By IANS,
Kolkata : TVS Motor, the country’s third largest two-wheeler manufacturer, is targeting a 50 percent market share of the three-wheeler segment in three years, a senior official said here Monday.
“In the coming three years, we would like to become a dominant player in the three-wheeler segment. At the end of three years, 15 percent of the company’s revenues should come from the three-wheeler segment,” H.S. Goindi, president (marketing) of TVS Motor Co, said.
He was speaking to reporters after the launch of its three-wheeler “TVS King Arjun” in the city.
At present, TVS King – as it is named in the rest of the country – has a market share of 10 to 40 percent varying among different towns.
Currently, Bajaj Auto is India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of three-wheelers.
TVS Motor launched its three-wheeler brand in April last year. It is now available in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
“Next month we will launch in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. By December, we will roll out TVS King across the country,” Goindi said.
The company has already started exporting the three-wheeler to Sri Lanka, Kenya and some other small countries in Africa.
“This month onwards, we will start sending to Bangladesh and later to Egypt and Ethiopia. Exports will take place step by step,” Goindi said, adding: “We have started exporting from our Hosur plant (in Tamil Nadu).”
At present, TVS Motor manufactures around 1,200 three-wheelers a month at the Hosur factory. This number would go up to 2,000 by year-end, he said.
The company will later start assembling its three-wheelers in Mahabharat Motors’ plant at Uluberia in Howrah district of West Bangal.
TVS Motor has entered into a joint venture agreement with the non-resident Indian Prasoon Mukherjee-promoted Mahabharat Motors.
TVS King Arjun, priced at Rs.126,000 (on road), is a 200 cc, four-stroke, LPG mono fuel three-wheeler with electric start.
Its launch in the state comes at a time when under the strict pollution control regulations of the government several two-stroke auto rickshaws have been discarded.
“We are looking at about 25 percent of market share in the next 4-5 months in Bengal,” Goindi said.