Japanese utility vehicle manufacturer today inaugurated its Greenfield manufacturing unit located in SriCity, Andhra Pradesh. The Rs 3,000-crore facility was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The first product rolled out was the adventure utility vehicle D-MAX V-Cross, which was showcased at the Auto Expo. The company then said that the price would be around Rs 15 lakh.

Isuzu is betting big on India as its new manufacturing base and had signed an MoU with Andhra Pradesh government in 2013 to establish a full-fledged automotive manufacturing unit at SriCity in Chitoor district, a fast emerging industrial hub in this part of the country located on the borders of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The SriCity facility would have an initial production capacity of 50,000 units a year which can be scaled up to 1,20,000 units per year with a cumulative investment of around Rs 3,000 crore. The project is estimated to generate 2,000-3,000 jobs. The company currently has 26 dealers. Localisation at start of production is around 70%.

The construction work on the 107 acre land began in June 2014.

Currently, Isuzu India is getting build its D-Max pickup and MU-7 SUV for the Indian market at the plant of Hindustan Motors Finance Corporation Ltd (HMFCL), a CK Birla Group company, at Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu under a manufacturing contract. The company has been importing ready-to-take off sports utility vehicle (SUV) and pick-up trucks from its facility in Thailand, to market them in the Indian market.

According to its India road map plan, the company would focus on pick-up truck and SUV segments in the country to boost sales.

Isuzu also signed a MoU to facilitate investment by its suppliers in the state under the Automobile and Auto Component policy 2015– 2020. Under the policy, the automakers and auto component manufacturers will be offered various incentives and concessions for promoting automotive manufacturing in the state. As per the MoUs, the auto comp majors will explore the investment opportunities within AP to supply OEMs.

According to SIAM numbers India Pvt Ltd has clocked sales (passenger vehicles) of 392 units in 2015-16 as compared to 271 units in passenger vehicles market domestically.

Utility vehicles sales stood at 392 units in 2015-16 and domestic sales 271 units in 2014-15.

Its market share was 0.01% in 2015-16. Its commercial vehicles domestic sale was 1,074 units in 2015-16 as against 912 units. Its market share was 0.16% in 2015-16 as against 0.15%. LCV (goods carrier) numbers stood at 1,074 units in 2015-16 as against 912 units.