• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Piaggio Greaves to expand product range

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Jan. 18

PIAGGIO Greaves Vehicles Ltd (PGVL), the 51:49 equity joint venture between Piaggio of Italy and the Pune-based Greaves Ltd, is planning to expand its product range to include a one-tonne, four-wheel drive vehicle. The company is also expected to manufac ture a range of petrol and diesel engines from the Piaggio stable.

The engines, to be manufactured at its Pune plant, will be Euro-I compliant and would also be Euro-II ready, said company officials. The company currently produces the `APE' range of diesel three-wheelers under technical guidance from Piaggio.

According to Mr. Ravi Chopra, Managing Director of PGVL, the company, which hopes to break-even during this year, is proposing to increase its capacity in a phased manner. In the next three months, it is aiming to achieve nation-wide distribution and ens ure adequate penetration and reach into the hinterland, he added. The company has just launched its APE range of three-wheelers in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi.

The joint venture company has invested over Rs. 65 crores in the Pune plant. The current capacity of the plant is about 25,000 units per annum. Company officials add that four months since its launch in the country, the APE range has found considerable a cceptance with sales reaching over 2,500 units.

According to a company release, APE has been introduced in select towns in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. PGVL's concept of developing special purpose vehicles in the same platform seems to have cau ght the three-wheeler buyer's fancy, the sources said.

The company's special purpose vehicle concept is aimed at providing optimised solutions to specific customer needs. According to the officials, the needs could be as diverse as courier services, poultry farms for egg transport, dairies, bakeries, LPG dis tribution, mobile shops, solid waste disposal, and pesticide spraying.

A three-seater passenger version of APE is also being launched by the company. Greaves, which had its own range of diesel three-wheelers, has discontinued manufacture of those vehicles, according to Mr. Chopra.

Exports of the APE vehicles to countries such as Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Sudan, Turkey, South Africa and Bangladesh have already commenced and is expected to grow in the next few months.

PGVL is also expanding its dealer network to address the needs of customers all over the country, company sources said. Currently, the company has 120 dealers.