Two variants of Force One launched, one more in September

JULY 31: Force Motors has added two more variants to its SUV, Force One. The 4x2 Force One SX is priced at Rs 11.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and the Force One EX will retail at Rs 8.99 lakh (ex-showroom,all- India). The EX is being positioned as the entry-level offering in the range.

The company will also add three variants of the Gurkha launched earlier in 2013 and will add one more variant to the Force One range in September bringing the total number of variants in this segment to seven, Prasun Firodia, managing director told a Delhi press meeting.

The Force One SX is equipped with an ABS and electronic force distribution. Its 2.2 litre CR, 16 valves OHC turbocharged diesel engine is made under licence from Daimler AG. The entire on-board electronics was audited and validated by Mercedes Benz Technologies at Germany. The ride and handling was fine-tuned by Lotus Engineering UK. The Force One Ex is targeted specifically at Tier 2 and 3 customers.

Force Motors is also expanding its dealership network to increase sales to over 3,000 units in this year from 2,600 units that the Force One has retailed so far since its debut. Force One is also looking at exports primarily to African, and nearer home to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka “We will start retailing the Gurkha in September. We showed it in the early part of this year and pushed out a few vehicles for buyer feedback. With those inputs, we have further refined the product,” says Firodia. The Gurkha will also be exported along with the SUVs but first these vehicles will start with local sales.

For Force Motors, the personal vehicle segment is relatively new as it has been primarily a CV manufacturer. “We began with one product and a very small network of 13 dealers and have expanded to 25 with seven variants. This it will become easier to retail as one can target buyers at multiple price points,” said Firodia. Incidentally, the company has roped in Amitabh Bachchan as it brand ambassador for the Force One when it debuted in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Gurkha is expected to contribute sales of about 1,000 vehicles. Force Motors is investing Rs 1,000 crore across the value chain in expanding capacity and product line. Of this, Rs 300 crore has been invested in the Gurkha and SUV platform, Rs 80 crore for a new robotic paint shop with passenger car paint technology and Rs 100 crore for a new engine technology centre at Pune to build engines that are Euro 5 and 6.

Of the company’s two plant, the Akurdi plant has a production capacity of 30,000 vehicles while Pithampur has a capacity of 36,000 vehicles. So far there is only 50 percent utilisation of capacity.

While Force Motors is a small player in the tractors segment with the Balwan, it is preparing to grow its business after streamlining its dealer set-up. “We will launch two tractors by the end of this year. We currently have a range between 25-50 hp and will launch a product below 25 hp and a platform higher than 50hp. The under-25hp tractor is for specialised applications and will also be exported,” says Firodia. India’s tractor segment is currently going through a boom and Force Motors hopes to tap this demand. In addition, good monsoons are expected to give tractor demand a fillip.

SHOBHA MATHUR