|
Chandigarh: Miss the
comfort of a personal bed, having a shower or cooking while on the
move? For the price of a high-end luxury car, all this could be
yours: A Punjab-based automobile fabricator has launched what is
called a motorhome - a super-luxury caravan.
Built on a Fiat Ducato chassis imported from Italy, the motorhome
is equipped with a lounge, a tiny kitchen, refrigerator, a toilet
and separate shower and a luxury bedroom to provide the
personalised comfort of home and office for people even when
travelling.
Automobile fabricator company JCBL, which is based out of
Derabassi in Punjab, 20 km from here, has brought the motorhomes
to the country in collaboration with PLA (Pier Luigi Alinari), a
leading manufacturer of caravans and campers in Italy.
Two models of the motorhomes, priced at Rs.75 lakh (Rs 7.5
million) and Rs.78 lakh (Rs 7.8 mlllion) each, have been launched.
The completely knocked down (CKD) united will be imported from
Italy and assembled here.
"These motorhomes can be seamlessly converted into an office,
guest house, entertainment place or a home away from home. With
its Fiat Ducato chassis, vehicles will get pan-India service
back-up from Fiat-India," JCBL managing director Rishi Aggarwal
told IANS here.
"The price of the motorhome is even lesser than some high-end cars
sold in India," he added.
The JCBL management feels that the concept of motorhomes will
become popular in the country in coming times, just as they have
gained popularity in the West, especially in Europe and the United
States and Canada. There is a trend in favour of these vehicles in
Australia too.
"The hassle of searching for a hygienic washroom will soon be a
thing of past as JCBL motorhomes come with tastefully designed
bathrooms equipped with a chemical toilet, hot shower and wash
basin," a JCBL statement said.
Pier Luigi Alinari, the founder of PLA-Italy, who has worked to
popularise the caravanning sector in Europe, says India offers
great scope for motorhomes.
"The motorhomes offer a very safe and comfortable travelling
option. I had visited India in the late 1970s and saw bullock
carts and other things moving on the roads. Now, I find that
amazing development has taken place in this country and it is
ready for things like motorhomes," Alinari said (through a
translator).
In recent years, however, the motorhomes market in Europe has seen
a decline. From 12,500 motorhomes and caravans registered in Italy
in 2006, the numbers came down to just 6,500 last year.
JBCL group chairman Rajinder Aggarwal told IANS: "We believe that
travelling should be a pleasurable experience, irrespective of
whether it is a short drive for a family picnic or reaching an
important destination to strike a business deal. Our motorhomes
are designed around your needs and crafted to perfection with
style and imagination."
JCBL was set up by Rajinder Aggarwal in 1989 in collaboration with
Swaraj Mazda Limited for making bus bodies. The company expanded
by providing bus bodies to other brands like Tata Motors, Ashok
Leyland and others.
The company later diversified into special purpose vehicles like
ambulances, blood bank vans, mobile homes and offices, display
vans, election campaign vans, bank ATM vans, riot control vehicles
and OB (outdoor broadcasting) vans.
JCBL has tie-ups with international companies like PLA-Italy for
motorhomes, Stratiforme of France for fibre glass components, COFI
of Italy for refrigerated vans and DOLL of Germany for heavy duty
special purpose trailers.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links