motown india september 2013

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MotownI N D I A

VOL-3 • ISSUE-12 • SEPTEMBER 2013 • 100

T H E P U L S E O F T H E A U T O M O T I V E I N D U S T R Y

HERO CYCLES NEW PLANT BELGIAN GRAND PRIX AUDI A7 SPORTBACK

WHEELZ & ROADZ

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SPECIAL

Volvo V40 Cross Country Stunning Scandinavian

VE COMMERCIALVEHICLES (VECV)

READY TO REAP

VINOD AGGARWAL, CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles

Pages 32-55

Cover September 2013.indd 1 8/29/2013 7:16:44 PM

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Editor Punnoose TharyanEditorial Advisors Salil Sharma, Alexander T., Annie Jacob--------------------------CONTACTFor editorial [email protected] advertising [email protected]+91-9958125645, +91-9911729429For subscription [email protected]

EDITORIAL OFFICE145 B/9, First Floor, Kishangarh, Next to United Free Church, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070,Tel: 011-26122758/59, Tele Fax: 011-26122757--------------------------DISTRIBUTED BYCentral News Agency, New Delhi--------------------------

EDITORIAL CONTENTThe publisher makes every effort to ensure that the contents in the magazine are correct. However, he can accept

no responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. Any unauthorised reproduction of Motown India content is strictly forbidden.--------------------------Motown India is printed, published, edited and owned by Punnoose Tharyan and published from 4058 / D-4, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070. Printed at Pearl Printers, 52, DSIDC Shed, Okhla, Phase 1, New Delhi. This issue of Motown India magazine contains 72 pages including both covers.

This issue of Motown India magazine is a blockbuster one when it comes

to Commercial Vehicles (CVs). We have done a 24-page report on the CV

industry, having interviewed some of the leading automotive industry

leaders in this space. The commercial vehicles industry is in the dumps.

Almost all the players have recorded negative growth in the last few

months. Whether they are light commercial vehicle manufacturers,

medium or heavy duty vehicle manufacturers, the worsening macro

economic climate is playing havoc with them. The exhaustive report

describes the prevailing sombre mood. Not all hope is lost. Analysts and

experts feel that the downturn is likely to be arrested in 2014 and India

would emerge as a formidable player in the global commercial vehicles

space.

Among the CV players, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) is

a company to be watched. VECV, a joint venture company between

Eicher Motors and the Volvo Group is among the most profitable CV

manufacturers in the country. The JV recently announced that it would

be making Euro 6 base engines for export to Volvo Group in France. Base

engines are engines without aggregates. The same engine would also

be used for making Euro 3, 4 and 5 engines in India to be fitted in Eicher

trucks here. The implications are huge. In one single masterstroke, VE

Commercial Vehicles gets privy to the latest technology of Volvo and is

catapulted into a global engine maker with the most modern technology. Motown India team went to Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh and met up

with the senior management of VECV.

P. Tharyan

September 2013 / 3 www.motownindia.com

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CONTENTS

www.motownindia.com 6 / September 2013

58. Five exciting races in Round 2 of JK Tyre Racing Championship 2013

VE Commercial Vehicles Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between the Volvo Group (Volvo) and Eicher Motors Limited (EML). VECV comprises of several business verticals including VE Powertrain. Recently, the company added a bright feather to its cap when it announced that VE Powertrain will be exporting Euro 6 base engines to Volvo’s Venissieux plant in France where it would be assembled and fitted into trucks for the global markets.

The concluding day of Round 2 of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship witnessed five exciting races, two each in the JK Racing India Series and JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup and one in the Formula LGB 4 class, at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Fresh after the previous day’s scintillating victory in the first race, the JK Racing India Series’ second race witnessed pole position holder Vishnu Prasad leading the pack of drivers by a margin that kept widening after each round.

10. Spyker introduces the B6 Venator Spyder Concept

Luxury car maker Spyker of the Netherlands has introduced the Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept and the car is headed for India! The Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept will begin production in late 2014 for key markets including Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and India, followed by the US in early 2015. . The Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept is the eagerly awaited convertible execution of Spyker’s compact, 2-door mid-engine sports car.

32. Commercial Vehicles Special

India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing passenger car markets and second largest two-wheeler manufacturer. It has also now become the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world and is tipped to be figured among the top three nations in the next decade or so. Although the Indian truck and bus industry is reeling under the dark clouds of decelerating sales, most of the global and Indian manufacturers are zeroing in on the development of innovative products, technologies and supply chains. And not to discount the fact that LCV segment is giving these players some sort of soft cushion.

24. VECV: Ready To Reap

Contents.indd 6 8/29/2013 5:48:25 PM

Full Page AD.indd 1 8/28/2013 1:02:34 PM

TUTU’S FINE TUNES


To most automobile aficionados, the word ‘Porsche’ means the world to them, evoking memories of

motoring thrill and excitement. Yet, very few really know the exact contribution of this great man to the world of automobiles. As early as 1902, Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of this great automobile company, was the first one to have

come with a hybrid engine car ‘MIXTE’--a gasoline engine with an electric motor within the power plant that served an automatic transmission. This concept of course is now becoming popular with most big and important automobile manufacturers in the world. It is indeed a matter of great interest to some, that what most believe is a new concept is actually the oldest and is now being exploited by several companies, even going to the extent of claiming that their

For the hybrid technology, we owe it to Ferdinand Porsche

R.K. DHAWAN (TUTU)

Tutu’s Fine Tunes.indd 8 8/29/2013 5:50:15 PM

TUTU’S FINE TUNES


technology is ‘unique’. The world seems to have forgotten the great contribution of Ferdinand Porsche!

Born in 1875 in Czech Republic, Ferdinand Porsche showed great aptitude for mechanical work at a very young age and managed to attend classes at the Imperial Technical School at night while helping his father in his mechanical shop by day. Just as he turned 18 he landed up with a job with an electrical company in Vienna (Austria). There he would sneak into the local university whenever he could after work but never received any higher engineering education. An Austrian/German automotive engineer, Ferdinand Porsche was the founder of Porsche Motor Cars and

also the, creator of the world’s first hybrid vehicle (gasoline-electric), the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, and the ground-breaking Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK. He designed the 1923 Benz Tropfenwagen, which was the first race car with mid-engine, rear-wheel drive automobile. Known as the “Great engineer” he designed the German tanks Tiger I, Tiger II, and the Elefant as well as the super-heavy Panzer VIII Maus tank. He also made contributions in aircraft design. He designed and produced

the four-seater race car Prince Heinrich which actually carried three passengers while on the track and later came to be popularly known as ‘Prince Henry’ a car that won

the first three places in 1910. Hitler wanted his people to travel in a four wheeler hence ordered Porsche to make a car that would become a common man’s vehicle, the Beetle.

Additionally,

Ferdinand Porsche helped develop and manufacture retaliatory weapons (Vergeltungswaffen), such as the V-1 flying bombs known as “Buzz Bomb” in England because of their buzzing noise they made while flying overhead before impact.

In 1996, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and in 1999 posthumously won the award of Car Engineer of the Century. In 2010 an official memorial was erected in Porsche’s birthplace in Vratislavice nad Nisou, Czech Republic, featuring a Porsche 356. The grand genius of the automobile world died on January 30, 1951. He was put to rest in Stuttgart, Germany.

Tutu’s Fine Tunes.indd 9 8/29/2013 5:50:41 PM

MOTOWN INDIA HIGHLIGHTS


Joe King, new Head of Audi India

Raj Sarkar is the new VP, Marketing Ford India

Joe King has been appointed as the Head of Audi India, effective September 1, 2013. He takes over from Michael Perschke who will move as Head of Network Strategy and Business Management, international level, at Audi AG. Educated at the University of Melbourne, Joe King brings more than 23 years of automotive experience to the role, having commenced his career with Toyota in 1990.

