The most exciting brands

What better way than a hot new survey to get you, dear reader, excited about 2013? Brand Equity's Most Exciting Brands is a new annual research property from Brand Equity and Nielsen. It speaks directly to the youth to discover the brands that capture the imagination of these fickle, hard to impress consumers. The survey and its methodology will be tweaked and expanded in the years to come, to better represent the universe of brands relevant to young India and to capture those that stand out as the buzziest, trendiest and most exciting. Hop aboard, and rest assured it's going to be a wild ride.

1. COCA-COLA 2. ADIDAS 3. PEPSI 4. FASTRACK 5. THUMS-UP 6. NOKIA 7. SPRITE 8. REEBOK 9. MERCEDES 10. BLACKBERRY (MOBILE PHONES) 11. APPLE (LAPTOPS) 12. SAMSUNG (MOBILE PHONES) 13. MAAZA 14. YAMAHA 15. DELL 16. TITANBSE 1.28 % 17. MIRINDA 18. FANTA 19. BMW 20. MARUTIBSE 1.71 % 21. MOUNTAIN DEW 22. LEVI'S 23. HONDA CARS 24. HONDA (TWO WHEELERS) 25. SLICE 26. SAMSUNG GALAXY (TABLETS) 27. 7UP 28. APPLE iPAD 29. BATABSE 0.66 % 30. PUMA 31. LIMCA 32. WOODLAND 33. NIKE 34. PARK AVENUE 35. APPLE iPHONE 36. TOYOTA 37. TATA MOTORSBSE 0.49 % 38. AXE 39. AUDI 40. VOLKSWAGEN 41. FROOTI 42. VASELINE 43. HYUNDAI 44. MAHINDRA (CARS) 45. LENOVO 46. DOVE 47. APPY 48. SONY VAIO 49. SAMSUNG (LAPTOPS) 50. SONY CYBER-SHOT 51. FORD 52. SONY (TABLETS) 53. SKODA 54. SONY (MOBILE PHONES) 55. NIKON 56. HTC 57. LG (MOBILE PHONES) 58. TROPICANA 59. HCL 60. PETER ENGLAND 61. ACER (LAPTOPS) 62. BAJAJ (MOTORCYCLES) 63. GM / CHEVROLET 64. RED BULL 65. LEE 66. ROYAL ENFIELD 67. TOSHIBA (LAPTOPS) 68. VIVEL 69. JOHN PLAYERS 70. FIAT 71. LAKME 72. PEPE JEANS 73. SUZUKIBSE 1.71 % (TWO WHEELERS) 74. HP (LAPTOPS) 75. PROVOGUE 76. DIESEL 77. L'OREAL 78. CANON 79. TVS (MOTORCYCLES) 80. HARLEY DAVIDSON 81. MICROMAX (MOBILE PHONES) 82. DELL (TABLETS) 83. RAY-BAN 84. TOMMY HILFIGER 85. NIVEA 86. WILD STONE 87. MINUTE MAID 88. SPYKAR 89. JAGUAR 90. MOTOROLA (MOBILE PHONES) 91. KILLER 92. HERO MOTO CORP 93. real 94. UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON 95. CALVIN KLEIN 96. LG (LAPTOPS) 97. NISSAN 98. KARBONN (MOBILE PHONES) 99. SET WET 100. LENOVO (TABLETS)

JM financial maintains buy rating on TVS Motor.

JM Financial BSE -1.61 % has maintained 'Buy' rating on TVS MotorBSE 0.60 % with a target price Rs 49. Since Jan 2011, the stock has traded at an average one-year forward P/E multiple of c.10x.

Historically, TVSL's earnings growth has been more muted due to limited product range in motorcycles, lack of focus in scooters, weak network and lower scale.

"Given the concerns, we value TVSL at a 1-year forward multiple of 9x - at c.40% discount to target multiple for HMCL/BJAUT and 10% discount to its long term average" said JM Financial in a report. In terms of price/book, TVSL is currently trading at multiple of 1.4x FY14E. TVSL is the only company in India that has presence across motorcycle , scooter, moped and the three-wheeler segments.

Although, TVSL has underperformed motorcycle and scooter market in the last decade, new model launches along with aggressive refreshes could help revive volume growth in medium to long run. In the mopeds segment, TVSL remains the only player but lack of growth triggers in long term is a concern.

