Isuzu starts work on a greenfield plant in Andhra Pradesh

Isuzu held a ground ceremony at Hyderabad for its greenfield plant in Andhra Pradesh. Coming at a time when the Indian auto industry is battling a severe slowdown, and deferring investements, Isuzu has started work on a Rs 3000 crore facility at Sri City. The company is hopeful of good demand in SUVs and pick-ups. In an interaction with the media, Takashi Kikuchi, President and MD, Isuzu Motors India, expressed that the slowdown has not impacted the pickup vehicles markets. Kikuchi drew attention to the fact that the company registered an 11 percent growth in SUV (sport utility vehicle) and LCV (light commercial vehicle) sales in 2012-13. A market leader in the pickup vehicle segment in West Asian and South-East Asian countries, with a market share of more than 30 per cent according to Kikuchi, Isuzu in India currently manufactures the MU-7 SUV at Hindustan Motors’ facility on the outskirts of Chennai. The company claims to have sold more than 200 MU-7 SUVs in India since they were introduced in February 2013 as CBU imports. Isuzu entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with Hindustan Motors to assemble completely knock down units for the MU-7 and the pickup truck D-Max at Tiruvallur near Chennai in December 2013. Production of the MU-7 and D-Max is expected to shift to the Sri City plant once it is commissioned in 2015-16. By then, the company would have built a dealer network for better market penetration. As a move in that direction, Kikuchi iniaugurated a Isuzu dealer in Kerala recently. One of the few dealers the company has come to have in South India.