Ford India announced the appointment of Raj Sarkar, as the vice president of Marketing. Sarkar, who has over 17 years of experience of both product and consumer marketing for Ford models in North America, will now have key responsibility for overall brand building at Ford India. He will report to Vinay Piparsania, Executive Director for Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford India.

B6 Venator Spyder Concept headed for India in 2014

Luxury car maker Spyker of the Netherlands has introduced the Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept and the car is headed for India! The Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept will begin production in late 2014 for key markets including Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and India, followed by the US in early 2015. The Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept is the eagerly awaited convertible execution of Spyker’s compact, 2-door mid-engine sports car. This comes just five months after unveiling the B6 Venator Coupe Concept to rave reviews at the 83rd International Geneva Motor Show. Chief Executive Officer Victor R. Muller chose The Quail as the site for the Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept’s worldwide premiere because, “It is the car’s natural habitat. Car enthusiasts from around the globe descend upon exquisitely beautiful Pebble Beach for the Concours d’Elegance weekend, and The Quail Motorsports Gathering is the most

exclusive event of all.” The rear-mid mounted V6 engine

produces a maximum power of 375+ bhp. Exterior highlights include: The trademark radiator grille’s mesh is V-shaped, referencing Spyker models of the previous century. The 1903 Spyker logo harkens back to an era when Spyker built racers such as the amazing 60HP. The headlights, equipped with LED light rails, give the car an aggressive stance.

The 3D LED rear lights are akin to the iris-type after burners of a jet engine from a modern fighter aircraft.

The brake light has been sculpted into the rear panel design to ensure smooth, flowing design lines.

Elegantly aggressive 19” Turbofan wheels are shown in mirror polish finish.

Motown India Highlights New.indd 10 8/29/2013 6:18:32 PM



Award for Delphi

Intelligent traffic control system

Delphi Automotive PLC received the 2013 Automobil Produktion Most Innovative Technology Award in the ‘Safe’ category for its RACam technology, the world’s first integrated radar and camera system. The award was presented by the German trade magazine Automobil Produktion in cooperation with European supplier association CLEPA and German automotive industry association VDA. Delphi’s RACam, which is expected to start production next year, is a very compact, high-performance radar and camera integrated system.

Three pre-final year students Haritabh Gupta (3rd Year CSE), Rahul Kumar (3rd Year ECE) and Amber Kumar Das (3rd Year CSE) of MCKV Institute of Engineering, Howrah were motivated to design and implement a system called Intelligent Traffic Control System to reduce the time loss to a great extent. The system developed is able to sense the presence or absence of vehicles within certain range by setting the appropriate duration for the traffic signals to react accordingly.

Maruti Suzuki Stingray launched

Rolls-Royce Wraith begins India debut at 4.6 crore

Maruti Suzuki has introduced the sporty Stingray. Some of its features include expressive projector headlamps and stylish reflector grille. The expressive projector lamps are first-of-its-kind on a car in this class of vehicles. Stingray will be available in Lxi and Vxi variants (ABS and Driver Airbag are optional in Vxi). The introductory prices (ex showroom Delhi) of the car are: Stingray Lxi- 409,999/-,

Rolls-Royce Wraith has begun its multi-city tour of India, starting with New Delhi. Rolls-Royce’s latest model will be the centrepiece of various events that will be held for customers and media in cities including Mumbai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. The Wraith pricing will start from 4.6 crore. The Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history delivering a peak power of 624bhp and 800Nm of peak torque from 1,500rpm. It does a 0-100kmph in 4.6 seconds. At 624bhp the Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce motor car ever made.

Stingray Vxi – 437,999 and Stingray Vxi (O)- 466,999. The Stingray is powered by the 998cc three-cylinder K-series engine. The K-10 engine on Stingray delivers a power of 67bhp@6200rpm and a high torque of 90Nm@3500 rpm. Stingray will return a fuel efficiency of 20.51 kmpl of petrol (Certified as per rule 115 of CMVR1989).




Nissan unveils Terrano SUV

Nissan Motor India has unveiled its Terrano compact SUV, which is essentially a badge-engineered version of the Renault Duster. Even though the company has not revealed the technical specifications, the SUV is expected to borrow its powertrain from the Renault Duster. The made-in-India SUV will be made available in six colours. The car will be built alongside the Duster at the Renault-Nissan joint manufacturing facility at Oragadam, Chennai. The Indian arm of the Japanese automaker has mentioned that the model’s pre-bookings will kick off on September 1, 2013 and would be available in October at a sub- 10 lakh price point. It is widely

believed that the Terrano will be positioned above the Renault Duster and will be sold only in the domestic market. Kenichiro Yomura, President Nissan India Operations, noted, “Terrano marks our entry into the compact SUV segment, which is one of the fastest growing segments in the Indian market today.”

Hero MotoCorp expects 60,000-cr turnover by 2020Hero MotoCorp, which has reached the milestone of 50 millionth unit production, has announced that it is on course to establish 20 manufacturing facilities across the globe and clock a turnover turnover of 60,000 crore. As part of its ambitious global expansion plans, the Indian two-wheeler manufacturer is planning to foray into 50 new

markets and have six assembly lines spread across three continents by next year.

“We will be selling in 50-plus countries by 2020. To top it all, I am talking of an annual turnover of 60,000 crore,” Hero MotoCorp Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal told reporters at the company’s plant.

Apollo Tyres three-year tie up with Manchester United Apollo Tyres has a three-year partnership deal with Britain’s leading Premier League football club Manchester United. As part of the agreement, the tyre manufacturer and distributor will become the clubs official tyre partner in the UK and India and create football-based play zones for local communities in both countries using recycled rubber. The Indian tyremaker will also be raising awareness of its brand among potential customers, business partners and consumer audiences around the world. The announcement was made at a launch event at the Club’s Aon Training

Complex, which was attended by the senior management of Apollo Tyres, led by Chairman, Onkar S Kanwar and Manchester United Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold. Commenting on the announcement, Onkar S. Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres Ltd said, “This is a very important partnership for us as a company and clearly demonstrates our global ambitions for our business, and the brand. Very few sports platforms deliver a global profile and awareness and we believe the impact of this relationship will be significant in helping to make Apollo a globally recognisable brand.”


Full Page AD.indd 1 8/20/2013 10:27:27 AM



R.N. Rao new Director, Sales & Marketing, AMW

Triumph India appoints new MD

Asia Motor Works (AMW) announced that it has appointed R.N. Rao as Director, Sales and Marketing. He will be responsible for marketing, sales, service and product development. He will be based at the company’s corporate office in Mumbai.

Rao is a mechanical engineer from VJTI, Mumbai and holds a Post Graduate degree in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. has finally announced its entry into the Indian market with products slated to hit the roads by November 2013. The British motorcycle manufacturer has also appointed Vimal Sumbly as managing director for its Indian operations. The company will also be assembling some of its models in India in a CKD form at its upcoming facility at Manesar, Haryana. However, it didn’t disclose the models that would be assembled.

Mahindra rejigs CV operations post divorce with NavistarMahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has announced its plans to restructure its Commercial Vehicles (CV) operations by merging its truck and bus business with itself. The decision comes about less than a year after buying out the stake from its erstwhile JV partner Navistar. The company had earlier renamed the erstwhile Mahindra Navistar Automotive Ltd. (MNAL) as Mahindra Trucks and Buses Ltd. (MTBL), which is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the US$ 16.2 billion Mahindra Group. India’s largest utility vehicle and tractor maker has also announced it will invest 500 crore over three years to strengthen its presence in the CV segment

Ashok Leyland unleashes Neptune engineAshok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship, launched the Neptune engine ushering in a new era in engine technology. Designed and developed in-house from a clean sheet, the Neptune family of engines has been globally benchmarked for greater fuel efficiency, lower

maintenance, longer life, greater reliability and superior NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) characteristics.

