By IANS
New Delhi : India's third largest two-wheeler company TVS Motors, undeterred by the market slump, is hopeful of a 10 percent growth in 2007-08 as it will launch two new models this year.
"The whole industry is going through a slump due to inflation. The first half has been hit hard, but we are hopeful that by October everything would be back to normal," R. Chandramoili, senior vice-president of TVS, said Monday while unveiling the new sports bike Apache RTR.
"The industry is down by 20 percent and we were also forced to cut down our sales by 55,000 products last month but this month it is back to normal again. We can achieve a growth of 10 percent this year," he said.
"There is a desire among the customers to buy motorcycles, but they have postponed it due to high interest rates. But as the festive season starts there will be lot of offers from financial organisations, which would boost our sales."
Last year, TVS sold 155,000 units. This year, it is targeting 170,000 units of two-wheelers and a 25 percent market share.
"The market is 60,000 units per month and we are targeting to sell 15,000-20,000 units every month. We have also lined up three launches till February," said Chandramoili.
"There will be two new launches this year and one next year. Out of the two this year would be a completely new model."
TVS, which exports its products to 40 countries, is optimistic of registering 25 percent growth in exports too. It has set up a plant in Indonesia and is planning to export products from there to various countries in the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) region.
"We are looking to export products from our Indonesia plant to countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Currently, we are producing TVS Neo (a duck-shaped 110 cc Bebek step-through), and as the market grows we would also start manufacturing motorcycles in that plant," said Chandramoili.