Riding high on the strong demand for its 110cc motorcycle - Freedom - LML, the country's youngest motorcycle maker, expects to more than double its motorcycle sales to 240,000-300,000 units this fiscal.
The company is investing Rs 125 crore (Rs 1,250 million) to hike the motorcycle production capacity to 400,000 units and launch about two new motorcycles by this year-end, Deepak Singhania, managing director, LML, told a news conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.
LML expects the increasing motorcycle sales to significantly improve its financial condition this fiscal, he said.
"We will sell close to 240,000-300,000 motorcycles this fiscal. Over Rs 125 crore is being invested in the coming months," Singhania said after the launch of five newly designed variants of Freedom.
LML has sold 109,000 motorcycles during 2002-03; the bulk of which comprised Freedom, its first indigenously produced motorcycle.
The Kanpur-based firm has a technical alliance with Korea's Daelim Motors to produce the Adreno and Energy range of motorcycles.
"Our financials should be very good this year. We are totally focused to increase profits. The company is performing well," Singhania said but declined to disclose whether LML would turn black this fiscal.
During 2002-03, the company had incurred a net loss of Rs 27.69 crore (Rs 276.9 million) over a turnover of Rs 574.5 crore (Rs 5,745 million).
Besides motorcycles, LML also plans to launch four-stroke automatic geared scooters next year.
The company makes geared scooters, sales of which are expected to remain static this year, according to Singhania.
It has started an aggressive retailing exercise, involving setting up new dealerships called LML Global besides rationalising, retraining, re-organising and upgrading the existing 250 dealerships to the standards of the new dealerships.
"We are creating 900 LML centres at the taluka level and equal number at the tehsil level. This will significantly enhance our distribution level, which presently covers only 39 per cent of the market," Singhania said.