The future-ready ‘Neptune’ engine will be available in BS-III and BS-IV versions and is also package protected for BS-V and BS-VI.

and start exploratory work for new product lines. “Subject to regulatory approvals, the company also intends to demerge its trucks and buses operations from MTBL into Mahindra & Mahindra to derive greater synergies,” M&M noted in a statement.

Mahindra Trucks and Buses Ltd. has also announced new branding for its heavy commercial vehicle range which will be completed by October’13. The multi-axle trucks will now be called Mahindra Truxo 25 and Truxo 31; Tractor Trailers will be called Mahindra Traco 35 and Traco 40; and the tippers will be called Mahindra Torro 25 and Torro 31.


ad.indd 2 7/23/2012 6:30:29 PM



Mahindra Centuro gets 30,000+ bookings

Streparava Holding takes 100pc stake in Bangalore co.

Mahindra Two Wheelers has announced that it has received an overwhelming 30,000 plus bookings for its Mahindra Centuro motorcycle within just 6 weeks of the bike’s launch. The company is ramping up production capacity at its Pithampur plant to meet this growing demand. The fully loaded Mahindra Centuro is available across India at an introductory price of 45,000 (ex showroom- New Delhi).

Streparava Holding SPA has announced that they have now taken over 100pc of the equity of Sansera + Streparava Engineering Private Limited (company). Streparava earlier held 49pc equity in the company and the remaining 51pc was held by Sansera Engineering Private Limited. Streparava is an Italian manufacturer of auto components and makes rocker arms, chassis components, bearing cups, valve bridges and other powertrain components.

Audi Q3 S Edition launched

Mercedes-Benz India kicks off CKD operations of GL-Class

The Audi Q3 S edition was launched in New Delhi with a price tag of 24,99,000 (ex-showroom

Delhi). The Q3 S edition is a sporty version of its SUV of the year. It will be available across India through Audi dealerships from end of August 2013. The vehicle comes with a 2.0 litre TDI engine with power output of 140bhp and a six-speed manual transmission. The top end torque is around 320Nm at 1750-2500rpm. The engine delivers

a fuel efficiency of 17.32km to a litre of diesel fuel. The first 10 Audi Q3 S editions booked online will win a special off-road style package.

Mercedes-Benz India has announced it has begun the production of the second generation GL-Class full-size luxury SUV in the country. The roll-out of the all new second generation GL-Class from Mercedes-Benz India’s world-class plant in Chakan near Pune, reiterates Mercedes-Benz’s aggressive product portfolio for

the Indian market and also underlines the company’s long-term strategy and commitment. The new GL-Class was rolled-out from the assembly line by Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Piyush Arora, Director- Technical, Mercedes-Benz India. The GL 350 CDI will be available at

72.58 lakh, ex-showroom Pune.


2013SIAM

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTAUTO INDUSTRY INCONTRIBUTION OF

4th September 2013DATE

9.30am - 5.15pmTIME

Hotel Taj Palace,Diplomatic Enclave,New Delhi-110021

VENUE

SIAM Annual Convention 2013The Auto Industry of India has emerged as a major contributor to India's GDP. Join senior industry experts, policy-makers, CEOs and

senior representatives from the Indian & Global OEMs as they discuss issues influencing Indian Automotive Industry's competitiveness,

growth, its contribution to economic development in India and its integration with the global economy, at the most important annual

automotive convention in India.

For registration please contact:

+91-11-4710-3010 or [email protected] | www.siam.in

Adept/SIAM

-AC13/14

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Mr A K Taneja

Past President, ACMA

Mr Kamal Nath

Hon’'ble Minister of Urban

Development, Government

of India

Mr Toru Asai

Director, Ministry of Economy,

Trade and Industry, Japan

Mr Som Mittal

President, NASSCOM

Mr Shigeru Hayakawa

Chairman, JAMA International

Committee and Senior Managing

Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation,

Japan

Mr Praful Patel

Hon’'ble Minister of Heavy

Industries & Public Enterprises,

Government of India

Mr R Seshasayee

Past President, SIAM and

Executive Vice Chairman,

Ashok Leyland

Mr Pankaj Agrawala

Secretary, Ministry of

Consumer Affairs

Dr Sutanu Behuria

Secretary, Ministry of Heavy

Industries & Public Enterprises

Mr Vinod K Dasari

Managing Director,

Ashok Leyland

Mr Vikram Sirur

President, IMTMA

Mr S Sandilya

President, SIAM

Mr Ajay Shankar

Member Secretary, National

Manufacturing Competitiveness

Council

Dr Sudhir Krishna

Secretary, Ministry of

Urban Development

Dr Goetz Klink

Head, Global Automotive

Practice, A T Kearney

Mr Vikram S Kirloskar

Vice President, SIAM

Mr Vijay Chhibber

Secretary, Ministry of Road

Transport & Highways

Dr Pawan Goenka

Past President, SIAM and

President, Automotive and

Farm Equipment Sectors,

Mahindra & Mahindra

Mr Siddhartha Lal

Managing Director,

VE Commercial Vehicles

Mr David L Schoch

Group Vice President &

President Asia Pacific, Ford

Motor Company

SIAM.indd 1 8/22/2013 3:46:03 PM



Force Motors brings in SX, EX variants of Force OneForce Motors has introduced more variants of the Force One model–Force One SX and Force One EX. The 4×2 Force One SX comes with safety features like Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) along with high end, new age comfort and convenience features like driver information system, progressive cruise control, steering mounted audio controls, electrically operated OSRVM with side indicators, reverse parking sensors and plush leather seats. The Force One EX is priced at8.99 lakh (ex-showroom pan

India).The sixteen inch alloy wheels

coupled with the 205mm high ground clearance enhance the road clearance of the Force One SX. Its 2.2 litre Common rail, 16valves, OHC, Turbocharged diesel engine developing 139bhp is made under license from Daimler AG Germany. The entire onboard electronics is audited and validated by Mercedes-Benz Technologies Germany. The ride and handling has been fine tuned by Lotus Engineering UK. Force One SX is priced 11.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Chinese government authorities have approved Volvo Car Group’s (Volvo Cars) establishment of manufacturing plants in Daqing and Zhangjiakou. As a result, Volvo Cars’ full Chinese industrial footprint, including Chengdu, has been approved.

The assembly plant in Daqing is under construction and the first pre-series cars will be built late 2013 for training purposes. The plant is forecast to be fully operational in 2014.

The engine plant in Zhangjiakou

will become operational during the autumn of this year and will deliver engines to Volvo Cars’ manufacturing plant in Chengdu, where serial production will start in the fourth quarter of 2013. Zhangjiakou will also supply the assembly plant in Daqing.

NMB-Minebea India Private Limited (NMB- Minebea India), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Minebea Co. Ltd. (Minebea), a leading manufacturer of miniature and small sized bearings and precision components, announced commencement of its operations in Gurgaon, India. The company will focus on strengthening Minebea’s business operations and expanding its sales activities for the new clients in Indian market, where government too is placing increased emphasis on manufacturing activity.

Until now, Minebea’s marketing activities had been carried out

through its representative office in Chennai. However, going forward, upon the establishment of its subsidiary NMB-Minebea India, the company will start its full-fledged business operations. NMB-Minebea India will be head quartered in Gurgaon, with branch offices in Chennai and Pune.

