Mahindra Gio, the lightest truck of India, has now pushed its competitors to go back on the drawing board. According to media reports, a number of commercial vehicle companies like Tata Motors, Piaggio and Bajaj Auto are also looking at getting into the mini-truck segment in a big way in the next few years. The light commercial vehicle segment has been witnessing growth after the launch of Tata’s Ace in the sub three-tonne category. In the last few months, Ashok Leyland entered in to a joint venture with Nissan, Swedish automotive giant Volvo tied up with Eicher and Daimler, each competing for a pie of the LCVs segment. Besides them, AMW has also said that it would shortly announce its LCV plans.

Bajaj Auto is redrawing plans to roll out its ultra-light commercial vehicle. The company is, in fact, said to be looking at postponing its entry into this segment to mid-2011. However, the project is on track, and it is widely believed that BAL will be setting up a plant next to its facility in Chakan for the purpose, with an investment outlay of around Rs. 1,000 crore. Furthermore, the plant is expected to have a capacity of half a million vehicles and will be set up on 250 acres. Another Rs. 1,000 crore will be put in by its vendors who will set up base in the same premises, though it could not be officially confirmed. A senior representative had earlier told reporters that though the vehicle comes closest to the Ace in terms of market segments, its design, utility and cost will be main differentiators. Chances are highly likely that Bajaj Auto will forge a 51:49 JV for manufacturing its LCVs and will hold a majority stake.

According to an exclave report by DNA, Bajaj Auto wants to make sure its small LCV has a clearly defined USP, which would allow it to take on similar vehicles from Tata, Piaggio, M&M and possibly others, including a few Chinese manufacturers.

On the sidelines of SIAM annual conclave, Tata Motors, on 28th August’08, has told reporters that it is now developing a smaller variant of its light commercial vehicle segment- Ace. Though nothing has been revealed by the company, it has been learnt that the four-wheeled commercial vehicle, tentatively christened Penguin, will be on the Ace platform and would be having a payload capacity of 0.5 tonnes. It is widely believed that the Penguin will be rolled out from the Indian automaker’s Pantnagar facility in Uttarakhand, which has a production capacity of 2.25 lakh units per annum and where it also manufactures the Ace trucks. There are plans to make 40,000-50,000 units of the new offering, as revealed by sources.

“We are seriously looking at a smaller light commercial vehicle (LCV) than Ace which has a capacity of carrying a load of 750 kg. There has been some demand for a product in that category and we are developing one such model,” P.M. Telang, managing director for Tata Motors’ India operations, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. He added that the company is witnessing an overwhelming response in its passenger car segment and has plans to introduce an upgraded variant of its Indigo sedan by December. Telang said, however, that sales of medium and heavy trucks returned to last year's levels in July. The company is expecting its overall sales to remain in the positive territory during this fiscal, he said, adding the total production utilisation of its plants is about 65 per cent at present. He also said that the company has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs. 10,000 crore for the next 2-3 years.

It may be recalled that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), on 28th October has launched ‘Gio’, India’s first 4-wheel 0.5 tone compact truck, priced at Rs. 1.65 lakh and Rs. 1.68 lakh, ex showroom, Mumbai for BS-II and BS-III versions respectively. Equipped with a 9.1 HP Kohler engine, the ulta-light minitruck delivers a mileage of 27 km per litre and is available in five colours viz-Peacock Blue, Royal Red, Golden Yellow, Diamond White and Sporty Green. The Mahindra Gio is being manufactured in Mahindra’s Haridwar plant and is being launched in a phased manner. It will be available initially in West, North and select Eastern states and shortly thereafter in the rest of the country.

“With the launch of Mahindra Gio, we have created a new Compact Truck category in the commercial vehicle segment. The Mahindra Gio is the first- of- its-kind entry-level four-wheeled cargo vehicle, and is all set to change the dynamics of the small CV segment. As city limits gradually expand and distribution needs increase, the Mahindra Gio presents a high earning potential for customers who will benefit from its high mileage, low maintenance cost, optimum utilization of space and low acquisition cost,” said Dr. Pawan Goenka, president, Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, while unveiling the minitruck.

Comments By The Readers