Foton (Chinese trucks) to enter the Indian market

Beiqi Foton Motors, China's biggest commercial vehicle manufacturer, is to commence production in India by 2013. Foton had previously announced that a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Maharashtra State Government for the manufacture of trucks. The Chinese company intends to invest Rs. 1,600 crore towards a 200 acre greenfield plant located on the outskirts of Pune, Maharashtra. This is Foton's first manufacturing facility outside China, and will have a production capacity of 100,000 units per year. 

The product range will include light, medium & heavy duty trucks. There is also a possibility of the company introducing their tractor range in India. Engines are expected to be sourced from Cummins India. The Indian Commercial Vehicle market is the world's 4th largest and is largely dominated by Tata Motors & Ashok Leyland. 

Foton has nearly 30,000 employees on its payrolls, and is headquartered in Beijing. The company has R&D facilities in Germany & Japan, among other countries. Interestingly, Foton has a joint-venture with Daimler AG to build trucks in China. It may be recollected that Daimler recently launched the "Bharat Benz" range of trucks and is aggressively pushing for market-share in India. 

Link to the Foton Motors Official Website