Volvo to roll out cars in China

Japan-based Minebea enters Indian bearings market


INDIA REPORT


Hero Cycles jumps on the aluminium bandwagonReport: Avishek Banerjee

“Although bicycles made of aluminium frames are pricier than steel frames, they are pretty lightweight, durable and corrosion-resistant. And we are creating a revolution with such next-generation cycles,” affirmed Pankaj Munjal, Co-Chairman and Managing Director, Hero Cycles, just before inaugurating a new all-aluminium cycle unit in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh within the premises of its existing plant. The statement was made to signify that Hero Cycles is repositioning itself from a traditional cycle maker to an urban and lifestyle brand. To reinforce its claim, he also launched two heavily-indigenised all-aluminium cycles -- ‘Astra’ and ‘Orion’ -- under its premium ‘Octane’ brand with the prices starting from 8,000. With the Octane brand,

Hero is targeting customers who seek adventure and are not ready to compromise with quality.

The homegrown firm, which was primarily known for mass-market (black and white-toned) cycles, is now training its guns on the premium bicycle market which is growing at 40-45pc annually. Munjal further shared, “Until now, we were importing the aluminium frames. But now we will be building them at our new facility that has the capacity to roll out one lakh cycles per annum. This will ensure that we are

not only able to price our products competitively but also encourage wannabe premium cycle owners that they get the products that they have desired for. We sold 36,000 (premium) bikes last year and with this plant getting operational, we are expecting the numbers to shoot up five-fold this fiscal year.” He further added, “Our plans to go global and gain a foothold in Africa, parts of Europe and South-east Asia will get a major fillip with the advent of this hi-tech unit and our renewed vision to serve our customers in the best way possible.”

UPPING THE PREMIUM ANTE

The world’s largest bicyclemaker by volumes is selling multiple products with three high-end brands such as Urban Trail ( 10,000-30,000) in alloy and carbon frames, Sprint- ( 4,000-5,000) in all-steel frames and the Octane ( 5,000-12,000) in all-aluminum frames. In order to provide its premium and super-premium customers a better experience, the company is also establishing a chain of Company-Owned Company Operated (COCO)

Pankaj Munjal, Co-Chairman and Managing Director, Hero Cycles

India Report.indd 22 8/29/2013 6:25:12 PM

INDIA REPORT


outlets as well as signature ‘Hero One’ stores in all the cosmopolitan and metropolitan cities of this country. While the Urban Trail store is aimed exclusively at the premium market category, ‘Hero One’ aims to offer products for a wider segment of the population.

Munjal highlighted, “We will be revamping our point of sales by setting up dedicated outlets for selling Hero Cycles. We are already setting up exclusive branded outlets like ‘Hero One’ for selling the premium bicycles. These will be through franchisee route and we will open upto 200 outlets by FY 2014-end.”

Additionally, 150 out of the existing 2,200 Hero Cycle dealers are also selling the premium Urban Trail range across 35 cities. Traditionally, it sells its products through dealers and multi-brand retail outlets and Future Group stores and is now expanding through exclusive franchise dealer network.

Hero Cycles already commands close to 50pc of the 12 million cycles sold in the domestic market, but that is largely confined to entry-level products (black and white-toned steel cycles) which is sold in the price band of 2,000-3,000. The world leader in bicycles that produces over 19,000 bicycles per day is the world’s largest integrated manufacturer of bicycles by volumes. The company is also drawing up plans to double its sales to 10 million units by 2018.

GROWTH PLANS

The company’s major thrust will remain on the domestic market, though it is also eyeing certain countries in Africa like Mozambique, Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya and Tunisia. Munjal didn’t divulge any details but

well-informed sources have indicated that there will be an assembly unit in Africa where high-margin premium cycles could be shipped out in a CKD format.

Hero Cycles; part of the OP Munjal-led Hero Group, is also on the verge of taking over a couple of overseas firms in Europe for an estimated sum of 500-550 crore. It is widely believed that Hero Cycles will be funding the acquisition through internal accruals.

When queried on the same, Munjal confirmed, “Yes, we are eyeing a couple of firms in the overseas markets (in Europe). We will share the details once we make the announcement.”

With the inorganic growth, Hero Cycles intends to gain a strategic foothold in developed markets like Germany, England, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. It is also scouting for partners in the US, Germany, Japan and the UK to export the cycles under a contract manufacturing deal. Currently, a small batch of Hero Cycles is shipped out to Spain, African region and Poland.

The Ludhiana-based Hero Cycles is part of the 2,300-crore Munjal Holdings, which also owns auto component firm Hero Motors. Going forward, the company also plans to locally manufacture critical components like internal gear hubs, electric drive units and front forks. It had earlier announced that it is pumping in 200 crore in establishing two greenfield facilities by 2014. It has already laid the foundations for its new plant at Bihta Industrial and Logistics Park, near Patna, Bihar, which will have an annual capacity of one million units and will be operational by next year. Another plant at Mangli in Ludhiana will be up and running by next year end. The two new plants will have installed capacities of one million cycles per annum.

“Currently, our existing plant at Ludhiana has a capacity of six million units. The two new plants will roll out cycles for our export markets,” Munjal shared. With additional capacities, Hero Cycles is aiming scale up its revenue to over 2,000+ crore in the next few fiscals from 1,450 crore clocked in FY 2012-13.

India Report.indd 23 8/29/2013 6:25:36 PM

COVER REPORT


VECV Ready To ReapReport P. Tharyan Photography Mohd. Nasir

Like all truck and bus manufacturers in the country today, the sales of VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. (VECV) are down. But at VECV, the top management, rather than being in a sombre mood, is unperturbed. They are busy going ahead with all their capex plans running into thousands of crores of rupees. The future according to them looks good.

Recently, the company added a bright feather to its cap when it announced that VE Powertrain will be exporting Euro 6 base engines to Volvo’s Venissieux plant in France where it would be assembled and fitted into trucks for the global markets. Also, during the first quarter of the current financial year, VECV set up a wholly owned subsidiary VECV Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. in Sri Lanka for the purpose of expanding its commercial vehicles operations in Sri Lanka and invested 5.43 crore as part of capital expenditure. In Q1 2013, Eicher Motors Limited reported the best ever quarterly total income

Cover Report September 2013.indd 24 8/29/2013 6:38:01 PM

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from operations at 1,724.3 crore, an increase of 3.4pc over 1,668.2 crore in Q1 2012.

Says Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV, “Till last financial year, we had invested around 1,300 crore. This year we have invested another 200 to 300 crore till now. Till 2014

end there will be further investments of around 1,000 crore. By 2014 end this joint venture would have invested 2,500 crore which includes the engine plant, cabin plant, new products, new test beds, etc. We have done various investments which will help us achieve our

aspirational targets. We have targets to grow our share in heavy duty trucks. It is a large potential area for us. In medium and light duty vehicles we have a 30+ pc market share. In the heavy duty segment we are around 4-5pc market share. Similarly in the bus segment we have a huge potential for growth. We have grown from 6pc market share in the beginning of the joint venture to around 14pc last month in our market share for buses”.

VE Commercial Vehicles Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between the Volvo Group (Volvo) and

Eicher Motors Limited (EML). VECV comprises of several business verticals including VE Powertrain.

Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO, Eicher Motors, notes, “It’s been five year since the JV started (July 2008) and it’s been an absolutely phenomenal five years for us. The way I want to look at it is that we have really set the platform. Our marketshare has grown every year for the last five years. Our profitability has overtaken that of our main competitors. Now we are on a structurally better position than them. Our growth has been

A robot using smart cell technology.


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Eicher-Polaris small passenger vehicle is readyIt need not be Datsun alone that could ruffle the small car market in India. So do we expect Eicher-Polaris joint venture to launch their small car too in 2014? Eicher and Polaris have completed making their first small personal vehicle. This was confirmed by Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO of Eicher Motors Ltd. Speaking to Motown India at the Pithampur based VE Commercial Engine Euro 6 plant, Lal confirmed that the “Product development stage is over”. He added that, “Distribution aspects are being worked out”. Lal did not mention whether this small vehicle would be a quadricycle. He refrained from giving details of the vehicle.

