SML Isuzu eyes 15% market share in CV segment

Currently company's market share in the commercial vehicles category is 7.5%

SML Isuzu Limited (formerly Swaraj Mazda), manufacturer of trucks and buses, is eyeing a 15% market share in the commercial vehicles segment over the next four years, a company official said.

"Presently, our market share in the commercial vehicles category is 7.5%. We want to take it to 15% over the next four years", T Otsubo, Sr VP (marketing), SML Isuzu, told PTI.

He said that due to the economic slowdown, there had been a de-growth in the commercial vehicles segment in the country. The market size of the segment is pegged at Rs 50,000 crore.

The official said that the market was expected to improve from the second quarter of the current fiscal.

With a production capacity of 20,000 units per annum at its Punjab plant, the company was planning to ramp it up, he said.

"We are producing 12,000 units in one-shift operation", he said.

The company is expecting growth of 15% each year in terms of absolute sales.

"If needed, we will introduce a second shift when the demand improves", he said.

While Sumitomo Corporation, Japan, and Isuzu Motors, Japan, hold 44% and 15% shareholding respectively in the company, the balance is being held by the public.