Hind Motors chairman C. K. Birla (second from right) with Tetsuro Aikawa (right), managing director (product strategy and development group) of Mitsubishi Motors, in New Delhi on Friday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Oct. 3: Hindustan Motors (HM) today launched the Outlander, a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

“We have launched the Outlander in India in keeping with the policy of offering the latest from the Mitsubishi stable,” said C.K. Birla, chairman, Hindustan Motors.

Priced at Rs 20.2 lakh (ex-showroom) in Delhi, the car will be powered by a 2.4-litre petrol engine and assembled at the company’s facility at Tiruvallur near Chennai. HM plans to sell about 100 units a month.

The Outlander has entered India after making its debut in North America, Japan, Australia, Canada and West Europe.

It was launched as Mitsubishi Airtrek in 2001 and subsequently renamed as the Outlander in 2003.

The second-generation Outlander is capable of competing with Honda CR-V.

HM has three manufacturing plants in the country. They are located in Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with a total capacity of 44,000 units.

The company has a marketing and manufacturing agreement with Japanese auto firm Mitsubishi. In India, it manufactures the Lancer, Cedia, and Ambassador and few multi-utility vehicles. The Mitsubishi Pajero and Montero are imported.

HM also plans to launch a variant of Lancer, but senior company officials refused to divulge a timeline. The car maker will also launch a product to replace commercial vehicle RTV, which it has stopped manufacturing.

“We have stopped making RTVs, but we are moving forward to another product. In the next six-eight weeks, we will launch a completely new product,” Birla said.

The company said its September sales had slowed because of an increase in car financing rates. Rising raw material costs have also put margins under pressure.

Car sales in the country have fallen in July and August and have been slowing since April.