Sonalika Tractors to foray into China this fiscal

Sonalika International Tractors will start operations in China this fiscal and the company is in the process of finalising the process for setting up assembly lines there.
The Punjab-based company, which has an assembling unit in Cameroon (Central Africa), is looking for long term investment in China.
It is planning to have a new production line in China which is one of the largest global tractor, said Sonalika International Tractors Executive Director Raman Mittal.
"The next key market for us is China and now we are very close to finalise the way to start our operations in China. We are looking for long term investment in China," said Sonalika International Tractors Executive Director Raman Mittal.

However, the company did not share investment details for China plans, but said that its brand Solis will have presence there.
"Chinese market is very cost effective market like India, we will have key technologies as powertrain and would try to explore as how we could manage the cost," he said.

Besides, the company will start manufacturing and export of Yanmar brand of tractors for the global markets by the end of this fiscal.
In FY 2016-17, Sonalika Tractors had a revenue of Rs 4,268 crore, in which around 25 per cent was from the exports market. It has presence in 73 countries.

The Punjab-based company, which has an installed capacity to roll out 3 lakh units a year, has become the second largest tractor exporter from India.
Yanmar, a Japanese 7 billion USD major corporation has invested around Rs 1,800 crore in the company and has around 13 per cent share.
Yanmar has product portfolio of paddy special and light weight tractors, while Sonalika ITL has robust heavy duty tractor range.
"With Yanmar and Solis, we definitely can plan strategy to
grow in the international market," he added.
The company, which is now equipping its tractors with the Common rail direct injection (CRDi) technology, will soon launch new platforms.

"These would be state of the art, and the vision is that to have the same platform for the India, US and European market," Mittal added.
Presently, Africa and South East Asia regions are the two biggest markets for the company.
"France is becoming very prominent in terms of numbers and technology," he added.
In FY 2016-17, Sonalika International Tractors had sold 81,531 units.