Isuzu Joins hands with HM to develop MU-7 and D-Max in India

Isuzu Motors India has recently entered into the Indian car market with the introduction of its sports utility vehicle MU-7 and pickup truck D-Max. The company has made an agreement with Hindustan Motors (HM) on Friday for manufacturing of Isuzu vehicles in India.

According to the agreement, Isuzu Motors will import the components for producing these vehicles from Thailand and assembled in HM's production facility at Thiruvallar, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Isuzu already has a proposed manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh, which is under construction and require more time to get operational. The company has taken this step to increase the sales of its recently launched MU-7 SUV and D-MAX pick up truck, before its proposed plant becomes operational.

Takashi Kikuchi, president, Isuzu Motors India said, "The collaboration with Hindustan Motors will support us by carrying out assembly of our products at Thiruvallur which is about 70 kms from Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, where our own local manufacturing facility is planned to come up". The company is very confident about the company's growth prospects of the SUV and LCV market in India, not worrying about the current slowdown. The president is also very happy with the positive feedback of the market to its MU-7 SUV and D-MAX pickup trucks. Both were launched in Coimbatore and Hyderabad in March, 2013, by importing them as CBUs from Thailand. "With this agreement, we can advance the scope of our sales operations and increase the scale of supply volumes without waiting for our local manufacturing facility to be ready,"" he added.

Uttam Bose, HM managing director said that the this agreement with Isuzu Motors will enable HM to optimally utilise its 'spare capacity' at the company's Thiruvallur plant in Chennai which also manufactures Mitsubishi Motors SUVs. "The move makes business sense especially at a time when the Indian economy and the automobile industry, in particular, are passing through testing times. The agreement with Isuzu is a strategic move to keep HM on the growth path," Mr Bose added.