Iveco, the Italian truck maker and also a part of Fiat Industrial is eying the Indian market once again. Earlier, Iveco had 15 percent stake in the Indian truck maker, Ashok Leyland. However, it sold its stake to Hinduja Group for Rs. 600 crore in the year 2006. In 2007, the company also signed a MoU with Tata Motors, which till date, never got converted to a formal agreement. The agreement was for analyzing the engineering, manufacturing, sourcing and distribution of the products as well as the components.
After all these stints in India, the company has once again decided to enter the Indian truck industry which is growing rapidly. Currently, in the truck market, India is No. 4 in the world and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth of 8-10 percent over the next five years. Thus, Iveco wants to grab the opportunity and establish itself in such a lucrative industry. What comes as a surprise here is that the company has decided this at a time when the world’s largest truck maker, Daimler, is introducing its ‘Bharat-Benz’, the Indianised truck range within a few days in India.
Having made its plans, the company is however looking for a local partner to establish itself in India. They are in talks with various companies and a non-truck making company may also interest them. Currently, Iveco has established itself in Latin America and China. Over the next five years, the company has plans of tripling its sales in China alone. Entering India can help the company to boost its sales and its holds a lot of potential.
Iveco also manufacturers the LMV (Light Multirole Vehicle) which is often branded as the Hummer rival. The 185 BHP engine gives the Iveco LMV a top speed of 130 km/h. The vehicle was brought to India a few years back, when it played the role of a support vehicle for Ferrari’s India discovery tour (involved two Ferrari 612 super cars). Could Iveco also launch a more passenger oriented LMV in the country, pricing it aggressively to woo prospective Land Rover Defender customers to its fold? Or could we see the Iveco LMV serving the defense forces?
