Kinetic to drive into US, Europe markets

Two thousand seven will be a busy year for two-wheeler manufacturer Kinetic Motor Company Limited.

Not only is it eyeing European and American markets to export its automatic scooters, but also is planning to introduce the first products it manufactured after the technology tie-up with SYM, Taiwan.

Kinetic's Vice-President Ajinkya Firodia said the company was broadening its horizons after the encouraging response it received from the Japanese market.

Kinetic had started to export to Japan the Blaze scooters it produced after a manufacturing agreement with Italian company, Italjet.

"We expect to export 12,000 Blaze scooters all over the world in 2007, with a major focus on the Europe and US markets," Firodia said.

The company will produce about 170,000 vehicles at its Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh) plant next year, out if which 40,000 vehicles, including Blaze, are targeted for export, he added.

Firodia said products from the SYM range will be an automatic scooter in the range of 100 cc to 150 cc. Two more products will follow in 2008, thus taking the total number of SYM products to three, he said.

He said the company is confident of making major inroads in the automatic scooter segment, armed by the modern technologies like fuel cell technology from SYM.

Kinetic is consolidating its relationship with Italjet and will introduce its next product, Euro, in India. It is a 130 cc scooter in the premium family segment, priced about Rs 35,000. The next to come will be Jupoter - which will be launched about a year after the Euro.

"We intend to be present in the entire spectrum of 50 cc to 250 cc in the automatic scooters segment," he said.

Following the arrangement with Italjet, Kinetic may get the business of making some of the Italian partner's products as third party manufacturers.

"Italjet has stopped making six or seven of its models, which we may get to manufacture and send to Italjet's markets in Europe as their models," Firodia said.