Group A3- League of Shadows- Source- Economic Times

Dhoni to Sell Health Drink, Energy bars

  -Vivekraj Nair

·         Rhiti Sports, a firm closely associated with Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is venturing in to health food segment in partnership with Pune based Emcure pharmaceuticals.

·         Rhiti Sports has signed a 50:50 JV agreement with Emcure’s Uth healthcare to make and sell energy bars, protein bars, protein biscuits & flavoured milk under different brand names.

·         “Dhoni will be the face of these products” as per MD of Rhiti Sports Arun Pandey.

·         Uth Healthcare will transfer its existing nutrition products business – two year old Uth Beverage factory (UBF) to the venture.

·         UBF already sells nutrition supplements and protein powder under the name Six Pack.

·         Research & consulting firm Technopak estimates that health foods market is growing with CAGR of 20% and will reach Rs.22,500 crore by 2015.

·         Dhoni is one of the expensive sportspersons in the world known to charge Rs 8-12 crore per endorsement.

·         He endorses more than 20 brands, popular one’s like Pepsi, Aircel and Boost etc.

·         He also ventured into businesses such as gym chain SportsFit and Mahi Superbike championship team through JV with Rhiti Sports.

·         Emcure Pharmaceuticals set up in 1983 is a midsized maker of tablet, capsules and injectables with 9 factories in US, Middle east, Latin America and Africa.

Volkswagen's Audi unit clocks up record year in 2012

Nikhil Narayanan

·         German carmaker Audi, the top-of-the-range subsidiary of European auto giant Volkswagen, said Tuesday it booked record sales in 2012 and hopes to achieve further growth this year.

·         Audi said in a statement that it sold a record 1.455 million cars worldwide last year, 11.7% more than in 2011.

·         That meant revenues increased by 10.6 % to 48.78 billion euros ($63.4 billion) and operating profit edged up by 0.6 % to 5.38 billion euros, both new records, Audi said.

·         "Despite tangible fallout from the debt crisis in a number of countries and a shrinking overall market in Europe, we achieved record levels of output, deliveries, revenues and earnings," the carmaker boasted.

·         "2012 was a very successful year for us. We surpassed all our goals and with Ducati added a very attractive premium brand to our brand portfolio," said chief executive Rupert Stadler.

·         But while operating profit rose, pre-tax profit declined by 1.4 % to 5.956 billion euros due to increased distribution and marketing costs.

·         According to Stadler Audi aims to grow further in 2013 as well and the group is pencilling in "a slight increase in sales revenues,"

·         "Profits will benefit from the targeted increase in unit sales, as well as the ongoing measures to boost productivity and efficiency," Stadler added.

Low-cost tablet makers like Micromax, HCL, Datawind get half their sales from small towns

-Divya Gupta

·         Low-cost tablet makers like Micromax, HCL Infosystems, Zync, Karbonn, Datawind among others have found a booming market in tier-II and III cities across the country that now accounts for more than half their sales.

·         Our largest consumers are from non-urban markets. We have been shipping tablets to interiors of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala from Delhi since March last year," says Anuj Garg, technical director atZync Global that makes Zync brand of tablets.”

·         The company has been selling around 20,000 tablets a month in UP, 8,000 in Punjab & Haryana and 6,000-7,000 tablets a month in Jharkhand. 

·         Sanket, a Lucknow-based distributor of tablets and smart phones, said that a large number of consumers coming to them to buy smart phones often end up buying tablets when they realise the utility and novelty of the product.

·         Karbonn Mobliles executive director Sashin Devsare is targeting the same consumer group for launching its 2G and 3G voice tablets that will be priced under Rs 10,000.

·         HCL Infosystems' global head for mobility business unit Gautam Advani said that tier-II and III towns, that make up for roughly half its sales, would continue to be important contributors going ahead. But the tablet makers would have to differentiate themselves quickly if they want to maintain the kind of following they enjoy now.

Tata Motors February global sales fall 22%, JLR sales up 10%

-Pratik Jagtap

·         Jaguar Land Rover sales stood at 35,485 vehicles, Tata Motors said in a statement on Wednesday, up from 32,257 in the same month last year.

·         Sales of Tata passenger vehicles stood at 11,177 during the month, down almost 70 per cent. Tata, part of the salt-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate, said it sold 52,175 commercial vehicles in February, down an annual 9.8 per cent.

·         "After losing its market share considerably, the company has been focussing on liquidating its inventory and producing in line with demand. The situation in the market place is very dynamic. Nobody wants to face either of the two ends," a person close to the situation told to ET.

·         This is Tata Motors' lowest sales in a decade.