Eicher & Polaris get together for small cars

Eicher Motors, the company behind Royal Enfield Motorcycles and the other half of Volvo-Eicher has just signed a strategic joint venture agreement with US based Polaris Industries, the guys best known for ATVs and other powersport vehicles. This new joint venture is a 50-50 partnership between the two companies to set up a manufacturing facility in India to design, develop, manufacture and sell a full new range of "personal vehicles" suitable for India and other emerging markets.

But the vehicle they're talking about isn't any sort of commercial or cargo carrier (something Eicher is good at making already), nor is it a typical powersports ATV type of vehicle (which is Polaris' forte). The two companies are actually looking at developing personal mobility solutions (read: small car), one of which inside sources are saying should be similar to the Bajaj RE60 in size, but will be targeted at the entry-level passenger vehicle segment, much in the same way as the Tata Nano.

The beauty of the venture is that both the players involved have the right sort of expertise for developing such a vehicle. Polaris’ strength lies in making compact, rugged and utilitarian vehicles, while thanks to years spent in manufacturing and marketing medium-to-heavy-duty trucks and buses, engineering components and providing engineering design solutions, Eicher understands developing markets better than most others. The joint venture will benefit from the complementary and shared strengths each partner provides, utilizing these collective talents to co-develop new products for emerging markets. Polaris’ unmatched innovation in engineering and design, paired with Eicher’s powertrain expertise, economical engineering and knowledge of local markets create a powerful combination.

Speaking during the signing of the JV, Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris, stated, “This agreement instantly expands and enhances Polaris’ presence in India and supplying access to additional emerging markets around the globe and leverages Polaris’ strength in product innovation and vehicle development”. Siddharth Lal, Managing Director and CEO of Eicher Motors Limited, who signed the JV along with Scott Win, added, “At Eicher Motors Limited, we are committed to long term growth and value creation for our stakeholders through both organic and inorganic expansion. This joint venture strongly supports our strategic direction. Currently, we are active in the commercial vehicle and motorcycle categories. Collaborating with Polaris allows us to enter new profitable vehicle segments.”

Both the companies are looking at an overall, equally shared investment of 50 Million US Dollars over the next three years into developing such low-cost passenger vehicles. At the current stage, the two companies are seeking out an appropriate location to set up the manufacturing unit, from where they expect to start production by 2015.