www.chinabuses.org: The Chinese automotive major, Jianghuai Automobile Company is eyeing to expand Indian market with the launch of commercial vehicles, besides scouting for have joint venture with existing players, writes Sharmistha Mukherjee in a BS report.

The battle in the Indian automobile industry is set to intensify with Chinese auto maker Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC) planning to launch commercial vehicles as well as passenger cars.

 
“India would be one of the key markets for JAC. To begin with, we are looking at introducing commercial vehicles, but eventually we’ll launch passenger cars as well,” a spokesperson is quoted as saying by the report. He did not specify a timeline for an entry but indicated it was open to collaborations to sell products, noted the report.

“We will probably make an independent entry in India, but may co-operate with existing players, depending on the situation,” he said. JAC, founded in 1964, is the eighth-largest automobile company in China. The company sold 460,000 units to clock revenue of $ 2 billion last year. It is aiming at recording earning a revenue growth of 30 percent this year, selling 600,000 vehicles. The volumes are comparable with what India’s second-largest car maker, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, targets to sell this financial year.

JAC has a comprehensive line-up of vehicles in China, which includes light, medium and heavy duty trucks, buses, multi-purpose vehicles and sedans, said the report. JAC also manufactures gearboxes, engines, auto components and engineering products. The company recently launched an electric vehicle, Tong Yue, in the Chinese market.

With India slated to become the fourth largest automobile market globally over the next five years, Chinese companies such as Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Beiqi Foton have all been evincing interest in commencing operations in the country.

In May this year, Beiqi Foton had announced an investment of Rs 1,676 crore to set up a facility in western Maharashtra. The company is exploring options to sell light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles here. Foton Motor, a subsidiary of Beijing Automobile Group Co Ltd, is the world’s second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer after Daimler. The company sold 682,800 vehicles in 2010, it said.

Recent times have witnessed a buzz in the Indian commercial vehicle segment, which clocked sales of 6,76,408 units last financial year, with the entry of global players like Mahindra Navistar and Tata Marcopolo, among others. While the commercial vehicle segment recorded growth of 27 percent last year, passenger vehicle sales grew 29 percent to 2.52 million units, the report added.

Source : www.chinabuses.org

Editor : Menon

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