The Off-road Adventure Series – Chikmagalur (09-07-2011)

“Are you ready to get lost???” were the first words muttered by Bijoy Kumar, the head of Mahindra’s Adventure Initiatives while briefing the participants of the legendary Great Escape which is known to be the big daddy of off road adventures. The event took off from The Golf Club with the intent of capturing the toughest terrains with the wackiest routes. The plan was to sail away through the muddiest paths and seek the 4x4 expertise. But, the monsoon was on the opposite side. This year the rain god’s were annoyed and it hadn't showered since a week! Hence, most of the journey was dry except some portions where we could find some slimy paths to test.

The Chikmagalur event received an overwhelming response from offroading enthusiasts, leaving everyone asking for more. This edition of the Mahindra Great Escape was conducted in association with JK Tyres, Bosch and Servo Lubricants (Indian Oil). The rally was flagged off at 10:00 am from Chikmagalur Golf Club, Chikmagalur. Iconic Mahindra SUVs such as the Scorpio, Thar, Bolero, Getaway, Legend, Major and Classic negotiated an arduous route of over 70 km. But the centers of attraction were the Thar’s which had participated in humongous numbers

While there were many winching points in the whole trail, it was seldom utilized except in one or two cases. The convoy had to pass through the serenest coffee estates, cover the most beautiful lakes and the narrowest paths of Chikmagalur. . It had over 75 vehicles from the Mahindra stable maneuvering the challenging route. The 70 km trail took almost 4-5 hrs to cover –mostly due to regular stops at frequent intervals. The lunch and refreshments were later arranged at the Golf Club.

The USP of the event were the 4WD vehicles of the participants. It was also a forum to just display the enigma and pride of owning one. These beauties were majorly MM540’s & CL series (modified). It also stood as an excellent platform to promote the new baby – THAR. It stormed the event with amazing attendance.  

Through the years, the Great Escape has acquired a reputation as one of India’s premier off-roading events with each edition seeing eager participation from die-hard Mahindra fans and customers alike. From the hills of Coorg and the tea estates of Munnar to the undulating sand dunes of Mandawa in Rajasthan, the Great Escape has blazed a unique trail across the length and breadth of India. This year the number of events is scheduled to double to 20 from 10 as of last year.  It has already completed 2 events – one at Shahpur and the other at Chikmagalur. The rest are 19 are to be held all across India right from Goa to Kohima. One can further track its calendar at http://www.mahindraadventure.com/index.aspx.

First initiated in 1996, the Mahindra Great Escapes have evolved into spectacular weekend events. The routes are meticulously chosen to ensure excitement without compromising on safety. All through the route, there are rescue vehicles to help those in need. In addition, there are experts along the route who are ready to guide the drivers through difficult terrain that may require skilful driving.

The event ended with an adventurous note and also left the masses waiting for the upcoming Save the Yak expedition, New Year Escape and more…

Eight Simple Ways to Plan your Taxes

You have got only a few more months to complete this financial year. Very soon you will get a call from your company to submit the proofs for tax saving investments. So why don’t you spend some time on organising your tax plan?

1) Proper Allocation of Annual compensation

Restructuring your salary with some additional components can reduce your tax liability. This restructuring doesn’t require any additional cash outflow. The following components can be efficiently used to reduce your income tax liability.

• a> Transport allowance to the extend of Rs.800 is exempt
• b> Medical expenses which are reimbursed by the employer are exempt to the tune of Rs.15000
• c> Food coupons like sodexo or ticket restaurant are exempt from tax up to Rs.60000
• d> Individuals who are all living in a rented accommodation can include House Rent Allowance ( HRA ) as a part of their salary
• e> Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) can be part of your salary as this can be claimed twice in a block of 4 years.

2) Effective Utilization of Tax Exemption

As far as possible utilize the maximum exemptions available under section 80 C, 80 CCF and 80 D. The maximum exemption available under section 80 C is Rs. 100000.

Under this section Rs.100000 investment or contribution can be made in PPF, NSC, Life insurance premium, 5 year FD with banks and Post offices, Mutual Fund ELSS, Principal Repayment of housing loan, and the tuition fees paid for children’s education.

Under Section 80 CCF, you can invest up to Rs.20000 in infrastructure bonds.

