Hindustan Motors launches Mitsubishi Outlander in India, looks to lift up flagging sales

According to C.K. Birla, chairman, Hindustan Motors, the Outlander, which has met with phenomenal success in other countries like the US, Japan, Australia, Canada and Western Europe, is being launched in India "in keeping with the policy of offering the latest from the Mitsubishi stable to the Indian consumers."

Priced at Rs.20.20 lakh, the Outlander, he said, has everything needed to catapult the Mitsubishi brand among the big leagues of premium SUV makers.

Agrees Tetsuro Aikawa, managing director (products, strategy and development group), Mitsubishi Motors. "The Mitsubishi Outlander is a proven and globally successful SUV and it's a great pleasure to present the car in India," he said.

The Indian model, a Hindustan Motors official said, is a four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicle powered by a 2.4-liter petrol engine and is being assembled in the company's Tiruvallur plant near Chennai. Hindustan Motors has three manufacturing plants in the country. They are located in Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with a total annual capacity of 44,000 units.

The vehicle, the official said, is certain to do well as it is very fuel-efficient compared to other SUVs like Honda CR-V, Toyota LandCruiser Prado, Hyundai Tucson, Ford Endeavour, and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, in the Indian market.

Mitsubishi Motors, which has marketing and manufacturing agreement with Hindustan Motors, is also selling its proven and tested SUVs Pajero and Montero in India through Hindustan Motors' nationwide distribution network.

The SUV market in India has grown 32 percent to 130,041 vehicles in FY08 from 98,086 vehicles in the previous fiscal.

In a separate development, Hindustan Motors said it plans to lift up its flagging sales by launching Cedia and Lancer with new features.

In addition, the company said, it will launch a commercial vehicle aimed at replacing its RTV which it has stopped manufacturing.