Moneycontrol India reports:
…Daelim, [LML’s] South Korean partner, might buy into the Lucknow-based company. Sources say talks between the two companies have been on for about four months now.
LML management had no comment.
Category: India
Kinetic Blazes in India, U.S. waits
While you’re waiting for 2sb’s Genuine Blur review (3/4 finished! it’s epic!), The Hindu Business Line is drooling all over the Kinetic Blaze, the Indian version of the Italjet Millennium. Still no clues towards a U.S. importer, despite Kinetic’s claims the Velocifero would be here by the end of the year.
Blaze in Japan, Blasé in U.S.
After the initial (positive) response to the Kinetic Blaze in the Indian press, and reports in May that Kinetic’s version of the Italjet Velocifero would (“soon”) be coming (exclusively) to America, Kinetic has been pretty quiet. Now they’ve announced the Blaze is going to be exported to Japan, but still no official word on Velociferos or America, not to mention the one word we all want to hear: “Dragster.”
Two Stella/LML rumors:
An unregistered user “Dr. Sparks” claimed yesterday on the ScooterBBS that he’d heard that a british concern was trying to buy the Star/Stella tooling from LML, not with the intention of producing the bikes, but simply to prevent its destruction. Today a rumor is circulating that LML distributors have been contacted by LML and notified that the Star would no longer be produced. Both these rumors are thirdhand and unsubstantiated, and it’s unclear whether LML’s recent financial shuffling signals a plan to reorganize or a final cash-in to pay creditors. 2SB rarely posts rumors, but it sounds like we can expect big news about LML soon.
LML does something involving money
Two-wheeler manufacturer LML Ltd said on Thursday that it has allotted about 27 lakh equity shares to Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana upon conversion of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs). At the meeting held today the Financial Restructuring Committee of Directors allotted shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 21.10 per share upon FCCB conversion, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.The shares were allotted upon conversion of 2000 FCCBs Series B of 1,000 dollars each aggregating to $2 million, LML added.
So make of that what you will.
The Bajaj family really needs a blog
On the heels of last week’s Rajiv Bajaj interview in the Business Standard, The Times of India asks Rahul Bajaj to contemplate his spirituality. Next week: Sanjiv Bajaj’s favorite Bollywood films!
Business Standard interviews Rajiv Bajaj
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, talks to the Business Standard about his plans for the company, which include a big push in Mexico, cooperation with Kawasaki, and breaking the 200cc barrier. Rajiv practices yoga, runs the company “holistically,” and drools over new technology, yet we sort of miss his Harvard-Business-School, sentimental, right-wing dad Rahul Bajaj (and the Bajaj Chetak).
Lambretta outsourcing?
The Indian Financial Express reports on the woeful state of vocational education in Punjab:
The curriculum, for instance, has not been updated since it was introduced. In the motor mechanic’s course, students are still being taught about the components of the Lambretta scooter, whose production was stopped over a decade ago.
There are few skills more useful in life than Lambretta repair, send some of those guys over to the United States.
LML to remain shuttered through 2006
LML employees continued their protests last week, going to the district magistrate’s office to chastize the government for their lack of involvement. The Indian government has been publicly supportive of the workers, but has done little to end the lockout or secure promised payments. Monday, at a meeting between Indian labor officials, LML managment, and the union, an LML official aanounced that there was no chance the factory would resume production within the next six months. No agreement was reached as workers continued to demand payments (few workers have been paid since January 2006) and more effective government intervention. It’s now very safe to say 2006 Stellas are out of the question.
Citicorp Finance invests in Kinetic
India’s TV18 reports Citicorp Finance is buying a 10% stake in Kinetic Motors. The interview with Kinetic Managing Director Sulajja Motwani doesn’t reveal much about their plans, but she says Citicorp’s investment covers their needs for the development of Italjet and SYM models over the next couple years. The hopes of Italjet Dragster fans everywhere are in your hands, Ms. Motwani.
“LML failed to get any number”
The Islamic Republic News Agency confirmed today what we’ve suspected all spring: Neither LML nor Bajaj exported a single motorscooter in the first quarter of 2006. Bajaj, of course, has been focusing on motorcycles and three-wheelers, and doing rather well on those fronts, but LML’s labor issues have brought their production to a total standstill. While some compromises and investments have been made in recent weeks, there is no indication that LML is, or will soon be, back on line.
Rahul Bajaj elected to Rajya Sabha
Patriarch of the Bajaj family and former Bajaj Auto president, Rahul Bajaj was elected to the Rajya Sabha (Indian Congress) today, taking a seat left empty when Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan was killed in a family dispute (Bajaj’s own recent family disputes were settled only slightly more discreetly). He had the support of several parties and won with 195 of 288 votes (with three abstaining). Bajaj is well-known as opposing “reservations,” an Indian-government plan to expand hiring and education admission quotas to include more lower-caste Indian citizens. Students and middle-class workers have taken to the streets recently to protest the quotas in recent weeks.
Air-Powered Scooter?
Keeping the India theme going, the super-reliable-and-in-depth Indian press is reporting on a dude that has wowed his rural neighbors with an air-powered scooter. If the international media doesn’t jump on this story in the next couple days, we can surely blame the oil cartel.
Rahul Bajaj backed for Indian government seat.
DNA – India reports that Rajul Bajaj has been backed by a coalition of parties for a vacant seat on the Rajya Sabha, the upper legislative house of the Indian government (roughly parallel to the U.S. Senate). Rahul Bajaj is the grandson of Jamnalal Bajaj, a close friend of Ghandi who was active in the fight for Indian independence. Jamnalal Bajaj founded the Bajaj group of companies in the ’30s. Rahul Bajaj became CEO of Bajaj in 1968, passing the title to his son Rajiv in April 2004. Rahul was ranked the 20th richest person in India in 2005, even after the Bajaj empire was split between Rahul and his brother Shishir Bajaj.
India and Italy, true love always
The Economic Times reminds us that the Kinetic/Italjet deal is certainly not the first collaboration between Italian and Indian corporations. As we all know LML, Bajaj, SIL and others have made Italian scooters in the past, and just as Italy helped fuel India’s original manufacturing boom, a new wave of Italian cooperation is fueling the current Indian boom.
Continue reading “India and Italy, true love always”