The Rs 250-crore International Cars and Motors (ICML) has reached out to UK's Lotus Group and Italy's Pininfarina for strategic tie-ups. While the technical pact with Lotus is already through, Pininfarina will follow suit shortly. Both companies will help ICML build a sport utility vehicle towards which work has begun at the Amb plant, Himachal Pradesh.

"We did a lot of work with Lotus on NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), chassis etc. We were looking for a good technical partner after the collapse of MG Rover. Earlier, it was a one-time agreement with Lotus but this is now a technical pact. Their team will be a great help," said Deepak Mittal, managing director, ICML.

Lotus is principally involved in the manufacture and sale of high-performance sports cars and the provision of automotive engineering consultancy services. Lotus Engineering employs over a thousand experienced engineers and technicians to create world-class engineering solutions. Pininfarina, in turn, is known more for its brilliant styling, which is apparent in almost half the models in the Ferrari stable.

With a gradual ramp-up in Rhino production, Mittal's son Raman, now undergoing an internship at a car plant in India, will play a bigger role in daily operations. He made some important suggestions on improving the Rhino's interiors to give it a more luxurious feel. Raman has also helped design a new model at the Amb plant. "He made some sketches of an SUV in 3D, a model of which has been made in thermocol in the machining centre. We are working on this vehicle along with Lotus and Pininfarina," said Mittal.

ICML has also kicked off talks with a foreign carmaker to produce its products here. The MoU is expected to be signed by September. "We are in advanced talks with two companies and will enter into an agreement with one of them soon. We want to make some of their established vehicles in India. They have a great model line-up and a number of companies here are vying to join hands with them," he said.

According to Mittal, there have been no major issues with the Rhino since its launch except for one lot of temperature gauges which was faulty. The supplier has now replaced them. The company, which launched the vehicle through four small dealers in Punjab (Moga, Batala, Karnal and Ambala) has worked hard on incorporating suggestions from customers. The Rhino will now be available across Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh through at least 12 dealers.

"By January next year, we hope to cover all the states, except the ones in the south, and by April, the entire country will be wrapped up. We are also testing the CRDi diesel engine and will introduce it in metros like Delhi and Mumbai," he said. The Rhino is currently powered by an Isuzu petrol engine and ICML is working on making it Euro 3-compliant. The diesel version should be ready in two months.