Hindustan Motors Winner Chinese small truck for India

BK Birla group company Hindustan Motors has rolled out a Chinese vehicle. The vehicle is HM’s first launch after almost 28 years.

More about the HM Winner

The Indian auto major has said it has launched a one-tonne-capacity mini-truck in India produced under licence from Shandong Shifeng in the Shandong province of China. Christened HM-Shifeng Winner, the vehicle comes with a price tag below Rs 400,000.

The company plans to import the HM-Shifeng Winner in a knocked-down form from China and assemble them at its Uttarpara facility. The company aims at manufacturing up to 60 vehicles a day initially at this facility near Kolkata, said a company official. The Uttarpara plant has a production capacity of 24,000 units a year, but is said to be underutilized. It has been reported that the Automotive Research Association of India has approved the vehicle. The Chinese vehicle is sad to have capabilities that offer interiors and vibration levels similar to those in cars and meet the BS-III norms. The new Winner small pickup truck will compete against the well-entrenched Tata Ace.

Powered by a 1489cc diesel engine producing 26.5 KW power and 73NM torque driving through a 4-speed gear box, using disc front brakes and leaf springs, the HM-Shifeng Winner is being positioned by the company in the same league as Tata Motors’ popular Ace.

According to the company, the vehicle would be rolled out across India in nine months. It is said that HM would be using the vehicle, plus the existing models and some redesigned versions to achieve full production capacity at the Uttarpara plant.

The company’s Uttarpara plant will see HM supplying the power unit and drive train, while the Chinese counterpart will supply cable harnesses and chassis components. It is expected that HM will launch two more variants of the mini-truck and there could be a CNG-powered version for the Delhi region within 6-8 weeks. A third variant is expected to be out by March.