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| M&M explores CNG, passenger variants for Gio | |
| Sohini Das / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad November 03, 2009, 0:49 IST | |
After taking on the one-tonne Tata Ace as well as the three-wheeler players like Piaggio with its fourth launch this year, Mahindra & Mahindra(M&M) is all set to explore its newly launched Gio platform, a 0.5 tonne truck. The company plans to come up with passenger carrier versions as well as a CNG variant and is eying export markets in the long-run.
It has the first mover advantage in the segment that has been created with the launch of the Gio that falls in between the Tata Ace and the three-wheeler space."We have been able to offer the product at a very competitive price of Rs 1.65 lakh, merely Rs 25,000-30,000 more than a three-wheeler", said Vivek Nayer, senior vice president, marketing, automotive sector,M&M adding that the net cost of developing the product was only Rs 25 crore.
M&M has used in-house tooling technology and the engine has been developed by US-based Kohler to develop the Gio at low investments. It is now looking at leveraging this cost advantage to address the export market as well as come up with newer variants on the same platform. Nayer told Business Standard that "We will,however, focus on addressing the domestic demand first". M&M will now produce 2000 units per month at its Haridwar plant and the capacity can be easily scaled up to 3000 units per month without additional investments.
While the Gio has been developed keeping in mind intra-city transportation requirements, the passenger variant could be positioned for inter-city travel as well on lines of the Tata Magic. As of now, M&M hopes to garner market share from both the three-wheeler as well as the light commercial vehicle(LCV) space. "A Mini truck is typically priced at Rs 2.78 lakh while a three-wheeler costs around Rs 1.38 lakh.According to market surveys, in intra-city travel, the cargo capacity of a one-tonne truck is not always fully utilised and it offers a mileage of 16-18 kilometer per litre(kmpl)", Nayer claimed.
M&M is claiming to offer 32 per cent savings in operating costs comapared to a mini-truck as it offers a mileage of 27 kmpl together with an optimum sized cargo box of 500 kilogram.
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