The Innova has been one of the most successful car models in India, with its sales moving ahead of the expected by its manufacturer, Tata. Riding high on its success, Tata Motors is planning to launch a new variant of the Innova, which is being assembled in Thailand and Philippines and will hit the roads in 2016. However, it may face a stiff challenge from Isuzu Motors. Though not much known in India, this company is a renowned Japanese automobile manufacturer and has a strong presence in a number of nations. This brand is largely known for manufacturing Multi-Purpose Vehicles or MPVs and also commercial automobiles. Isuzu Motors have a huge presence in the Middle East countries. Till the time being, Isuzu only sells its D-MAX pickup truck and MU-7 SUV in India, right from few years back when it entered the nation. However, it has not been widely received in the country and the vehicles are purchased in small numbers only. To set things straight, Isuzu Motors has decided to launch a MPV somewhere in 2016. It will be a brand new make from the manufacturer and will compete against the Innova, which have been reigning supreme in this category.
Internally known as the RU30, this model from Isuzu will be placed as a premium MPV. Though the specifications and features have not been revealed yet, the company has invested a whopping 3000 crore INR in a manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh, recently. It is expected that the product will be finalised till the autumn of 2016 and will be launched during the festive season of the same year. The target is to produce approximately 40000 units of RU30 each year. Simultaneously, the D-MAX is also expected to get a localisation of parts and the company will try to get the production number of this pickup truck to 20000 units, this running year.
The MPV market in India has been already won over by Innova; apart from that, a number of existing players have their MPVs lined up for competition. In 2016, the scenario will be tougher for Isuzu as the competition will only increase. Some bottlenecks like low visibility in the country have to be dealt with before the launch of RU30. It is expected that Isuzu will revamp its sales and after-sales network in India. The number of dealers in India will also be increased to 60 by 2016, which will greatly help the manufacturer to increase its visibility in India.
