World SUV from Sonalika by 2010

Sonalika group's International Car & Motors (ICML), manufacturer of the Rhino Rx multi utility vehicle, is preparing to launch yet another model line.

Dubbed as World SUV, the premium off-roader will be launched in 2009-10 at an international motor show, with the intent to sell the vehicle in international markets.

ICML Managing Director Deepak Mittal said the indigenously-developed sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be priced at Rs 10 lakh. "We want to launch it at a prestigious auto show like Geneva, to prove our credentials," Mittal said.

ICML will use an all-new platform to develop the SUV and use the experience from the Rhino project to enhance the vehicle's appeal.

The company had tied up with the then MG Rover group in 2004 to develop a common-rail diesel engine for the Rhino and the proposed SUV. When MG Rover folded up, ICML got its hands on the 2.0-litre G1 series Rover engine, which now powers the Rhino Rx that was launched recently.

A common-rail version engine-powered Rhino will be launched in a couple of months.

The company will hire the services of an international design house - Italian i.DE.a, or Pininfarina - to execute the production-ready design. "Initial renderings of the vehicle have been completed," Mittal said. "The first scale models are now being prepared." ICML has so far invested Rs 200 crore in research and development and setting up an assembly line for the Rhino at Amb in Himachal Pradesh and an aggregate, press shop and engine assembly set-up at Hoshiarpur, Punjab.

It has doubled the size of its Amb plant from 50 acres and will invest Rs 800 crore to expand capacity for the two vehicles.

Industry sources pegged the initial investment in the World SUV project at Rs 300 crore.