Sonalika Group''s International Cars and Motors to invest Rs800 crore by 2010 in global SUV

Tractor maker Sonalika Group's International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML) has tied up with global design house to develop a utility vehicle model for which it plans to invest Rs800 crore over the next three years, says Deepak Mittal, managing director, Deepak Mittal.

ICML is the latest entrant to the Indian MUV market and had recently launched its flagship vehicle Rhino RX in select markets in North India and plans to launch it pan-India by October-November this year.

The Rhino has been designed by the UK-based design house Lotus and is powered by a two-litre MG Rover Engine.

Mittal said the company wanted to become the top one player in the domestic multi-utility vehicle market by 2010 and the investment would help more than double its production capacity.

The company, however, has no intentions of producing a low-cost vehicle and will remain focused on the MUV market.

The company's current manufacturing is located at Amb in Himachal where it has already invested Rs200 crore. The additional investment would help take the production to 5,000 units per month from 2,000 units at present.

According to Mittal, the company would launch several new models including a common rail diesel injection (CRDI) engine-powered Rhino and a SUV to boost sales in the country. He said the company hoped to showcase the CRDI engine at the auto-expo next year.

"We have started backward integration for Rhino (and will) soon start fabricating all the plastic parts in-house," Mittal said.