Eicher Motors Limited had signed a strategic joint venture agreement with US based Polaris Industries Inc., a leader in all terrain vehicles, to set up a greenfield project in the automotive sector. The agreement was signed between Siddhartha Lal and Scott W. Wine, CEO, Polaris Industries Inc. This agreement envisaged the creation of a joint venture company with a 50-50 partnership between the two companies. The joint venture company will design, develop, manufacture and sell a full new range of personal vehicles suitable for India and other emerging markets. The expected start of production will be 2015.

faster. But really, that has not been our story. The real story is what we have put as a base or platform. We shall now be reaping this in the next five years or so. The base has been quality orientation of a different class. Our parts distribution centre is world class. Our ability to serve our dealers and retailers of parts across the country is now at a very different level.”

Lal further notes that the products that his company shall be rolling out this year, in 2014 and 2015 will take Indian trucking to an “absolutely new level”. He claims that all of that

has been done on a foundation his company has created. “The last one and a half years have been extremely depressed. We have not cut one rupee on our capex. We have continued to meet investments on all fronts particularly technology, products, quality, distribution and aftermarket. When the industry comes out of the downtrend we would be the ones who would have invested tremendously and that will help us grow. The minus 20pc and minus 30pc growth rates which we have been seeing will flatten out first. Downturns are part of industry

and our industry is cyclical. We feel that the markets will come around in three months to six months,” he says.

“In the last five years we have done tremendous progress. When we started this joint venture in 2008 we were selling around 25,000 trucks and buses. Within a year we increased that to 48,000 trucks and buses. Due to recession, 2012 was a flat year, and 2013 will also likely close with a low growth. At the same time if you were to compare with the industry, we are doing relatively much better and we are improving our marketshare continuously.


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Apart from the engines, we have a technology partnership in the cabin business. We are coming out with a whole new range of products by the year end. For all the initiatives we have been making investments,” says Aggarwal.

According to Aggarwal, in the last five years his company has made tremendous progress. “The investments we have made are for our future. This will take us to the next level of growth. This is a very solid foundation. We have been able to create tremendous trust between the two partners. The Euro 6 engine project that has been awarded to us, is a result of this trust. We have benefitted in the hardcore technology area. The engine technology we shall be adopting for our own applications. The engines will be put in Eicher trucks. We have got cabin technology from the Volvo group. We have benefitted both in the software as well as hardware

areas,” he maintains.

LEAPFROGGING EVERY COMPETITOR

The Pithampur VE Powertrain plant is technologically the most advanced engine manufacturing plant in India. The plant was set up at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh with an initial capacity of 25,000 units per annum in Phase I at an investment of 375 crore. The capacity will increase step by step to 100,000 units per annum as per the market requirements with an additional investment of round 125 crore. Lal told journalists at Pithampur that VECV will be manufacturing Euro 6 compliant base engines for meeting automotive requirements of medium duty engines of Volvo Group globally.

The engine facility will be a global hub for meeting the medium-duty automotive engine requirements

of Volvo Group globally for five- and eight-litre engines. The Euro 6-compliant diesel base engines will be supplied to Volvo Group plant in Venissieux, France where these engines will be assembled for the Volvo Group Euro 6 requirements. The same platform will be adapted to Euro 3 and 4 engine (BS3/BS4) technologies to meet the VECV requirements and other Volvo Group requirements for this type of engines in Asia.

“With this new Euro 6 engines, we totally leapfrog every other competitor. While we would be making hundreds and thousands of Euro 6 engines, even when Euro 4 comes to force all over India, our capability to make these engines at the right quality, at the right cost, with enormous sophistication, is unsurpassed. This is an extreme case of leapfrogging. It plays back to our core theme and our vision at VECV which is ‘driving modernisation’ in

L to R: Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV, Bertil Thoren of Volvo Group, Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO, Eicher Motors and Rajesh Mittal, Senior Vice President & Head – Operations, VECV


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commercial transportation,” says Lal.Bertil Thoren, representing

Volvo Group on VECV Board of Directors and who was present on the occasion says, “The global manufacturing hub at VECV is truly a win-win situation for both Volvo group and VECV. While on one hand it will help Volvo Group reduce costs by sourcing engines from this plant, on the other hand, it will help VECV to source best in class Euro III and Euro IV engines based on latest Euro VI Volvo Group technology. The manufacturing plant is based on Volvo Group global manufacturing systems and processes and is one of the most modern plants. The setup

has passed the most stringent global quality norms of Volvo Group and is now equipped to produce highest quality engines meeting Volvo Group global standards for Euro 6 engines. There is a high level of relevant automation with in process verification on all the critical work stations. Additionally this is the first plant which has most flexible final engine assembly line using automatic guided vehicles and smart cell technology. Since the same engines are being adopted for Euro III and Euro IV for Indian Customers, it will benefit the Indian customers in terms of the most advanced technology engines with best in

class performance”.Aggarwal adds, “These engine

platforms have a power range of 180 to 350HP which will provide highest power to weight ratio in the Indian commercial vehicle space”.

“We have completed five years and at the same time we have inaugurated the state of the art Euro 6 technology engine plant. Eicher customers in India will get the benefit of the same technology (the base engine will be the same), only the peripherals and fuel injection system will be different. This is a big step for us,” says Aggarwal.

Aggarwal informs that the Eicher engines that the company

A view of the VECV engine plant at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh


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is currently using are from 80HP to 150HP. “The four cylinder two valve engines are being upgraded. We are upgrading to four valve engines. We have an option of existing Eicher engines, and this new engine. We can meet demand from different types of segments and for different applications. We would likely launch the new engines in the first quarter of 2014. The engine technology belongs to Volvo. We are manufacturing them according to their specifications. Their team is working with ours to

indigenise this engine. Around 88pc of parts of this engine are made in India,” he says.

Talking of the joint venture plant, Rajesh Mittal, Senior Vice President & Head – Operations, VECV, says, “It’s a unique combination of two companies’ strengths. Volvo has

global expertise and world class

systems and technologies. On the other hand Eicher has its approach of frugal and lean manufacturing, then there is a wide after sales network and we are very cost effective in our thinking. It is the best engine plant in the country. We follow Volvo manufacturing processes. It has a flexible line and different types of engines can be manufactured on the assembly line.

We have a smart cell technology where you can assemble 166 parts in

two minutes. Every part is bar coded

and every part

“With this new Euro 6 engines, we totally leapfrog every other competitor. While we would be making hundreds and thousands

of Euro 6 engines, even when Euro 4 comes to force all over India, our capability to make these engines at the right quality,

at the right cost, with enormous sophistication, is unsurpassed,” says Siddhartha Lal


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group is looking at this plant for sourcing parts globally. We came to Pithampur in 1986 with a capacity of 12,000 per month. Our current capacity is 66,000 units per annum. We can expand this capacity to 100,000 in a short period of time. The Eicher Trucks and Buses plant is the most lean and productive plant in the industry. This is a 75 acre plant where we can produce 100,000 trucks and buses,” informs Mittal.

Despite the industrial gloom, at VECV the spirits are high. Says Bertil Thoren, “I don’t feel desperate

at all. We have kept up very good profitability all through this period. We are eagerly waiting for the market to turn around. Hopefully, then our products will fit perfectly well.”

Aggarwal too holds the view that the CV industry has very big potential to grow in the medium to long term. “We are not worried. We focus on reducing wastages. Our price managements are good; it helps us to get good margins,” he says. The company, in short, is now ready to reap!

File photo of Volvo Tippercarefully assembled. Every engine produced will have zero defects”.

