The Indian arm of Isuzu Motors, a renowned Japanese automobile maker, could begin local assembly operations of its MU-7 and D-Max models for the domestic passenger car market. The revelation came through a top company official in Coimbatore on June 6, 2013, who said Isuzu could commence Indian production operations at its Andhra Pradesh manufacturing facility in 2016. Earlier this year, the Japanese car maker introduced its MU-7 premium Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and D-Max range of pick-up truck in the Indian auto market.
The competitively priced Isuzu MU-7 and D-Max pick-up truck models have been officially introduced in Hyderabad. The MU-7 premium SUV is priced at Rs. 27.5 lakh and the D-Max pick-up truck carries a retail value of Rs. 7.2 lakh in the domestic auto market. Following the launch, Toru Kishimoto, General Manager (GM), Sales division at Indian arm of Isuzu Motors, revealed that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a manufacturing facility at Sri City, Hyderabad. The models were given a soft launch at the International Industrial Trade Fair a few days ago.
Isuzu's upcoming production plant is spread across sprawling 100 acres of land situated in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The world class facility would be fully operational in 2016 and take care of the Japanese auto maker's manufacturing operations. At present, the Isuzu models are sold as Completely Built Units (CBUs) from Thailand. According to Kishimoto, the Japanese auto maker would establish another plant at Oragadam near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
