largest interior infrastructure company, will now rebrand its MDF, wood floors, plywood, veneers and doors as Greenpanel. The EPD division of Greenply Industries was earlier marketing these products under Green Panelmax and Green Floormax brand names. Significantly, Greenply enjoys nearly 26 per cent market share in the organised plywood market in India and 30 per cent market share in domestic MDF market, with a strong retail network, 48 branches across India and presence in over 300 cities across 21 states.

Tata Motor has launched AMT (automated manual transmission) version of its Nexon with a price tag of Rs 9.41 lakh for its petrol variant and Rs 10.3 lakh for the diesel variant, both prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.  The Nexon AMT will be only available with the top-end XZA+ variant on both the petrol and the diesel. Tata Nexon AMT will feature three drive modes - Eco, City and Sport.

Polaris India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Polaris Industries Inc, on Wednesday expanded its super bike portfolio by introducing its all new iconic flagship motorcycle the ‘Indian' Roadmaster Elite priced at Rs 48 lakh in Mumbai.

Indian Motorcycles is the American oldest brand manufacturing sophisticated and technologically advanced bikes under two categories called cruisers and tourers starting with the engine capacity of 1,000 cc.

A significant part of Microsoft’s $500 million fresh investment will come to the Kolkata R&D centre of the Baltimore-headquartered MachineSense, LLC, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven manufacturer of machine sensor and power analyzer. This will be part of Microsoft Corp’s elite scale-up accelerator programme, initiated in February.

Urban Blackberrys, the leading youth denim brand from the stable of Mohan Clothing Co Pvt Ltd, has now come up with its new brand ideology –“Why Plan”, signifying the spirit of a wanderer, so that today’s urban youth can relate to the brand in a much smoother way and seamlessly. The company had also commissioned the Bangalore-based design agency Four Dimensions Retail Design to come up with a new retail identity for its three different brand identities that include the parent brand Blackberrys, “Urban” Blackberrys and Blackberrys “Casuale”.

Italian super bike maker Ducati launched an all new version of 'Monster 821' in India at an introductory price of Rs 9.51 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Monster 821 comes with a Euro 4 compliant liquid-cooled engine which delivers a maximum power of 109 hp. “For the last 25 years, the Monster has consistently delighted biking enthusiasts across the world. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Monster and we are very proud to introduce the new Monster 821 in India,” Ducati India Managing Director Sergi Canovas Garriga said in a statement.

Volkswagen AG’s Czech division Skoda said it will shift some production of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) to Germany to meet growing demand for its models.

Executives at Europe’s largest automotive group and its Czech subsidiary have been looking at ways to boost output at Skoda, including building a new factory outside the brand’s Czech home, to help it keep up with booming demand, company sources told Reuters in March.

Chinese mobile maker Gionee India launched two new smartphones F205 and S11 Lite on Thursday in New Delhi. The company showcased both the phones last year in China.

With better camera specification and features like full view display and face unlock the F205 and S11 Lite will be priced at Rs 8,999 and Rs 13,999 respectively.

Ford India on Thursday launched its cross-hatchback Freestyle in India four-wheeler market. The Ford Freestyle has been priced at Rs 5.09 lakh, while the diesel variant starts from Rs 609,000, both prices are ex-showroom. The Freestyle is a crossover offering based on the Figo hatchback. Ford dealerships have already commenced bookings and the deliveries should start shortly. Ford Freestyle competes with likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ignis along with other cross-hatchbacks like the Toyota Etios Cross, Fiat Avventura, Hyundai i20 Active.

Tata Motors, India’s biggest commercial vehicle maker by sales, has launched Ultra brand range of trucks to defend and consolidate its overall market share from losing to rivals in Asia’s third biggest economy.

In August 2017, the company had announced its aggressive growth game-plan to regain 5 per cent market share. In FY2018, the company sold a total of 376,456 commercial vehicles, growing its market share to 43.96 per cent from 42.80 per cent in FY2017.