Isuzu Motors might continue with its contract manufacturing agreement with Hindustan Motors (HM) even after its Sri City plant in Andhra Pradesh, India starts operations in April 2016.
Shigeru Wakabayashi, Isuzu India deputy managing director, said: “We have not decided on the future of the contract manufacturing agreement but there is a possibility of utilising it to make the MU-7 and other SUVs in future. At the present moment though, the focus is on pickups for which the SriCity plant will be dedicated.”
Go deeper with GlobalData
Meanwhile, Isuzu aims to sell 2,500 units of D-Max pickup in India in fiscal year 2015-16 and 10,000 units in fiscal 2016-17, up from around 1,000 units in 2014-15, ETAuto.com reported.
“The Indian market will move towards powerful pickups as it matures and D-Max has the most powerful pickup (130 hp) with its range offering nearly twice the horsepower of its competitor (70 hp). Once the plant is in place, we will launch a major localisation drive that will make our vehicles even more cost competitive and allow us to rapidly increase market share. We will begin with 70% localisation and drive it up to 90%,” Wakabayashi said.
The company also plans to export Indian vehicles to west Asia and Africa.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
