Espresso: Mercedes-Benz unveils Marketplace in India

Mercedes-Benz ‘Marketplace’ goes live

Mercedes-Benz has started a ‘direct customer-to-customer’ selling platform called ‘Marketplace’.

Buyers of a pre-owned Mercedes-Benz can choose from and even upgrade from a range of cars, certified by the luxury carmaker. Its franchise partners can also scale-up their pre-owned business on Marketplace.

“We want to create an enhanced luxury experience for luxury aspirants who wish to upgrade to a Mercedes-Benz,” said Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, in a press statement.

“Marketplace’s direct customer-to-customer model will provide discerning sellers and buyers the most transparent, hassle-free and convenient platform to sell existing cars and upgrade,” he added.

Numaligarh Refinery begins ‘digital twin’ project

Numaligarh Refinery (NRL), an oil refinery in Assam, will create a ‘digital twin’ of its operations and refinery project execution.

A digital twin is a computer program that uses operational data to create simulations and predicts how a product or process will perform. Such projects integrate IoT (internet of things), artificial intelligence, and software analytics.

NRL will use the digital twin to triple its production capacity to 9 MMTPA (million metric tonne per annum). The technology project will be carried out by Hexagon Solutions PPM (Process, Power and Marine) unit.

India’s retail inflation eases

India’s retail inflation eased in July to 5.59 percent, down 67 basis points sequentially, according to data released from the National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures the average change in retail prices over time for a basket of goods, was 6.26 percent in June 2021. The food inflation, measured as Consumer Food Price Index, fell to 3.96 percent from 5.42 percent in June.

These figures are factored in by the Reserve Bank of India while deciding the interest rates in its bimonthly policy.

Pepsico logs into Grameen eStore

Beverages company Pepsico will work with common service centres (CSC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), to list its food products on Grameen eStore platform.

After a pilot project in Uttar Pradesh, the FMCG giant will enlist its snacking brands, Lay’s, Kurkure, and Uncle Chipps, on the Grameen eStore in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand. The products will be made available through 20,000 village-level entrepreneurs, and 489 distributor village-level entrepreneurs.

Tesla must ramp up local operations: Report

The Indian government wants electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla to step up local procurement in India, according to a report from news outlet Bloomberg.

According to the Bloomberg report, which quotes an anonymous person with knowledge of the matter, India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise, and Ministry of Finance, have asked Tesla for details of its manufacturing plans.

The government ministries have also asked Tesla to consider importing partially-built EVs—for which it can pay lower tax—instead of fully-built EVs.

In July, Tesla had requested the Indian government to lower the import duty on its EVs to 40 percent from the present 60-100 percent. It had also asked the government to remove the 10 percent social welfare surcharge, which is levied on all imported cars in India.

Tech Mahindra’s hybrid cloud tie-up

Tech Mahindra has expanded its collaboration with Microsoft to strengthen its hybrid cloud capabilities.

The integrated offering will help Tech Mahindra maximise value from enterprises’ on-premise investments, while maintaining business continuity, securing resources, and unlocking new business scenarios.

The partnership entails Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, a new hyper-converged infrastructure. This solution accelerates hybrid cloud transformation, consolidates virtualized workloads and builds enterprise resilience.

“The announcement strengthens our relationship with Microsoft, aimed at empowering organisations with advanced hybrid cloud capabilities,” said Vivek Gupta, Head - Global Cloud Services, Tech Mahindra.