Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, May 20, 2007
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, May 20, 2007 ePaper |
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Corporate
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Outlook Marketing - Strategy Atul Auto targets wider market for rear-engine three-wheelers Mayur N. Shah
Mumbai May 19 Atul Auto has raised the sales target for its existing range of front-engine diesel three-wheelers (under the Atul Shakti brand) to 22,000 units for 2007-08 against 14,500 units sold in 2006-07. It now plans to sell an additional 7,000 units with the introduction of rear-engine variants of the same brand in July. The company also plans to introduce CNG and LPG variants on the rear-engine platform. In a rear-engine three-wheeler, noise and vibration levels are lower compared to a front-engine vehicle. The new variant has been developed by the company's R&D facility at Pune. There is a strong market in the South for such vehicles, said Mr Paul Z, Senior General Manager - Marketing. The company has decided to introduce the new variant in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka this year by appointing six dealerships; Tamil Nadu and Kerala will be covered next year. The company also plans to increase the number of dealerships in Maharashtra from eight to 18 by the year-end. Its dealerships across the country would be increased from 85 to 130 by end-2007, Mr Paul said. The rear- and front-engine diesel three-wheelers will be produced at its Rajkot and Haridwar plants that have annual capacities of 24,000 and 12,000, respectively. Atul Auto has a third plant (production capacity of 1,800-2,000 on single-shift basis) in Jamnagar that manufactures its first product, `Khusboo Chakkda' (a vehicle engineered from a motorcycle). The company plans to give the `Khusboo Chakkda' a facelift this fiscal to include features like a safety-canopy to cater to different user segments (fishery, passenger, cargo carrier and so on), Mr Paul said. It will retain the Euro-II compliant `Greaves' diesel engine. The company currently sells 1,000-1,200 units annually and expects to grow this market by 10-12 per cent per annum.
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