VECV BUSINESS VERTICALS READY TO REAP

VECV comprises of five business verticals, namely: Eicher Trucks and Buses, Volvo Trucks India, Eicher Engineering Products, Eicher Engineering Solutions and VE Powertrain. The JV has five different business areas and seven manufacturing units in and around Indore. While the company manufactures trucks and buses at Pithampur, engines too are made in the same area. It has a bus body building factory in Dhar which is 27km from the Pithampur engine plant. The company will be making its own bus bodies here. “We shall make high quality buses here based on the requirements of our vendors. The initial capacity is 7,500 units per annum which can be expanded to 15,000 units per annum. It will go in production in a month or so,” says Rajesh Mittal.

“In Dewas we have two plants for transmission components. We also have a plant in the SEZ area for export of gear box assemblies. VE Power Distribution Centre situated near the engine plant is for the aftermarket. It is a 9,000sq metre distribution centre. It can handle 150,000 part lines. At Eicher engineering Centre we can make gearboxes and components. The engines that are made at the powertrain plant will get their gearboxes from here. Volvo




Commercial Vehicle industry reels under dark cloudsReport: Avishek Banerjee, Photography: Mohd. Nasir

CV NEW.indd 32 8/29/2013 6:52:42 PM



S ince the turn of this decade, the Indian automobile industry has become a key contributor to the country‘s Gross Domestic

Product (GDP). Moreover, India has also emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing passenger car markets and second largest two-wheeler manufacturer. It has also now become the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world and is tipped to be figured among the top three nations in the next decade or so. Although the Indian truck and bus industry is reeling under the dark clouds of decelerating sales, most of the global and Indian manufacturers are zeroing in on the development of innovative products, technologies and supply chains. And not to discount the fact that LCV segment is giving these players some sort of soft cushion.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT SECTOR

Since time immemorial, the commercial vehicle industry has been inextricably linked to the country’s industrial activities and the overall GDP. The India Transport Portal (ITP) has claimed that road transport is vital to the economic development and social integration of the country. The transport sector accounts for a share of 6.4pc in India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reflecting its significance. Road transport has emerged as the dominant segment in India’s transportation sector with a share of 4.7pc in India’s GDP as per the data on National Accounts released by

the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). LCV goods carrier is the fastest growing segment that is estimated to register a sales growth of around 20pc during FY 2012-FY 2015.

It is a known fact that Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland have a virtual duopoly in the domestic market with a combined marketshare of over 85-90pc. However, industry analysts have claimed that there will be a major shake-up in the market because of a number of rapidly changing events - right from the operating environment, fleet operator/ manager preferences, competition, distribution channel and also supply chain. Ernst & Young, one of the world’s leading professional services organisations says the Indian market, which has seen the entry of international majors like Daimler, Volvo, Scania, MAN, among others will see a CAGR growth of 15pc till 2016-17. The report also states that going ahead, fleets will focus on capacity utilisation to reduce operating costs and diversify customer base. The fleet operators will opt for higher tonnage, multi-axle trucks and will also rely on the usage of telematics and will focus on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

SMALL COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

Small Commercial Vehicles (SCVs) are going to continue to drive the growth of LCV sales in FY 2013-14 due to the growth in organised retail and their requirement for freight transfer in last mile connectivity. Better cost economics, higher loading capacity and ease of use have made SCVs more popular over three- wheeler goods carriers.

“The medium and heavy

commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segments have been the worst

hit due to moderation of

mining, subdued industrial activity

and lower replacement of old vehicles” - S. Sandilya,

President, SIAM

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The LCV bus segment that accounts for 50 per cent of bus sales is expected to experience a growth in sales backed by demand from educational institutions.

Despite the fact that sales went down by 13.45pc at 56,197 units in June’13 and by 8.12pc at 168,333 units, the Indian small and light commercial vehicle segment is expected to more than double by 2015-16 and grow at 18.5pc compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next five years, according to a report titled, ‘Strategic Assessment of Small and Light Commercial Vehicles Market in India’ by Frost & Sullivan.

CURRENT MARKET BLUES RIP APART PLAYERS

Even though commercial vehicle segment of the Indian automobile industry has shown great recovery after withstanding the effects of the global economic crisis post the

Lehman bankruptcy, it registered a decline in sales by 2.02pc at 7,93,150 units during FY 2012-13 as compared to 8,09,499 units sold in the corresponding period last fiscal. This is despite the fact that the LCV segment is experiencing a growth of 14.04pc at 524,887 units in the same period on Y-o-Y basis. The Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) declined sharply by 23.18pc at 268,263 units over the same period in the previous fiscal year. The CV segment’s exports declined by 13.35pc to 79,944 units in the last financial year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

During the current fiscal, the overall commercial vehicles segment registered a de-growth of (-) 8.12pc in April-June 2013 quarters as compared to the same period last year. Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCVs) registered negative growth at (-) 15.52pc and Light Commercial Vehicles

also dropped by (-) 3.94pc. This is in sharp contrast to the growth witnessed in the year ago period.

“The sharp decline of the CV segment is primarily owing to sustained slowdown in the industrial sector; drop in mining activity, hike in diesel prices by 5 by FY 2013-14 end, deceleration in the construction of national highways, moderate agriculture growth and lower replacement volume of vehicles. The medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segments have been the worst hit due to moderation of mining, subdued industrial activity and lower replacement of old vehicles,” revealed by S. Sandilya, President, SIAM, adding SIAM had already requested the government to take various steps to boost sales of CVs.

Industry analysts have claimed that with the economic revival next year coupled with enhanced public & private spending on infrastructure and higher penetration of financing

Heavy duty vehicles will propel growthSomewhere around the year 2000, there used to be a thumb rule that 20 cars equal one truck when it came to sales. This thumb rule is expected to change by the year 2025. By that year it is expected to be 16 cars to a truck. In short, by the year 2025, there would be more trucks sold in the world and this growth is expected to come from BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China). According to Amit Kaushik, (Principal Analyst, Autos, IHS), India and China will be formidable players.

“Europe which was contributing

around 25pc in terms of numbers in 2005 in CVs, is expected to contribute around 20pc in 2020. North America which was contributing around 27pc is expected to lose by at least half in this period. China and India will be the major beneficiaries of this shift in the period,” says Kaushik of IHS. The US headquarted IHS provide comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods to businesses and governments in more than 165 countries.

India is expected to contribute as

much as 300,000 vehicles in terms of heavy vehicles by 2020, and around 2,50,000 units of medium duty vehicles, maintains Kaushik.

“From 2013 to 2020 we expect the heavy duty segment to grow by a CAGR of 9.2pc, while medium duty vehicle segment is expected to grow by around 5pc only. The momentum is skewed towards heavy duty vehicles. The medium vehicles are actually under pressure because of light commercial vehicles,” Kaushik adds.

P.Tharyan

CV NEW.indd 34 8/29/2013 6:53:18 PM



facilities, the CV market will see a revival in the coming quarters.

“The government has taken positive measures in the Annual Budget 2013-14 to provide an impetus to the commercial vehicle sector to boost sales in the current financial year by dropping excise duty on CV chassis by 1pc, dropping loan interest rates of government banks from 14.5pc to 14.3pc and extension of the JNNURM scheme for purchase of buses for hilly states,” noted S. Sandilya.

SIAM FOR GOVERNMENT MEASURES TO BOOST CV INDUSTRY

SIAM has proposed that the industrial measures to the government to give an impetus to the commercial vehicle segment by opening up the mining sector at the earliest and speed up infrastructure spending, especially that of road construction. It also wanted the government to adopt fleet modernisation schemes, purchase CVs for municipal applications, increase depreciation rate of CVs to 60pc and enforce stricter legal provisions against overloading.

