Hindustan Motors appears to be working on a host of new product introductions.
Will stop making the LCV, launch new small CV in two months
NEW DELHI: Hindustan Motors, the Kolkata-based automobile manufacturer that has seen overall sales sliding during the first five months of this fiscal, appears to be working on a host of new product introductions to improve prospects.
Perhaps the most important of these could be the new, “small” commercial vehicle the company has developed in-house and plans to manufacture at its Uttarpara facility within the next two months.
Till now, Hindustan Motors’ presence in the LCV segment has been through the ‘RTV’, which was being manufactured at the company’s Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh) plant.
But chairman C K Birla confirmed on Friday that the firm would stop manufacturing the RTV model and instead, a new vehicle would be launched over the next 6-8 weeks.
The RTV doubled up as a goods and passenger carrier but no details were given out on when and why this product was discontinued and what will happen to the Pithampur facility. During the company’s annual general meeting held recently, Birla announced the new vehicle (which, in all probability would be an entirely new platform) and said that the homologation process for this vehicle is already on at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).
Asked about dwindling sales of the company’s flagship brand — the Ambassador — Birla acknowledged that sales have been down but sounded hopeful of the situation improving since institutional (government departments remain Ambassador’s largest buyers) interest has revived in this iconic brand. It is selling 600-700 units per month at present. Besides the Ambassador and the LCV, Hindustan Motors also sells three other SUVs — Trekker, Porter and Pushpak. All these products are manufactured at Uttarpara where the total installed capacity is 24,000 units per year.
Then, the company also has a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors via which it sells the sedans Lancer and Cedia and the SUVs Pajero and Montero. All the products under this JV are manufactured and assembled at Chennai where the total installed capacity is 12,000 units.
Hindustan Motors unveiled a cross-over SUV called Outlander on Friday, which is priced at Rs 22.02 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and is being seen as a significant launch from the Mitsubishi stable. Birla said he expects to sell about 100 Outlanders per month initially.
Meanwhile, dealers said that work has already begun to launch a completely new Lancer, on a new platform, some months down the line and the Cedia is being “continuously upgraded”.
But Birla was emphatic about there being no plans to enter the small car segment even though there have been reports of Mitsubishi looking for a partner to bring at least an electric small car through its association with Hindustan Motors.
Total sales for Hindustan Motors stood at 12,714 units in FY08 against 13,775 in the previous fiscal. For the first five months of the current fiscal, the company reported 14.4% decline at 4,659 units.
b_sindhu@dnaindia.net
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}