The Light Commercial Vehicle manufacturer, Swaraj Mazda Ltd (SML), will soon shed the ?Mazda? name and will be known by a new name- Swaraj Vehicles Ltd. Out of the three proposed names- Swaraj Vehicles Ltd, Swaraj Motors Ltd and Swaraj Trucks & Buses Ltd, the Registrar of Companies has approved Swaraj Vehicles Ltd. Yash Mahajan, managing director, Swaraj Mazda Ltd, told FE, ?The matter has been taken up at the board level and the name will be changed very soon.?
Swaraj Mazda was set up in 1983-85 as a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation and Mazda Motor Corporation at a capital outlay of Rs 32.5 crore for the manufacture of 5,000 light commercial vehicles. But because of the uncertainties, the company became sick in 1994.
Mazda Corp?s complete withdrawal from commercial vehicle segment and the expiry of the technical assistance agreement in 2004 paved way for SML to tie up with Japanese major Isuzu Motors Ltd.
Sumitomo?s Gurgaon manufacturing plant
Talking to FE, Motoyuki Oka, chairman, Sumitomo Corporation, revealed, ?The company is setting up a steel coir and tubes manufacturing plant in Gurgaon in joint venture with Jay Bharat Maruti. The products will be used for auto components. The land has already been acquired and the construction work will begin soon.?