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| (From left) Mitsubishi Motors general manager Shinichi Kurihara, R. Santhanam, managing director Hindustan Motors and Kazuyuki Kambayasi, general manager, Asia and Asean business group, Mitsubishi Motors, in New Delhi on Monday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar |
New Delhi, June 25: Hindustan Motors (HM) today launched an upgraded version of Mitusbishi’s sports utility vehicle — the Montero. It also plans to roll out another vehicle in collaboration with the Japanese automaker.
The company, however, did not elaborate on either the vehicle or the time when it would be launched. The Montero is powered by a 3.2-litre turbo-charged diesel engine. The peak power is 164.5ps and torque is 383nm.
The company has sold 2.5 million Montero vehicles globally since the model first hit the roads in 1982. The SUV came to India last August. HM has sold 250 units despite a price tag of Rs 34 lakh. The company sold 1,000 units of the Pajero last year. Pajero is another SUV from the Mitsubishi stable.
Y.V.S. Vijay Kumar, vice-president and business head, Hindustan Motors, said, “I am expecting a 10 per cent rise in the market share of SUVs in India.” The ex-showroom price of the upgraded Montero is Rs 34.11 lakh.
Officials said the SUV was likely to see a 100 per cent rise in sales. The vehicle will be brought in as a completely built unit from Mitsubishi’s Japanese plant. HM will look after its sales and services.
R. Santhanam, managing director of Hindustan Motors, said, “As the market and volume grow for the Montero, we may consider building the product in India itself.”
HM officials said production of Ambassador cars was affected by the strike in its unit near Calcutta. Before the strike started, the production was over 1,000 units per month, Santharam said.
The company plans to rev up production to pre-strike levels soon.