Piaggio to roll out Ape LPG three-wheeler in India
Express news service, Ahmedabad, September 27, 2007
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Piaggio-to-roll-out-Ape-LPG-next-month/221651/
In order to meet the growing demand for environment-friendly vehicles in the country, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the Italian auto major and world’s pioneer of three-wheelers, said it planned to launch LPG version of three-wheeler in Bangalore next month, a top official of the company said here on Wednesday. J. Narayanan, General Manager (Customer Care & PI), who formally launched the CNG variant said : “The cargo version of ‘Ape CNG’ is priced at Rs 1.39 lakh and the passenger version priced at Rs 1.3 lakh both ex-showroom in Ahmedabad. Since CNG is available in Gujarat we have selected Ahmedabad for our national launch.”
Piaggio’s CNG three-wheelers was simultaneously launched in New Delhi and Ahmedabad. “The introduction of CNG vehicles is part of our strategy to cater to the growing demands in cities where there is a demand for such fuels. The CNG three-wheeler is the product of our research and development units in India and Italy,” Narayanan said. Narayanan said the company outsource about 70 per cent of its spareparts from all over the country, including Gujarat.
On the three-wheeler front, he said the company is looking to maintain its market leadership position in the cargo carrier segment, with about 44 per cent share currently. Commenting on the competition in the three-wheeler segment in Gujarat, V Jayakumar, Zonal General Manager (Sales), said : “Presently our diesel version three-wheelers have eight per cent market share in Gujarat, trailing behind Rajkot-based Atul Auto. With the introduction of our CNG version, we hope to become number one player in Gujarat very soon.”
Initially, Ape CNG will be available in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Mehsana. The company is investing 60 million euros at its Baramati facility for a three-wheeler diesel engine facility, which will have a capacity of about 200,000 units a year, which will become operational by 2009.