While entry in three wheelers has helped TVSL diversify its business model, lack of growth visibility and increasing competition from SCV segment remains a worry.

TVS Motor inks MoU with Pandyan Grama Bank

Automobile major TVS Motor Company has inked a memorandum of understanding with Pandyan Grama Bank to offer finance scheme for retailing its ‘TVS King’ range of autorickshaws.

Pandyan Grama Bank is an affiliate of city-based public sector Indian Overseas Bank.

TVS Motor Company, Vice President — Sales (three wheelers) K Srinivasan exchanged documents with Pandyan Grama Bank, Chairman, Xavier Tilakraj on the occasion, a company statement said.

“The initiative would provide retail finance options to customers who wish to purchase TVS King. The MoU is tailor made to provide maximum benefits to customers,” Srinivasan said.

TVS Motor Company retails TVS King in LPG, CNG and Petrol variants, the statement said.

Though the total sales of TVS Motor Company, in December 2012 dipped by 8.33 per cent to 1,56,221 units against 1,70,428 units, the company, witnessed a 77.8 per cent jump on sales of three-wheelers clocking 4,486 units in December, 2012 against 2,523 in the same month of previous year.

Auto sales wrap up a tough year on a low note

Year-end discounts and freebies did not work wonders for carmakers as demand remained weak in December,signaling that things will continue to remain difficult in the new year as well.

According to sales numbers released by car companies,December remained sluggish and numbers were hard to come by despite extra efforts thrown in by companies to lure buyers.The despondency on economic growth front,coupled with high petrol prices and dearer EMIs,has seen the Indian car market slow down massively in 2012,keeping buyers away from showrooms.

While top carmaker Maruti did not release its numbers for the previous month as it is shut for maintenance,the performance of others was not something to talk much about.Hyundai,the second-biggest passenger vehicle maker,saw a decline of 10% in its volumes at 26,697 units against 29,516 units in December 2011.Also witnessing a fall in volumes (year-on-year ) in December were Toyota and General Motors.

Mahindra 2 Wheelers launches 'intelligent' motorcycles

Mahindra 2 Wheelers, part of the Mumbai-based Mahindra Group, kicked off the new year with a re-entry into the motorcycle segment by unveiling two indigenously developed bikes.

Powered by a 110cc engine, Mahindra 2 Wheelers showcased the all-new Centuro and Pantero bikes, which are designed to compete with market leader Hero Splendor, Honda Dream Yuga and Bajaj Discover.
Mahindra 2 Wheelers, which was formed after the Mahindra Group took over the assets of the Pune-based Kinetic Motors in 2008-09, had been struggling to get a foothold in the two-wheeler space, dominated by Hero MotoCorp, Honda and Bajaj Auto.

It was forced to withdraw the Stallio, its first motorcycle launched in 2010, from the market following weak consumer demand and teething technical problems. With the launch of the new motorcycles, Mahindra hopes to start afresh in this segment, which is presently facing demand uncertainty.

Anoop Mathur, president-two wheeler sector, Mahindra and Mahindra, said: "We have invested a total of Rs 100 crore in our research and development facility where we have 200 engineers working on various projects. The two products will hit the market shortly."

The Pantero is a revamped version of the Stallio, which was supposed to be launched in December 2011. However, the company delayed its launch and diverted its focus to scooters as it now has five products in this category. The Pantero will be commercially launched in two weeks.

M&M aims to launch the Centuro next month. However, pricing of the two bikes will be disclosed at the time of commercial launch, said company executives. The two launches will be followed by the launch of the 300cc performance bike Mojo in March and two new scooters next financial year.

TVS Motor inks MoU with bank

Automobile major TVS Motor Company has inked a memorandum of understanding with Pandyan Grama Bank to offer finance scheme for retailing its TVS King range of autorickshaws.

Yamaha appoints India deputy MD

Japanese two-wheeler giant Yamaha today announced to appoint the Managing Director of its Vietnamese operations Masaki Asano as the Deputy Managing Director of India Yamaha Motor.

"India Yamaha Motor today formally announced Masaki Asano's appointment as the Deputy Managing Director of the company," the Indian subsidiary said in a statement.