Isuzu conducts ground-breaking ceremony for India plant

Mumbai, 27 January 2014: Isuzu Motors India’s upcoming new plant whose ground-breaking ceremony was held this morning will have a production capacity of 130,000 units a year once fully operational, top sources at Isuzu said on the sidelines of the event. The company also plans to have dealerships in nine cities by March, 2014.

Isuzu Motors acquired the land in 2013 after it inked an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government. The new plant is slated to begin operations by 2016. The Japanese manufacturer will invest about Rs 3,000 crore in the new facility which is expected to create 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.

Isuzu Motors made a quiet entry to India in 2013, with the opening of a couple of dealerships in Hyderabad and Coimbatore and the initial lot of cars being imported as completely built up units or CBUs. However, it has commenced local production and has rolled out its first Indian assembled model, an MU-7 SUV. It has also made a BS 4 compatible version of the car’s 3-litre turbo diesel engine. The vehicles are being assembled at Hindustan Motors’ plant at Thiruvallur, Chennai, from CKD kits which will be sourced from Thailand. As of now, only the Isuzu MU-7 SUV is being rolled out of this factory, but assembly of the company’s D-Max pick-up truck is expected to begin soon.

SUMANTRA BAROOAH