First Sonalika passenger car in two years

Even as Europe's second-largest carmaker, Peugeot Citreon, is firming up plans to launch a mid-sized sedan in the Indian market, automobile and agri machinery manufacturer Sonalika Group is gearing up to introduce its first passenger car on Indian roads in the next financial year.

Sonalika Group, largely known for the tractors it manufactures under the same brand name, has tied up with Italian design house Pininfarina to develop a luxury sedan for the Indian market.

L D Mittal, chairman, Sonalika Group, said, “Our first passenger car would be introduced in India in one and a half years. Two other passenger vehicles would follow in another two years. We are exploring the options to market the cars in collaboration with a foreign partner and sell the products under a joint brand name.” The car would have all the features that a high-end sedan that costs around Rs 30 lakh has, but would be available at half of the cost.

The other passenger vehicles—a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and a mid-sized sedan—would follow in about four years. All the three vehicles would be available in a diesel option, and would be powered by a two-litre diesel engine manufactured by Sonalika. The SUV and the smaller sedan are likely to be priced between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.

“We have earmarked an investment of Rs 500 crore over the next two years to develop the cars and to expand capacity for manufacturing the products”, Mittal said. The passenger cars would be rolled out from Sonalika's facility in Himachal Pradesh, where the company currently manufactures multi-utility vehicle Rhino. Sonalika would also ramp up capacity to manufacture an additional 48,000 vehicles over the current installed capacity of 24,000 units.

Sonalika sold 50,000 tractors in the last financial year and aims to double volumes over the next two to three years. The Sonalika Group manufactures tractors, agri machinery and auto components and is said to be valued at around Rs 5,000 crore.

This is not the first time a tractor manufacturer has ventured into the high-end vehicles segment. A few decades ago in Italy, businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini, who had a successful tractor manufacturing business by the name of Lamborghini Trattori SpA, forayed into the high-end sports car market in 1962. Today, cars sporting the raging bull logo are one of the most revered and sought-after brands globally.