In the motorcycle segment, bikes in the range 535 cc, 500 cc and 350 cc are in the offing. The company is also likely to step up availability of diesel bikes in several states across the country.

The company will be making pilot launch of 50hp and 61hp tractors in the middle of this year.

On a globalisation spree over the last couple of years, Eicher plans to tap the European and US markets in big way for tractors and southeast Asia and Latin America for two-wheelers. It also plans to step up export of gears to Middle East and Africa, said company officials.

Announcing the financial results for 1998-99 on Monday, Eicher Ltd chairman Subodh Bhargava said the company posted a net profit of Rs 29.16 crore in 1998-99, an increase of 19.3 per cent over the previous year. The board of directors of Eicher, which met last week, recommendedan enhanced dividend of Rs 3.5 per share, as against Rs 3 in the last three years. It posted a 10.7 per cent jump in sales to Rs 657 crore, compared to Rs 593 crore in the previous fiscal.

The net interest cost increased from Rs 5.18 crore to Rs 10.18 crore as a result of increased capital investments towards new manufacturing facilities. Depreciation charges went up from Rs 10.02 crore to Rs 13.46 crore.

Eicher Ltd is part of the Rs 970-crore Eicher group with diversified business interests in the manufacture and marketing of commercial vehicles, tractors, motorcycles and components.

According to officials, Eicher Limited comprises three business units - Eicher Tractors, Royal Enfield Motors and gears and accounts for about 60 of the group turnover.

A major contributor to the company's bottomline in 1998-99 has been a cut in material costs in the range of 1.5 to 3 per cent and increase in labour productivity by about 25 per cent, said Eicher Motors managing director S Sandilya.

The company plans toexport around 25 per cent of its volumes over the next three years, said company officials. The company has set up a warehouse in the US which has helped cut delivery schedules from three months to one month. A warehouse in Europe is also in the pipleline, officials added.

Eicher Tractors sold 25,326 units in 1998-99 as compared with 24,252 units in the previous fiscal, achieving a 4.4 per cent growth in sales. The tractor industry, over the same period, recorded a volume growth of only 3.5 per cent selling 2,61,000 tractors in 1998-99 as compared to the previous year's 2,52,000 units.

Royal Enfield Motors which manufacturers `Bullet' brand of motorcycles, has sold 25,001 units in 1998-99 as compared with 18,995 units in 1997-98, achieving a 31 per cent growth. The company has targeted to achieve 25-30 per cent growth in the current year. The company has set up a new manufacturing facility at Jaipur for production of two-wheelers.

Eicher Tractors has recently entered into a technical collaboration withFinland-based tractor major Valta for production and marketing of 50 and 60 HP range of tractors. These will be targeted at Eurpore and several Asian and African markets, said company officials.

According Eicher Tractors managing director Ramesh Jain, the company will target lower HP tractors to the US market and the higher ones at Europe.

According to PK Kapse, managing director of its gear business unit, ``In a depressed domestic market scenario, when sales in the segment dropped by 12 per cent, our business, concentrating on exports and original equipment manufacturers in India, grew by more than 7 per cent.''