``We are still hoping,'' Firodia said.

The company had sought excise relaxations on the micro-car and is still awaiting a government nod in this regard. ``There is no government at present, so we are waiting for a new government to take charge.''

The company had stated that the car, being in the 500cc category, should be charged excise as per other vehicles in the segment, that is at 15 per cent, and not 40 per cent as in the case of passenger vehicles. ``This relaxation would have helped us price the car at Rs 1 lakh and make it more affordable for people...Without the excise relief, the price tag would go up to Rs 1.5 lakh,'' he added.

The company has already been refused the concession once by the government but is still urging to consider its request.

The car, he claimed, is Euro-I compliant and could be modified to suit Euro-II emissionnorms. However, development work on the car has been stalled. ``The project is still at the prototype stage and no investments have been made. We are waiting for the excise relief.''

The car, it may be recalled, was launched with much fanfare a few years back. The company had then announced that the car would be produced at its existing manufacturing facility in Koregaon Bhima near Pune, which also houses production lines for four-stroke motorcycles.

The unit has an installed capacity of two lakh units per annum but only the capacity was expected to be utilised by the first year. It has targeted to sell around 15,000 cars a year.

The micro-car, which was to have a 70 per cent local content at launch, is powered by a Briggs and Stratton, US, engine.

The basic design for this two-door yet-to-be-named car has been procured from Exxam of France. The car, powered by a 500cc petrol engine, boasted of a fuel efficiency of 20 km per litre of petrol. The car was to be available only in automatic transmissionversion. However, KEL also intended to launch geared versions of the micro-car within two years of its launch, targeted at the taxi segment.

Meanwhile, Kinetic Motor Company Limited (erstwhile Kinetic Honda Motor Company Limited) plans to launch a 73cc scooterette and a four-stroke scooter during the current fiscal.

The 73cc scooterette would be called `Kinetic Style'. These new introductions are expected to contribute to higher sales and profitability of the company.

Riding on these models, Kinetic expects to record a further improvement in its performance during the year. It had recorded a 70 per cent surge in net profit during 1998-99 to touch Rs 3.69 crore from Rs 2.17 crore a year earlier. The board of directors of Kinetic Motor had recently recommended 15 per cent dividend for 1998-99.

Gross profit for the year stood at Rs 10.33 crore, up 35 per cent from Rs 7.64 crore in 1997-98. However, the company witnessed over nine per cent drop in sales during the year at Rs 320.55 crore from Rs 353.51crore a year earlier. Sales in the first half were reported at Rs 143 crore while in the second half, it rose to Rs 177 crore, an increase of 23 per cent. Exports from the company also rose 12 per cent during the financial year to touch Rs 28.22 crore.

The company has also expanded its dealer network by adding 80 more dealers to its network by synergising with the existing KEL moped dealers.

During the current fiscal, the company plans to further strengthen its dealer network by tapping into the widespread distribution network of KEL dealers throughout the country.