Sometime around July, 2012 Japanese auto maker Isuzu had informed of plans to venture in the Indian auto market. And now to confirm that we see the Isuzu MU-7 SUV being tested in Pune, India. The MU-7 is a 7-seater SUV that is originally based on the D-Max truck chassis. Currently the SUV is powered by a 3.0-litre turbo charged diesel engine that can produce a peak 146bhp and 294Nm of torque.
The SUV comes in both 4X2 and 4X4 models and is reasonably popular in Japan. However the question is – how will it take to the Indian auto market? Due to the rising trend for SUV’s in India we have seen several international players join the bandwagon of SUV production. While Isuzu is not exactly new to India, it still has next to no brand awareness here. Isuzu in collaboration with Swaraj-Mazda supplies diesel engine here. Since the joint venture is limited to the trade of technology, Isuzu is not exactly a popular or even well-known car brand in India at the moment.
We will have to see some serious effort from Isuzu to promote their brand here before it can give any sort of competition to current market leaders like the Safari Storme, Ford Endeavour and SsangYong Rexton. From what we can deduce, Isuzu currently plans import the MU-7 from Thailand and assemble it at the HM plant in Chennai. For later on, Isuzu plans on setting up its own facility by 2015. The cost for such a facility is expected to be around Rs. 1,000 Crore. Hopefully the MU-7 can be within the Indian market by early-mid 2013.
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