Under Sec 80 D, the premium paid towards the mediclaim policies are exempt. The maximum limit of exemption is Rs.15000 and for senior citizens the limit is Rs.20000 and for covering senior citizen parents there is an additional exemption to the extend of Rs.15000.

3) Properly Structure your Housing Loan

The Principal repayment of a housing loan is eligible for a deduction up to Rs.100000. The interest paid on a housing loan is eligible for a deduction up to Rs.150000. If the housing loan is for a sizeable amount, then it is possible that the principal repayment and interest may exceed the specified tax exemption limit. To utilise the maximum tax benefit, an individual can consider going for a joint home loan with his/her spouse or parent or sibling. This will make sure that both the co-owners can claim tax deductions in the proportion of their holding in the loan. 

4) Tax Plan in Sync with Overall Financial Plan

You should not do your tax plan in isolation. You need to do it in sync with your overall financial plan. So a tax plan is not only to just save taxes and also it should assist you in achieving your other financial goals like children’s higher education, buying a home or retirement.

5) Avoid Last Minute Rush

In fact the right time to do the tax plan is the beginning of the financial year. If you postpone your tax planning even now and do it in the last minute, then you will not be able to choose the right investment. In the last minute rush, you will be forced to choose a scheme which gives the proof immediately. Is the investment sound and profitable? Is there any other better options? You will not be able to choose the best scheme and you may settle with a mediocre one.

6) Invest Some Quality Time

Before investing your money, you need to invest your time. You need to take some quality time to understand the various tax saving options and compare their benefits and limitations.

7) Check for Future Commitments

Some tax saving options like NSC or ELSS need only onetime investment. Some other tax saving options like PPF, Ulips need periodical investments year after year. You need to be careful in choosing a tax saving scheme where you need to commit for periodical future payments. You need to check on a few things like; do you need such a future commitment? Will you be able to meet the future commitments at ease? The law may change and you may not get any tax exemption for your future payments. Would you consider the scheme irrespective of tax benefit for the future payments?

8) Changed Your Job; Redo your Tax Plan

Did you switch your job in the middle of the financial year? Then you need to redo your tax plan with consolidating the income from both the companies. It is advisable to inform the new company about the income during the particular financial year from the old company. So that your new company will deduct the right amount of TDS. Otherwise you may need to pay extra tax at the end of the financial year.

Whenever you change your job, you need to have a sitting with your financial planner or tax advisor. So that the required changes in your tax plan can be done proactively.

With proper tax planning you can reduce your tax liability; save more; invest better and become wealthier.

(The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.)

An unique pick-up truck with a double cabin - Genio DC

Have you ever imagined a pick-up truck with car like interiors and with features like Air-conditioner, 2 din music system on Indian roads? If yes, then the answer is Genio DC - the next generation pick up truck which promises to create a newer style conscious commercial market for itself. The days are over when small business owners would rely on their utility based, sluggish looking vehicle which are mostly driven by paid drivers. Genio DC will up the aspirational feel in the segment and give a world class product in utterly competitive price.  

 

Mahindra and Mahindra rolled out the two cabin pick up - 'Genio' on Wednesday, 6 June 2011. The earlier version of the commercial vehicle was a single cabin pick up which could accommodate the driver, a co-passenger and their cargo. The latest would have two passenger rows and a cargo space - double cabin pick up. Pick-up trucks such as these are hugely popular in Thailand and Europe. And judging by the growth in the retail and infrastructure industry here, we know this will be a ready market in India," Vivek Nayer, Senior VP, Marketing for the automotive division said. 

The other pick up on similar lines is Bolero double cabin but the company is sure that there would be no cannibalization. This despite there is only a difference of Rs 38,000 between the Genio and the Bolero double cabin pick up. The base variant of the new car is at priced at Rs 5.46 lakh while the higher variant which comes with more fittings is at Rs 5.95 lakh. " Although this will be an international class product compared to the Bolero there will be takers for both varieties," Nayer said.

Mahindra foresees a huge potential in the style & feature conscious commercial pick-up market. The company is all set to give birth to a new trend in the industry and is expecting to reap the first movers advantage. The current moves also displays the company's intent for expansion in the pick up segment and also maintain the dominant 75% market share they have in a segment that industry watchers say is being eyed by General Motors and Volkswagen.

