The Hindu Business Line : Piaggio eyes Rs 1,000-cr turnover in India by 2005

THE Italian auto maker, Piaggio, is hopeful of doubling its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in India by end of 2005 as the market for small cargo carriers is set to expand in the country.

"In 2003, our turnover was Rs 500 crore and next year, it should be around Rs 650 crore," Mr Ravi Chopra, Managing Director of Piaggio Vehicles Private Ltd, told Business Line here.

He said Piaggio is investing Rs 150 crore this year in its plant near Pune for doubling production to about a lakh three-wheelers a year. In 2003, the company sold 49,600 three-wheelers in India.

Piaggio, which earlier had a joint venture in India with the LML to make scooters, currently manufacturers three-wheelers through a wholly-owned subsidiary, set up in 1999.

Mr Chopra said Piaggio's focus of attention in India would be on the cargo segment, which is growing faster than the three-wheeler passenger carriers. The total three-wheeler market in India is about 2.5 lakh vehicle a year, of which 80,000 are goods carriers, he said. Currently, the company sells the `APE' brand of one-tonner in two variants. Mr Chopra said the company has a 40 per cent market share in the cargo segment.

Piaggio will introduce a 1.3 tonner vehicle before June this year and will follow it up with a four-wheeler goods carrier called the `quadric-cycle', by the end of the year. The company will also introduce CNG and LNG versions of its three-wheelers.

In the near future, Piaggio will turn India into a hub for sourcing three-wheelers for markets in Africa, Latin American and Asia. "Today, the Indian arm makes more three-wheelers than Piaggio makes elsewhere," Mr Chopra said. By 2005, as much as 20 per cent of the sales of Piaggio India would come from exports.

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