Small commercial maker Piaggio Vehicles on Friday launched the Ape HT range of three-wheelers in both cargo and passenger segments in its bid to further strengthen its position in the alternate fuel segment space.
Equipped with the first-of-its kind 300cc BSVI petrol and CNG engines, the HT Range includes petrol cargo- Xtra HT, CNG cargo - Xtra HT LDX and LDX+ and CNG passenger - Auto HT DX, DXL and Auto+, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL) announced at the launch.
The vehicle models are priced between Rs 2.25 lakh and Rs 2.56 lakh, it said.
PVPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Piaggio Group of Italy.
The Ape HT range comes with first of its kind 300-cc engine, which has been developed by Piaggio indigenously with technology support from Italy to cater to and deliver the high-tech experience of alternate fuel engines, it said.
Piaggio is the only player to offer a petrol variant in the three-wheeler cargo segment. The petrol cargo offers a substantial acquisition cost benefit for the price sensitive customer, the company said.
PVPL is also planning to introduce a passenger variant, Ape’ Auto HT petrol in the coming months, it said.
"At Piaggio, we believe in providing path breaking solutions in the last mile transportation segment with best in class technology offerings to our customers," said Diego Graffi, Chairman and Managing Director, PVPL.
The new 300-cc engine is developed in India with technology support from Piaggio Italy, and is being manufactured locally in a new state-of-the-assembly line, he said.
"This product is a resultant of a robust new product development process that we follow at Piaggio based on consumer insights at the conceptualisation stage," Graffi added.
According to the company, the HT CNG range offers tremendous earning potential due to the higher Power, loadability and best in class mileage, with low running and maintenance costs.
The cargo range is available in three variants with 5-ft, 5.5-ft and 6-ft deck length options for varied load requirements and usages.
The HT range comes with class leading warranty of five years/1.5 lakh kms (whichever is earlier) in the petrol cargo and 36 months/1-lakh kms (whichever is earlier) in the CNG passenger and cargo variants, PVPL said.
"This is the first time that any player has launched a bigger capacity engine in the alternate fuel segment space in the 3-wheeler industry.
"We understood from our customers that there is a need of a higher power & performance engine in the alternate fuel space which will help take higher loads doing more no. of trips per day,” said Saju Nair, EVP and Head of Commercial Vehicle Business, Piaggio India Pvt Ltd.
He said Piaggio has also taken care of the after sales needs of the customer by offering a complete package of class leading warranty and annual service package in both the petrol and CNG range of products.
"We certainly believe that with the CNG network increasing in many cities in India the HT range will help us deliver that extra value to the customer which he is looking for in a new CNG Product to increase his earnings by lowering his expenses," Nair said.
For a worry free ownership experience, Piaggio is also providing a special annual maintenance contract package - super saver with six free periodic maintenance services, the company said.