Real Estate Investments Made Simple

Gold and Real estate are very traditional investment avenues. Gold has evolved from its traditional investing and found its place in the modern sophisticated investment world via Gold ETFs. Similarly Real estate is also emerging as an investor friendly avenue with less hassle via PMS route or private equity route. Have you ever thought of investing in real estate will one day be as simple as investing in mutual funds? If no please read on….

Real Estate as an Investment:

Buying a dream house or flat to reside ourselves is basically not a real estate investment. Buying real estate with a view to generate income and capital appreciation is considered as Real Estate investments.  Real Estate investments can be further classified into residential, farm house, commercial, retail, leisure. Leisure is a relaxation place where one can spend their free time or vacation.

Depends upon his/her risk tolerance and time horizon one can invest in real estate at different risk levels. It can be at the time of converting a rural land to urban land, or at the time of building development stage or in already developed city area.

Real Estate and Risk:

Most often investors assume real estate prices will not fall down and they only go up year after year. It is not so.  During the mid 2009 some of the real estate investments were quoting below 30% to 40% from their 2007 prices. Real Estate investments are also prone for price fluctuations.

Real estate Vs Stock market:

Real Estate is a complex and complicated investment when compared to stock market.

Non-transparent: There is no transparency in the price. It is not easy for a buyer or seller of real estate to identify the last transacted price in the same locality. There is no price discovery mechanism.

Illiquid Asset: Selling a real estate is a time consuming process. It is not liquidable easily. There is no organized market for the buyers and sellers to meet.

Impact Cost: Stamp duty and registration charges are really very heavy when compared to the other investment products.

No Regulator: There is no regulator for the real estate participants and intermediaries. Anyone can become a builder. Technical qualification is not mandatory. Also anyone can become a real estate intermediary or advisor. There is no certification or training to be completed before practicing.  As there is no qualification requirement for participants as well as the intermediaries, it is very difficult to see best business practices.

Real Estate hassles:

The other hassles with reference to real estate investment are documentation, maintaining the asset without any encumbrances, and genuineness of the title deed.

There are some practical problems with diversification. Normally an investor invests in a real estate in his own locality. It is very rare to find someone in Chennai investing in the real estate properties located at Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata.  Affordability also limits diversification. An investor may not be able to diversify his investments across various cities with Rs.25 lacs or 50 lacs.

It may not be possible for an individual investor to buy a land and develop a viable project in that land and sell it in the market. Managing the project development need some kind of expertise.  Even if an individual is able to do it, he will be doing it in his limited ways and means.

Is there a solution for this? Of late yes.

There are some collective investment vehicles. These investment vehicles will be promoted by an investment management company. The investment management companies collect money from investors. Being professionals, they will identify good projects and do joint venture with the project developers. They will be able to diversify across various cities as well as various types of real estate investments such as housing, commercial, hospitality and the like. These investment management companies charge a reasonable management fees.

At times they collect money via PMS route and at times via private equity route.  The minimum investment ranges from 10 lacs to 25 lacs. This amount needs to be invested over a period of 3 years. That is they will collect money from investors in 4 or 5 installments. After 3^rd year whenever they exit from a project they will repay the principal employed in the project as well as the profit generated out of that project. End of 6^th year or 7^th year, the investment management company will exit from all the projects.

The advantages of this collective investment vehicle are

·      One can invest into real estate without any hassles. All the hassles will be managed by the professional investment management companies.

·      One can invest in various real estate projects at a time.

·      One can geographically diversify his investments across India.

·   One will be able to apportion his total investment into small sums in large projects like township development, Technology Park, industrial estate, health city…

·      Cost advantage because of economies of large scale operation

This is really an investor friendly investment vehicle. Apart from the regular stocks, mutual funds and fixed deposit investments investors can consider investing in these real estate products also. This will give better diversification to your overall portfolio. Also Investors need to be careful in choosing such investment options. Background of the investment management company and their transparency levels are more important. Investors can seek the advice of the professional financial planners before investing.

