Engine maker Cooper Corporation plans LCVs

The company is in a wait-and-watch mode to see if the market for commercial vehicles in the country picks up before it launches its new range

Maharashtra-based engine and engine components maker Cooper Corporation private limited (CCPL) is mulling to enter into the light-commercial vehicles (LCV) segment with its four-wheeler and six wheeler offerings in the range of 1.5 to 3.5 tonnes. While the prototype is ready, the company, however, is in a wait-and-watch mode to see if the market for commercial vehicles in the country picks up before it launches its new range.

Rajesh S Walke, general manager, engine business, Cooper Corporation said that the company had three prototypes ready ranging between 1.5 to 3.5 tonnes that are four-wheeler and six wheeler LCVs. "However, the market conditions are not right at the moment, therefore, we are waiting for the appropriate time to launch the vehicles," he added.

Walke further explained that while CCPL has developed Euro IV compliant vehicles keeping in mind the long term prospects, most of the demand at the moment is for BSIII vehicles, which can be bought in any city apart from the 17 listed cities where BSIV is mandatory. "By 2017, Euro IV norms would be in place for the entire country, and the demand for these vehicles would shoot up manifold," he said.

CCPL runs a engine and engine components manufacturing plant at Satara near Pune, and has also bought an brownfield site (around 125 acres) nearby. The LCVs would be manufactured at this new site, which would require investments close to Rs 400 crore. Walke, however, claimed that it would take around six months time to launch the vehicles once the company decides to go ahead with it.

Meanwhile, CCPL is busy supplying engine components to all the major engine makers in the country, and even overseas. Its clientele includes the likes of Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Harley Davidson, among others, Walke claimed. It has recently launched CPCB II (Central Pollution Control Board) compliant Eco Pack gensets and plans to set up assembly units across the country to cater to the volumes. CPCB norms refer to emission norms for engines related to genset applications.

The first such assembly unit is likely to come up in Gujarat. "We had sold around 110 gensets in Gujarat last year, and within a year's time we see volumes touching around 300 here. Once we reach the critical volumes, we plan to set up an assembly plant here preferably with a local partner," Walke said. The plant would entail an investment of around Rs 10 crore. While the engines would be made at the mother plant at Satara, it would be fitted with alternators and certain other components at the assembly sites.