Vishnu Mathur, Director General, SIAM, in an emailed response, shared, “The cash-for clunkers policy in Europe was highly successful in incentivising the vehicle users to shift from fuel guzzling vehicles to smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. It not only helped in modernising the vehicle fleet, but also contributed to achieving lower fuel consumption as well as lower emissions in Europe. SIAM has been highlighting the need for introducing a similar policy in India through a “Fleet Modernisation” Scheme. A large number of vehicles, especially commercial vehicles manufactured before the year 2000, when the first Bharat Stage Emission norms were introduced, are still running on the roads. Some cities like Delhi have a policy that vehicles more than 15 years old will not be registered. This is not enough. Such old vehicles are taken out of Delhi and they get registered in some other neighbouring state, but continue to operate in Delhi. What SIAM is suggesting is that the government should give an incentive for totally scrapping such old vehicles and replacing them with modern ones. This will not only help in creating a healthy demand for new vehicles, but will make a huge contribution to the nation by way of reduced fuel consumption as well as emissions. The fleet modernisation policy could continue till such time that a robust Inspection-and-Maintenance (I&M) Regime comes up in the country, after which replacement of old vehicles could be enforced through the I&M Regime.”

FUTURE PROJECTIONS

As per Ernst & Young in its report

on ‘Mega trends shaping the Indian Commercial Vehicle Market’, the Indian commercial vehicle market will double to 1.6 million units in next five years because of factors like increase in infrastructure spend, rapid urbanisation and entry of major multinational players in the country. By 2050, at least five states are expected to be predominantly urban and 12 cities in India with population of more than 20 lakh are expected to get metro rail.

E&Y also maintained that global majors will redefine brand position in the market while domestic companies will build R&D competence and optimise costs through outsourcing and modularisation.

The key stakeholders, suppliers will improve local capacity and invest in R&D while improving operational efficiency and developing an aftermarket proposition. The companies will tackle manpower, economic and supply chain risks through skill development, production localisation and supplier collaboration. The truck majors and foreign fleets will induce distribution and aftermarket participants to offer value added services, as claimed by E&Y in its report.

The Ernst & Young study concludes that the competition among commercial vehicle manufacturers in India is expected to intensify as international OEMs raise the bar in terms of technology, quality, durability and reliability; while domestic OEMs invest to upgrade products and technology, strengthen dealer relationships and loyalty, reinforce distribution networks and build new competencies to defend their market shares.

Vishnu Mathur, Director General, SIAM

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Bus body builders come in all shapes and sizes. There are hundreds and thousands of workshops spread across the country, claiming to build trucks and buses. Every town and every city in the country has dozens of such outlets where mechanics and carpenters work under one roof to build on a naked chassis. Though many of them are not qualified to do this job correctly, there is no government law checking this practice. However, now for new buses and trucks to be registered it has become mandatory for two distinct parties to fill up two separate forms. They are the chassis manufacturer and the accredited body builder. Big bus body builders like Sutlej and JCBL are among the 250 different companies that have been accredited by the government to carry out body building on a new chassis.

According to an accreditation statement given by the testing

authorities, ARAI, CRIT and iCAT, around 250 companies have been accredited in India for building buses. This figure is expected to rise to 300 soon. “It (getting an accreditation) is compulsory as per the notification of the central government. They are amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR) . Before a bus is registered in the country, two things are required. One form is given by the chassis manufacturer where the manufacturer gives an undertaking that he is making the chassis as per the CMVR. Another form is given by the body builder where the latter gives an undertaking that the bus has been built as per the CMVR. It is only after this that the registration is given. In the form the bus body builder has to write not only that he is meeting CMVR rules, but also his accreditation number,”

explains Kulwant S. Wilkhu, Founder and past President, Indian Association of Bus Manufacturers. Wilkhu is also the Director--Business Director & Strategic Planning, Engineering and Marketing, Sutlej Motors Ltd based in Punjab.

Wilkhu says that he has appealed to many small players to become a part of

the association by paying a nominal fee of 5,000. “We said we would guide you to become accredited. But they said 5,000 is too much. I held seminars across the country trying to guide and motivate these people. The response has been very poor. Rather, people were saying that they would not allow any such regulation to monitor them,” he says. He further adds that unaccredited players can open repair shops and also be component suppliers to the accredited bus body builders. But the unorganised sector is in no hurry to heed to the advice of Wilkhu.

Jalandhar (Punjab) based Sutlej Motors makes luxury coaches for Mercedes. Sutlej Motors builds around 500 luxury coaches for Mercedes annually.

For bus body builders accreditation is now mandatoryReport: P.Tharyan

Kulwant S. Wilkhu, Founder and past President, Indian Association of Bus Manufacturers

Sutlej Motors Plant in Jalandhar

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GRD Body Builders to establish new facility at SonipatThe three-decade old- Guru Ram Das (GRD) Body Builders which is keen to ally with CV manufacturers, is now gearing up to establish a mega facility at Bahalgarh, Sonipat. The New Delhi-based firm is investing 6 crore in the first phase and another 10 crore in the subsequent phases. Once fully operational, the plant will be able to roll out 70-80 units per month. A team of 350 direct and indirect people would be employed at the new plant.

In an exclusive interaction with Motown India magazine, Mayank Kukreja, CEO, GRD Body Builders revealed, “Our endeavour is to make quality products, to move ahead along with our customers. We have been continuously producing & fabricating buses and coaches that are functionally & mechanically superior. The bodies we fabricate are widely acclaimed for their good finishing, robust construction, corrosion-resistance and many other features. As our clients had a good experience with our long-lasting products, we have witnessed immense growth in our business. After witnessing record orders from our clients, we have now decided to shift our entire output to a sprawling new facility at Bahalgarh, Sonipat. This will enable us to reduce the existing waiting period of our products. We will be investing 16 crore for the new plant that

will have an initial capacity of 3-4

vehicles in a single shift of 8 hours.”Kukreja went on to add, “There

will be a proper assembly line balancing as in there will be a separate parking for chassis. All the sub-assembly will be shifted from our existing units at Nangloi. We will also be able to productionise the parts over there. The new facility will be equipped with a complete range of machines for cutting, bending, welding and grinding operations apart from an in-house paint shop. Quality tooling will also be utilised for working on steel and aluminium inputs. It will also be supported by an in-house design unit with CAD/CAM/FEA facility that will help us in offering state-of-the-art designed range of buses.”

The homegrown bus bodybuilder, which currently caters to major tours and travel agencies like Rao Travels, Virmani Travels, Paras Travel, Satkar Travels, is now gearing up to tie up with OEMs. Its fabricated bus bodies come with various chassis options originally built by CV makers like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Swaraj Mazda, Eicher and Integral (Tata Marcopolo JV). Mayank said, “With the use of premium grade raw material, we are manufacturing and supplying a wide range of bus body parts to our clients. Our range consists of body building of school buses, ordinary buses, semi luxury buses and luxury buses.”

Meanwhile, GRD has recently come up with its flagship product

‘g-Run’, which is essentially a luxury coach. The 12-metre bus is based on the Ashok Leyland Rear Engine 6200 WB chassis and is equipped with premium features like 45-2X2 reclining seats, electronic rear side view mirrors, LED front & rear tail lamps, Pneumatic driver seat, Infotainment system with LED screen, individual AC vents with single touch, rear view camera etc.

The New Delhi-based firm, which has invested 20 crore until now, is planning to spend a similar amount for the next 7-8 years for its capex and other expansion plans. At present, it manages to sell 25 vehicles per month. “We are a company with a vast experience and a young team, a combination that has helped us change with the industry changes,” signs off Mayank Kukreja.