This investment vehicle is in its primitive form only. It still needs to go a long way. As of now there are only a very few companies in India which specializes in promoting collective real estate investment products. But in a few years time these kinds of products will be available from various investment management companies and in different varieties like our present mutual fund schemes.

(The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.)

Indian Car Sales Figures - June 2011

source: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/103822-june-2011-indian-car-sales-figures.html

Snapshot - Indian Auto Industry Performance, June 2011

Highlights:

*The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported an 8.8% decline in total sales to 80,298 units in June from 88,091 units in the same month last year. It also reported a 3.8% decline in sales in the domestic market to 70,020 units from 72,812 units in June 2010. Exports also declined by 32.7% to 10,278 units from 15,279 units in the year-ago period.
*Tata Motors reported a marginal 0.7% decline in total sales in June 2011 to 66,358 units  from 66,824 in the same month last year. The firm's total passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market stood at 21,993 units in June, a fall of 20.92% from 27,811 units in June 2010.
*Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 94.72% jump in its sales at 12,034 units during June'11. The company had sold 6,180 units in the corresponding month last year. During the month the company sold 5,002 units of mid sized sedan Etios, 737 units of its latest small car Liva, 629 units of premium sedan Corolla Altis, 4,665 units of multi- purpose vehicle Innova, 990 units of SUV Fortuner, 9 units of luxury sedan Camry and 2 units of hybrid car Prius.
*Volkswagen India reported 166% increase in sales during June at 5,397 units as against 2,032 units in the same month last year. The compact car Polo and the sedan Vento continue to be the backbone for the brand with a total of 5,136 units sold in June 2011.

*Car maker Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) reported sales for June at 3,455 units, a decline of 24.81% over the same period last year. The company had sold 4,595 units in the corresponding month last year. The June sales comprised 2,802 units of its flagship sedan City, 361 units of hatchback Jazz, 175 units of premium sedan Civic, 103 units of luxury sedan Accord and 14 units of its sports utility vehicle CR-V.
*Auto-maker M&M reported 29.11 per cent jump in its total sales in June, 2011 at 35,584 units.
The company had sold 27,562 units in the corresponding month of 2010. Total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 16,053 units as against sales of 13,316 units in June 2010, up 20.55 per cent. Sales of the Verito sedan went up by over two-fold to 1,510 units during the month 

from 563 units in the same month a year ago.

*Ford India reported 8.44% jump in its sales for June at 9,145 units, mainly on the back of its small car Figo's numbers. The company had sold 8,433 units in the same month last year. During the month, the company delivered the 1,00,000th Figo since its launch 15 months ago. 

* Skoda Auto India today reported a 69 per cent increase in sales to 2,611 units in June this year, as against 1,639 units in the same month last year.

*The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda reported 20.12% jump in its sales for June at 5,12,244 units, over the same month last year. The company had sold 4,26,454 units in the corresponding month last year. For the April-June period of this fiscal, the company saw its highest-ever quarterly sales at 15,29,577 units compared to 12,34,039 units in the same period last financial year, up 23.95%. 

*Chennai-based TVS Motor company reported a 14% increase in total sales to 182,456 units in June, 2011, as against 1,59,688 units in the same month last year. Total two-wheeler sales grew by 14% to 178,633 units in June 2011, in comparison to 156,685 units in June 2010. During the month, total motorcycle sales grew by 5% to 69,859 units from 66,452 units in the same month last year. Scooter sales grew by 21% to 44,281 units in June 2011, from 36,742 units in June 2010. Domestic two-wheeler sales of the company grew by 11%, with sales of 155,296 units in June 2011, as against 1,39,905 units in June 2010.

*Two-wheeler maker India Yamaha Motor today reported 29.98% increase in its total sales in June at 36,595 units. The company had sold 28,155 units in the same month last year. In the domestic market, the company's sales stood at 27,263 units as against 21,157 units in the same month last year, up 28.86%.

Mahindra Thar: First TVC

First Look of the upcoming commercial of Mahindra Thar - It obviously depicts the tagline of "Thar Hates Tar!!!". The revamp of the Mahindra Classic is bound to set hearts thumping and bring back the memories of one of the oldest running Indian vehicle, also known for its ruggedness and the sporty Jeep look.
Enjoy the TVC which is going to be aired soon.