Eicher Motors found itself favoured by the market on Wednesday after reporting impressive sales volumes for January 2003.

By 11:10 IST, the stock of the commercial vehicles firm inched up 0.24% to Rs 83.10 on BSE. It came off the day's high of Rs 85.20. A mere 685 Eicher Motors shares changed hands on BSE by then.

The BSE Sensex stood at 3,250.22, down 27.9 points.

For January 2003, the Delhi-based company reported a 31.2% to 1,059 commercial vehicles compared to 807 units a year ago. Domestic sales jumped 52% to 1,021 vehicles from 672 in the same month in 2001. However, exports declined 72% to 38 from 135 units last year.

Meanwhile, sales, on a month-on-month basis, also, dropped marginally by 3.1%, from 1,093 units in December 2002.

For the April 2002-January 2003 period, sales rose by 40.4% to 10,069 commercial vehicles from 7,173 in the year-ago period.

Analysts are upbeat about the current performance of Eicher Motors but feel the exports outcome leaves a lot to be desired. However, there's hope for the future from the launch of the company's new M&H vehicle . The launch should bring the company in direct competition with heavy vehicle majors like Telco and Ashok Leyland.

Last month, EML filed an expression of interest for the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation  stake in Punjab Tractors. The company has filed the said bid along with Eicher, a group associate company, as lead member. It has also been decided to explore the possibility of finding a suitable partner for the purpose of forming a consortium for filing the expression of interest.

On 28 January 2003, Eicher Motors registered an impressive third quarter ended 31 December 2002 performance. For Q3 the company registered a 78.5% rise in net profit to Rs 10.48 crore on a 29% increase in sales to Rs 154.14 crore (Rs 1.54 billion).

EML is part of the Rs 1,200-crore (Rs 12-billion) Eicher group, which has interests in tractors, motorcycles, diesel engines, automotive gears and components. The company exports its commercial vehicles to South Asia, West Asia and Africa.

During October 2002, EML expanded its range in the bus segment and launched its sleekly designed 34-seater bus Eicher Voila in Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur in Kerala. Voila was actually launched in February 2002. This was the second range of buses from the Eicher stable after its popular skyline range. The new range is available in attractive colours and is priced at around Rs 850,000. The bus is powered by a fuel efficient 90 HP, 4 cylinder diesel engine available in both Bharat stage I and Bharat stage II emission norms options.

The company is planning to make entry into the multi-axle segment early this fiscal. The company is in the process of revamping its current distribution and service network, by taking into account the needs of long distance freight operators who typically use MHCVs.

From a single six-tonne GVW truck in 1986, the company's range today extends from 5-t to 16-t GVW trucks and the Skyline and Voila range of buses. All its products can be offered in BS II compatible options. It also has one of the best CNG technologies in the world in its CNG buses. The company has a dealer network comprising 133 authorised sales and service centres and over 300 spare outlets.

As on 31 December 2002, the promoters' holding in the company was 55.6%, while the public and institutions held 31.2% and 5.16%, respectively.