Flipkart and Italian two and three-wheeler-maker Piaggio have joined hands to develop a small truck tailor-made to suit the requirements of the e-commerce giant.

Piaggio, the makers of Vespa scooters and Ape range of three-wheelers, has developed a versatile cargo three-wheeler which aims to replace motorcycles that are used by delivery boys for the last mile delivery.

This is for the first time in India that a vehicle manufacturer has built a product suited for the needs of a particular company. Usually a manufacturer charts the entire addressable segment before kick-starting product development.

This new three-wheeler can carry a payload of 300 kgs, which is half of the payload of entry cargo three-wheelers and can run on LPG and CNG fuels. It is branded under Piaggio’s well-established brand Ape.

“Delivery personnel presently carry a bulky back pack which has limited storage space on a motorcycle for the last mile delivery. During rains there is always the risk of getting the package wet. On other occasion the size of the package is so big that it takes up the entire space in the back pack”, said a executive of Piaggio.

Deliveries of products purchased online sometimes do get effected when the volumes of such deliveries goes up substantially owing to limited availability of delivery personnel.

“Flipkart approached us to develop a new compact vehicle exclusively for them which can address all these issues. It took us little more than a year to develop this mini truck which is very easy to maneuver in traffic and offers loads of space”, added the executive.

Piaggio states that it had signed a contract with Flipkart which prevents it from selling the vehicle to others. However, that exclusivity was valid only till end of July and Piaggio is looking to target other e-commerce companies for its new three-wheeler.

Goods carrying three-wheelers registered a growth of 13 percent last year at 109,624 units even as passenger three-wheelers recorded a fall of 9 percent during the same year to 402,034 units as per data supplied by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.