LML Freedom – FrontView
Kanpur based, LML (Lohia Motors Limited) lost its lime light after it ended its partnership with Piaggio in 1999 which also resulted in shutting down its Kanpur facility in 2006. The company during its glorious days had launched the Adreno FX and the Energy FX motorcycles which did well in the Indian market.
The company declared a net loss of Rs 45.2 crore in 2011-12. Also, in December the loss figures increased to 17.46 crores from the Rs 9.25 cr in the corresponding quarter in the last year. But for LML the show is still on, as per sales and marketing head, Partha Sen Chowdhury the company is all set to re-launch the old 110cc Freedom motorbike, a two-stroke scooter LML NV, and an all new four-stroke gearless scooter, which will be named as the “Star Automatic”, which is according to LML will be the “man’s scooter”. In addition to that there are also plans to come up with 125cc and 150cc motorbikes, apart from the 125cc Unisex scooters and 150cc and above lifestyle scooters.
Apart from these, the company also plans to launch light-weight 3-wheelers for cargo applications.The LML Freedom and Star Automatic will be available in 70 outlets in Delhi and Punjab by mid-May. In Gujarat and Maharashtra, the products will be launched in three months, Chowdhury said. “We have been able to develop a four-stroke engine and meet euro-emission norms, without altering the vehicle’s dimensions, the prime reason why the scooter is popular in the exports market.”
In order to expand the market from the existing Delhi and Punjab, LML will plans to have 35-40 dealership networks in Gujarat and Maharashtra. LML expects to sell about 26,640 units in Gujarat and Maharashtra and another 50,000 units in Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Apart from the domestic market LML has exported about 40,000 units last year to Europe where they have a good demand. And according to Chowdhury, “Europe is a heritage-oriented market, and our particular bodyline has a lot of demand. We are even selling decent numbers in Piaggio’s home ground, Italy. More, we also managed to get an attractive pricing in the foreign market,”. LML has been exporting to Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, apart from some Latin American and African countries.
Although the company is declared as sick by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), but LML has not lost its hope and will sail through the tough times. Considering the risk involved a lot of financial companies and banks will be monitoring the company’s performance very closely.
Check out another picture of the rear below the jump.
Also see – LML to launch 200cc scooter Star & relaunch Freedom motorcycle by end-2011
LML Freedom – RearView
