KOCHI, Jan 23:
Isuzu Motors India was targeting to sell 5,000 units of SUVs a year in India in the next two years and by 2015-16, the Japanese automobile maker was eyeing sales of 50,000 units a year,a top company official said here today.
Launching its Sports Utility Vehicle MU-7 in Kerala, Takashi Kikuchi, President and Managing Director, Isuzu Motors India told reporters the company aims to sell 5,000 units a year in India in the next two years.
By 2016 when its own plant is commissioned, production would touch 50,000 units a year, he said.
Isuzu has a contract manufacturing agreement with Hindustan Motors (HML) under which HML assembles CKD kits of Isuzu’s sports utility vehicle MUV-7 and pick-up-truck D-Max at its Thiruvallur plant in Chennai.
The company’s manufacturing plant in Hyderabad, being set up at Rs 3000 crore investment,is likely to be operational by 2015-16, the expected capacity of which will be one lakh to 1.2 lakh units when fully operational, Kikuchi said.
“After 2016, we will increase localisation content by 100 per cent as Indian components are very price competitive,” he said.
The company at present has four showrooms — Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai and Kochi — and it will be increased to 10 with dealerships at Bangalore, Vishakapatnam, Tirupati and Maduari by the middle of this year, he said. The company plans to open 60 outlets across India by 2015-16.
The company is focussing on the southern states as in future there is a need to have a collaboration between their plant in Thailand and the Indian plant, he said.
Isuzu currently sells two vehicles in India — the MU-7 and pick up truck D-Max.
Bookings for MU-7, priced at Rs 22.93 lakh – BS4 variant and Rs 22.63 lakh BS3 variant (ex-showroom, Kochi) will start here from today, said Shigeru Wakabayashi, company’s Deputy Managing Director.
Pointing out that Kerala has a substantial population with global exposure, he said Isuzu was bringing the same international quality vehicles in India.
Tokyo-headquartered Isuzu Motors Ltd is a global manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, commercial vehicles, utility vehicles and diesel engines. With operations in 25 countries and vehicles sold in over 100 countries, the company is a leader in pickups and pickup based derivatives in many markets worldwide, along with leadership in LCVs.
It manufacturers and sells close to six lakh units annually across the world. (PTI)
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