Polaris: snowmobiles to India
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Indian businessmen are usually heard complaining about the country’s poor infrastructure. But for some industrialists, it’s opportunity.
Polaris Industries, the US-based off-road vehicle maker, has this month launched its all-terrain machines in India – and sold a snowmobile to the government for use in the mountain state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minnesota-based group, the first off-road vehicle maker to enter the Indian market, expects to clock up sales of up to $400m within the next 3- 5 years. Its global rivals including as Yamaha Motor (7272:TYO) and Suzuki Motor (7269:TYO) from Japan are yet to offer their ranges in this segment in India.
“The biggest utility application of these vehicles is in forestry departments, [and in ] paramilitary, defence and police [units] as they can be used to fight it out with the naxalities [leftist rebels in India's mining areas] and enemies” Pankaj Dubey, managing director of Polaris India told beyondbrics.
Polaris (PII:NYQ) will also target India’s leisure and tourism industry, mining and construction companies and wealthy individuals with a penchant for off-road driving. The vehicles are priced at Rs 227,000 to Rs 2m ($4,950 to $43,500).
“It is too early to say, but the government and commercial companies will constitute a big portion of the sales. There will be individual customers too,” Dubey added.
The company, with a $1.99bn global turnover last year, is importing completely assembled products into the country, paying taxes of up to 116 per cent.
But over the next 3 – 5 years, it hopes to set up a design centre to tailor the products to the Indian market, and bypass high import taxes by establishing local manufacturing facilities, Mike Dougherty, the company’s vice-president, told the Press Trust of India.
As long as transport in India’s more remote corners remains difficult, there should be buyers for all-terrain machines. The question is, how many?
Related reading:
India: selling cars gets more expensive, beyondbrics
Polaris to buy oldest US motorcycle maker, FT
A better class of chauffeur for India’s luxury car buyers, beyondbrics
Ferrari in India: Speed bumps ahead?, beyondbrics
Two-wheelers gain traction in India, beyondbrics
India and China car sales hit by inflation, FT
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