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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
LPG and CNG variants.
Says Mr. Chopra: “We have initi-
ated development of a new product
with 200cc engine. Next month the
engine will be available and we will
start our trials soon. Subsequently,
the alternate fuel vehicles will also
be available.”
The addition of alternate vehicle
variants will be a big boost for the
company and would give it a share
of the highly potential market for
petrol, LPG and CNG variants of
passenger vehicles currently esti-
mated at 150,000 units per annum.
The new vehicle will be compact,
fuel-efficient and cost effective, and
will be an ideal choice for operation
within cities. Apart from catering
to the requirements of the domestic
market, the new vehicle will also be
offered in overseas markets like Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria,
Tanzania and Egypt. One key factor
behind the success of the new prod-
uct is the fact that in many countries
there is little difference between die-
sel and petrol price, whereas in India
a diesel vehicle is more expensive
than a petrol vehicle. Keeping this
in mind, the future of Piaggio could
very well be in the petrol, LPG and
CNG variants.
In the four-wheeler segment too,
the company is working on a new
product platform to take advantage
of the rapid growth in the SCV seg-
ment in the country.
Piaggio is currently capable
of manufacturing 300,000 three-
wheelers and 80,000 four-wheelers
per annum at its Baramati plant. The
new engine plant which was recent-
ly opened is a state-of-the-art facil-
ity with a capacity to manufacture
50,000 diesel engines annually. The
facility is also configured to make
50,000 petrol engines.
At present, Piaggio has pan-India
presence with its 275 dealers and
over 450 service outlets. A region-
wise market report shows that the
acceptance of Piaggio vehicles is
very high in south India, with almost
40 per cent of the company’s sales
in terms of volume accounted for
by Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The
company is now keen to increase its
market share in other regions too.
With the expected introduction of
new variants in the three-wheeler
passenger segment and a completely
new platform under development in
the four-wheeler segment, Piaggio
is gearing up to take on competi-
tion. Considering the success of
the company’s products, especially
three-wheelers, it will be very inter-
esting to see how the new products
perform in the highly competitive
and rapidly growing three- and four-
wheeler markets.
w
vehicle zone (cover story)
“We realise that the future of
commercial vehicles is in the
small commercial vehicle seg-
ment (one tonne and below)
with the market growing at
close to 15 per cent per annum.
In the next one-and-a-half to
two years, we will have a new
platform through which we will
be able to strongly position
ourselves in the four-wheeler
market”
– Mr. Ravi Chopra