Fujisawa, Japan, July 24, 2013: Isuzu Motors India has announced that when it begins manufacturing operations in India in 2016, it aims to achieve 70 percent localisation. Further, the company has said that it will get to “almost 100 percent localisation in a short period of time.”

Isuzu Motors India’s manufacturing facility will come up in Andhra Pradesh’s Sri City, less than 70km from Chennai, where the Japanese company will install an annual capacity of 120,000 units each year.

“We have started discussions with Indian component manufacturers and are very satisfied with the quality of their products and processes,” said Takashi Kikuchi, president, Isuzu Motors India.

Kikuchi added, “After seeing the capabilities of Indian suppliers, we are confident that we will be able to take the localisation content to almost 100 percent in a short period of time from start of operations.”

Kikuchi was addressing a delegation from the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) in Isuzu Motors Japan’s mother plant in Fujisawa, Japan. Coimbatore is one of two cities where the manufacturer has set up dealerships in India, the other one being in Hyderabad.

While Isuzu Motors India’s plant in Sri City is being set up, the company has recently inked a contract manufacturing agreement with Hindustan Motors (HM) under which HM will contract manufacture Isuzu pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles at its factory in Thiruvallur, located strategically about 70km from Isuzu Motor India’s upcoming plant.

KARTHIK H