Atul Auto to foray into 4-wheeler vehicle space

Rajkot-based commercial three-wheeler vehicle maker, Atul Auto, is broadening the canvas of its product offerings. Besides getting into petrol-based three-wheelers, the company will foray into the four-wheeler commercial vehicle space in one-and-a-half years.

The proposed four-wheeler is set to compete with the likes of Tata Ace in the one-tonne light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment and will be priced between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh. To be launched with a diesel engine, the LCV is being designed at the company's R&D unit in Pune.

Initial discussions on the design have revolved around creating a 'quadracycle' kind of utility vehicle. The vehicles will be rolled out from the company's plants in Rajkot and Haridwar, where the production capacity is 24,000 and 12,000 units per year respectively.

"We will be diversifying into four-wheelers in a year and half with a one-tonne capacity LCV. Although we haven't arrived at on a market size for the LCV, we foresee high demand for it at a time when very few players operate in the segment," said Hiren Doshi, deputy general manager (finance), Atul Auto.

He said that apart from the four-wheeler, the company was looking at launching petrol versions of three-wheelers as well as rear-engine vehicles in the coming few months.

Atul Auto has been a dominant player in the front-engine vehicle market in Gujarat. It now wants to enter the CNG and LPG rear-engine segment to tap newer markets like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

"Nearly 90 per cent of the three wheeler-industry thrives on the rear-engine platform which has led the company to design a rear-engine at its Pune R&D facility. We are looking at an investment of Rs 28 crore for the production of rear-engines," said Doshi. Rear-engine powered three-wheelers are technically more advanced but less powered as compared to front-engine vehicles.

Admitting that rising rates of interest could impact sales of most automobile manufacturers, Doshi added that the company was nevertheless expecting sales of 12,000 units a year and growth of over 12 per cent in the next year.