Eicher to tie up with Polaris for personal vehicles

Eicher to tie up with Polaris for personal vehiclesCommercial vehicle maker, Eicher Motors is planning to enter into partnership with US-based Polaris Industries to offer personal vehicles.

The two companies will enter the vehicle segment through a 50-50 joint venture. The companies will invest about Rs 250 crore over the next three years in the joint venture. The Eicher-Polaris Joint venture will set up a manufacturing facility in the country.

The new unit will design, develop, manufacture and sell a series of vehicles suited for India as well as other emerging markets. Eicher has said that it expects the production of vehicles to begin by 2015 at a new facility in the country.

The two companies have not announced more details about the partnership and the type of vehicles that will be produced by the joint venture. It is believed that the companies are planning to offer vehicles in a completely new segment in which either one do not offer any products.

Polaris offers niche vehicles in the power sports category, including off-roaders and all-terrain vehicles while Eicher offers CVs and the Royal Enfield brand of motorcycles. Eicher has an existing joint venture with Volvo for manufacturing CVs.

Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO of Eicher, said in a statement, "Currently, we are present in the commercial vehicle and motorcycle categories. The collaboration with Polaris Industries Inc will allow us to enter into a new vehicle segment."