Sonalika plans passenger carrier

International Cars and Motors, a part of Delhi-based tractor maker Sonalika Group, is planning to launch its first passenger carrier, a seven-eight seater multi-utility vehicle, which will be priced around Rs 600,000.

The MUV will have a 2.0 litre engine that will run on diesel and, the company claims, go 16-18 km for every litre. It is slated to be launched during the AutoExpo in January 2006 in New Delhi.

Its specifications will place it somewhere between the Toyota Qualis, phased at the end of last year, and Mahindra & Mahindra's Scorpio.

The project has been implemented with a capital expenditure of Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) with technology taken from UK's troubled car company, MG Rover.

ICM chairman L D Mittal said the trouble in M G Rover had had not affected his plans. "Whatever we had to get from Rover in terms of technical support, we have got. We only have to pay the royalty money to the company, which we will do once they are back on their feet."

Mittal said that, with a plant in Himachal Pradesh, the company saves Rs 150,000 on every vehicle through tax concessions.

The initial capacity of the plant will be about 2,000 units a month. It will be increased as the demand picks up.

The fleet operator market in the country is estimated at about 60,000 vehicles a year. It has had a hole since the withdrawal of the Qualis, although General Motors' Tavera and Tata Sumo and Toyota Innova have filled it to an extent.