Italian automobile major Piaggio will produce a passenger three-wheeler and a light commercial vehicle (LCVs) from its Baramati plant near Pune.
Speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the Piaggio's plant to make Vespa LX 125 scooters here, Roberto Colanninno, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Piaggio Group, said that over the next two years, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. (PVPL), its fully-owned Indian subsidiary, would roll out three new vehicles, including a passenger three-wheeler, by September, 2012, and a four-wheeler LCV thereafter.
Ravi Chopra, Chairman and Managing Director, PVPL, said the company would make other products from the new plant. “Our 1.50 lakh-unit annual capacity will double next year with an additional investment of euro 20 million (around Rs.140 crore) but we will definitely not depend on a single product. As we consolidate our position with Vespa, we will certainly have more products. These could be Vespa variants, another scooter, motorcycle or LCV. We will evolve a road map soon.”
As of December 2011, Piaggio had invested over Rs.1,000 crore in India. Mr. Colaninno told reporters that the Piaggio Group had recently drawn up a financial plan for the next three years with half its investments concentrated in Europe.
Piaggio was also making two diesel engines at Baramati — a 1 litre and a 1.2 litre model — for the Indian and European markets, Mr. Colaninno said. The company has invested 30 million euro (around Rs.210 crore) in Baramati.
