The company, which has already introduced three variants of its three-wheelers in the country, proposes to launch a four-wheeler cargo carrier as well to strengthen its position in the light transportation vehicle segment.

Piaggio & C spa vice president (light transportation vehicles) Enrico Dell'Artino said, ``the Indian manufacturing facility at Baramati will serve as the production hub for Piaggio outside Italy to meet the demand of world markets. Exports to countries like Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Sudan, South Africa and Bangladesh has already commenced and we will increase substantially in the coming months.''

``We plan to export around 25 per cent of our production capacity next year,'' PGVL managing director Ravi Chopra said, adding that his company is poised to play an increasingly major role in Piaggio's plans to meet the growing demands of the world market.

The Italian transportation major strongly believes that although the three-wheeler business is currently dominated by passenger carriers, the trend may get reversed in the near future with the cargo segment growing at a much faster pace.

``We hope the three-wheeler cargo segment to grow by 12 to 15 per cent, as against 6 to 8 per cent growth in the passenger segment,'' Chopra said.The company, which has sold around 2,000 three-wheelers since its launch in July, is thus focussing more on the cargo segment which currently accounts for around 90 per cent of its total output.

``We hope to breakeven in the very first year of operations and would be selling around 12,000 three-wheelers. Our sales turnover is expected to be in the region of Rs 75 to 80 crore this year,'' Chopra said.

The company's Rs 65-crore production capacity at the Baramati facility, which is currently around 25,000 units, will be doubled over the next three years.

``With the modular concept that the company has adopted, it would be possible to increase capacity with very little investment,'' Chopra said adding that the production volumes will depend on the demand for the products.

The company is gearing up to augment its 120-strong dealer network which currently covers 60 towns across 15 states. ``Over the next three months we would try and improve our penetration and reach to cover the entire country,'' Chopra said.

Firm plans SPVs to offer optimised solutionsPiaggio greaves vehicles will soon introduce special purpose vehicles (SPV) to offer optimised solutions to specific customer needs and applications.

The company is in the process of appointing fabricators who will do the necessary re-engineering strictly in line with Piaggio standards.

The SPVs will be targeted to meet diverse applications like mobile shops, courier services, LPG carriers, mobile post offices and solid waste disposal.

``The design, based on what the customer wants, will be drawn up by the company and the company-appointed fabricators will make the necessary alterations,'' PGVL sales director DK Dhamija said.

``There is a great demand for customised vehicles in the country. Customers, however, have to depend on the unorganised sector which fails to meet the client's expectations. Ours will be the first organised attempt to meet the customers' needs as per international standards,'' Dhamija added.