Pilote: On the move

W ant to bask in the comforts of your home while on the move? Pilote, a French motorhome manufacturer, can make this possible when it rolls out motorhomes or recreational vehicles in the country.

Built on the Mercedes and Fiat chassis, between 6 metres and 8.5 metres in length, the vehicles will be equipped with a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom to resemble a mini home. All this at a price tag of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 3 crore. Till the company gains sales volume, these vehicles will be imported. Mega Motorens and Lifestyle, a subsidiary of Group Mega, will handle the distribution and marketing activities for Pilote in India.

Unlike global markets where some companies sell close to 500,000 recreational vehicles every year, in India the concept is new. None of the global motorhome manufacturers like Trigano (France), Rapido Group (France) or Elddis (England) have a presence here. There are a few Indian companies, though, toying with this concept. Pune-based Dilip Chhabria Design (DCD), for instance, has been fabricating recreational vehicles for its celebrity clientele and sells close to 25 vehicles a year. Delhi-based Motorhome Adventures is another player. “Depending on the needs of our customers, we design motorhomes on the Swaraj Mazda, Force Motors and Volvo chassis,” says Sanjay Saini, founder, Motorhome Adventures. The vehicles are priced in the Rs 14 lakh to Rs 5 crore range and the company sells close to 15 units a year. It also offers seven vehicles on rent. Chennai-based Relax Caravan fabricates motorhomes for its clientele, which includes film artistes (used as vanity vans), industrialists, engineers and politicians. It sells about 10 vehicles a year.

Is the Indian market ready to pay a premium for such a product? Pilote India CEO Mudit Srivastava says growth in related categories such as luxury cars is a source of inspiration. “We are targeting high net worth individuals,” he says. The company hopes to sell 40 cars this year through its dealership network that covers Mumbai, Gurgaon, Ludhiana, Hyderabad and Chennai. Industry observers say the market for such vehicles in India will continue to be small, for some time at least. “For one, Indian auto majors like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland have not given much attention to this segment; vehicles are not made for this application. Sourcing from foreign manufacturers makes these vehicles extremely costly,” says Dilip Chhabria, founder, DCD.

Price apart, support infrastructure is another issue. Countries where such vehilces are popular have support infrastructure like caravan bays (located between cities) which are equipped with power and water supplies besides recharge facilities.