Atul Auto to launch gasoline three-wheeler in FY16

Below is the transcript of JV Adhia’s interview with Mangalam Maloo and Ekta Batra on CNBC-TV18.

Mangalam: Just a word on what was the export proportion on your total sales in FY15 and how much has it grown by?

A: In fact, at the moment, the product which we are having or the platform which we are catering to, do not have popularity in overseas market. It was quite insignificant during FY15. Going forward, once we will have the correct product to address that particular platform, we will definitely register good numbers in that market. Technically, it was hardly three percent during last fiscal, which was almost three times FY14.

Ekta: You did around 10 percent growth in terms of total volumes in FY15. What is your guidance for FY16?

A: Let me just tell you the H1 is likely to be a little more tricky for all the players in the industry because the sentiment are not that encouraging. But, for Atul Auto, we are quite optimistic and we expect that for the full year we will be able to maintain a double digit growth momentum.

Mangalam: And your margins also improved from 10 and a half percent to 11 and a half percent about close to that 12 percent mark. So, what is the margin outlook for FY16?

A: Since, we are scaling higher as far as volume is concerned, we will be definitely gaining better on operating leverage; that is the area where we expect that we will keep doing this upward journey somewhere between 50-75 basis points year-on-year.

Ekta: You said that first half would be sluggish in terms of volumes. When you say that, do you expect maybe flattish volumes than first half? A marginal growth or maybe a decline and what kind of numbers are you expecting in maybe a range?

A: First half is likely to remain, for Atul Auto, likely to remain with marginal growth whereas for overall year, we see that H2 will be definitely delivering better results. It is historically also true H1 has always remained a little less than the H2.

Ekta: Can you tell us what your new launches might be that you have planned?

A: We are going to launch a gasoline three-wheeler. That is very much on our cards. We have started conducting a market clinic and once we are through with that, we will be launching that gasoline three-wheeler, which will be available on all three fuels, that is petrol, CNG and LPG. At the moment, we are getting to a diesel three-wheeler platform. So, once we launch this gasoline three-wheeler, we will be catering to all four fuels available.

Mangalam: How far are we away from the launch?

A: Let us wait for one or two quarters maximum.