Minnesota-based Polaris, maker of all-terrain vehicles, has entered into a joint venture with Eicher Motors India, to build a personal vehicle with a 600cc diesel engine. The double cabin micro pickup and multipurpose van is targeted for sale to small farmers and small business owners.

To make the vehicle affordable, the cost of production will be kept low by using composite materials which will make the vehicle light and therefore more fuel efficient, as well as by building it on tubular platform, an architecture that can be modified for making multiple products. The manufacturers expect that the car will get 58mpg. (25 km to a litre.)

Production is expected to begin in May this year in a new facility in Jaipur, a city in the state of Rajasthan.