Report: Avishek Banerjee, Photography: Mohd. Nasir

Mayank Kukreja, CEO, GRD Body Builders

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ICRA analyses delinquency level in CV financingLeading credit rating agency ICRA has analysed how the asset quality in the CV finance industry (90+ delinquency level in the case of nine CV financiers with a book size of more than 85,000 crore as on December 2012) has moved vis-a-vis some of the key macroeconomic indicators, viz. GDP and Index for Industrial Production (IIP). For the period considered (Apr-08 to Dec-12), the 90+ dpd level (lagged by 3 months) was found to have a negative correlation of 91pc with GDP growth (manufacturing component) and 83pc with IIP (manufacturing component). In other words, a benign operating environment, as reflected in strong

increase in the GDP/ IIP numbers, usually results in improved asset quality (decline in 90+dpd level) and vice-versa.Since the beginning of FY 13, the CV industry has entered into a downward cycle following the slowdown witnessed in industrial growth and weakening investor sentiments across sectors. Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (MHCVs) largely plying over long distances on contract basis have borne the brunt of the current slowdown while the impact on Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) and Small Commercial Vehicles (SCVs) mostly used for captive purpose or by market load operators for shorter distance transportation has been

relatively subdued.Input costs for the MHCV transport

operators have gone up significantly due to substantial increase in diesel prices, driver salaries and toll charges. On the other hand, the load availability for the transport operator has come down owing to excess capacity in the system. Issues in the mining sector (in certain geographies) and slow project off-take in the infrastructure sector have also adversely impacted demand for transportation. All these factors have together ensured that the freight rates have not kept up pace with the escalating input costs, resulting in weaker profitability of most transport operators.

LCVs from Maruti SuzukiAfter gaining a formidable presence in the passenger car market, Maruti Suzuki is now drawing up plans to foray into the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment with its pickup vehicle (code-named Y-9T). The vehicle will be developed on the platform of parent Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC)’s Carry, an LCV that is sold in markets such as China, Indonesia and Pakistan. It will be rolled out from its brand new facility at Gujarat by FY 2015-16.

Expected to have a payload capacity of 1 to 1.5 tonnes, the upcoming product may sport a different brand.

When contacted by Motown India to ascertain about its LCV foray plans, a senior company official said, “The Answer is ‘Yes’. But from where (plant), we won’t be able to comment on this since a decision is taken that the company would foray into LCV segment. Other details are to be finalised in coming times.”

It is widely believed that the unchristened LCV will be equipped

with diesel and CNG fuel options. Even though the company has not shared its distribution plans, the new crop of small CVs might be retailed through the existing dealership network of its passenger cars.Around three decades ago, a similar plan was ideated by Maruti when it commenced its operations in the country. However, the proposition was shelved by the company as there was no demand for such products at that point of time.

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JBM Auto to foray into bus segment by October 2013

Indian bus industry will soon be having a new participant from one of its key component suppliers. JBM Auto, which fulfils the sheet metal requirements of commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Ashok Leyland, Eicher and Tata Motors, is now all set to launch full-fledged buses by the third quarter of this fiscal. The homegrown auto component firm, which is reportedly allying with a European technical collaborator, will also be setting up a greenfield facility in North India (rumored to be at Kosi, UP) for building buses. The BSE-listed company, however, refused to disclose the amount that has been earmarked for this venture. It is widely believed that the buses will be co-branded along with the name of the foreign partner. To be highly localised, the buses will be heavily engineered to suit the needs of worldwide markets.

Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group, told Motown India, “After providing high quality transportation solutions, we are now going a step further by coming up with our own buses by October this year. We have already earmarked a site at the Northern part of India which will be having enough space for chassis manufacturing, cowl building, interiors, etc. We will be forging an alliance with a foreign collaborator who would be bringing in the necessary powertrain and

other vehicle technologies. All the details will be shared when we make an announcement.” Arya also said JBM Auto already has a large presence in sheet metal and chassis parts businesses and it will be a natural extension of its product portfolio.

While the Indian firm will be holding a majority stake in the joint venture company, nearly 250-300 crore is expected

to be spent for establishing the facility. The plant will be manufacturing low-floor and luxury buses and will be creating a headcount of 200+ people. Arya maintained that it will be a completely integrated bus building plant where components such as engines and air-conditioners could be outsourced.

He further stated, “We are developing an integrated bus system that will be covering the entire range of buses in the next 3-4 years. We would like to offer both intra and inter-city buses. We are even interested in the mini-bus segment. All the segments have a lot of growth potential and we can really enhance our lineup in a holistic manner catering to each segment. While some critical components will be built in-house, some of them will also be sourced from its partner’s overseas plants.

However, the technical inputs will be sourced from our partner.”

JBM Auto had already floated an SPV division, which is engaged in the fabrication and assembly of bodies of heavy vehicles at its Faridabad (Haryana) and Kosi (UP) facilities. The division manufactures tippers, trailers, trolleys tipping-trailers, reefer vans, and caters to major OEMs like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and MAN. It has also entered the solid waste management business to manufacture garbage compactors in association with Columbia-based Fanalca S.A. The SPV Division has capacity to manufacture 5,000 units per annum.

Report: Avishek Banerjee

Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group

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KUMAR KANDASWAMI - Senior Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd.

Report Avishek Banerjee

The year FY 2012-13 has not been excellent when it comes to numbers. Do you expect any revival of sorts?There are not enough signs to suggest any big turnaround in fortunes. The activity in the end-use sectors will determine the revival.

Are CV makers expected to make heavy investments to expand their operations?At the moment, it seems unlikely that OEMs will make investments in a hurry. There is a certain amount of idle capacity which can take care of the initial part of revival of demand. Many of the manufacturers are configured in way that additional capacity does not come at huge costs, as they have already provided for some manufacturing infrastructure. Therefore, the sector would probably not see big investments in the next couple of years.

As the new CV market decelerates, will there be an unprecedented boom in the pre-owned vehicle market?Unlike the passenger cars where the used car sales have grown significantly, it is unlikely we will see the same level of impact in CVs. The nature of usage determines the type of vehicle. To that extent, the lack of new product sale may not entirely or significantly be compensated by used vehicle sale. While the used vehicle sale will continue to increase on the back of the increasing density of vehicles, one may not want to see this as something that will nullify the slowdown. The opportunity for

the manufacturers will be in service and parts as their customers will tend to own the vehicles for longer time.

Will there be a higher uptake from tier-II and tier-III cities in the next few years?Unlike cars, the consumption of CVs happen beyond the metros and large cities as well, depending on the type of CV one is looking at. These locations are determined by the end-use concentration – mining, for example. There are well defined transportation hubs where there is concentrated sale of on-highway type vehicles. The cities account for a large share of LCVs.There is a lot of buzz on the fleet modernisation programme. Could you talk a little bit about that?In the case of CV fleet modernisation in India, the economics of running the vehicles inherently ensure replacement. What can facilitate the processes is the retirement of old vehicles and the enforcement of emission standards. In the absence of these two steps, the efficient retirement of vehicles in a timely manner will not happen.

Are CV manufacturers looking to diversify more into defence vertical to de-risk their business? This may not be an option available

to all manufacturers as there are restrictions on the type of companies that can sell to the defense sector – substantially foreign owned companies cannot participate in this market. Further, the numbers are not significant in the context of the capacity that the sector has created.

Just like passenger cars, can the Indian CV industry become the global hub for CVs too? If yes, please can you tell us the markets?Most of the manufacturers have an export component in the business models. Some of the recent entrants have stated positions of wanting to export out of India. They are likely to be looking at other emerging markets which have some of the characteristics that the Indian

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SPECIAL - INTERVIEW


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market has, so that they are able find acceptance to the exported products.

Are the customers now increasingly gravitating to heavy duty trucks and buses? The reasons for acceptance of top-end truck and buses are different and I will deal with them separately. The high end, high capacity, multi-axle trucks are more efficient and are attractive to the customers from a return on investment standpoint. As the quality of roads improve, transportation on the main routes will be increasingly taken up by the larger trucks. The medium range trucks will serve the hub to the end-market routes and to some extent replace LCVs – again on the basis that the quality of roads will improve in the interior towns as well. This is not to say the current high-volume products will disappear, but the larger capacity trucks will play an increasingly important role.

As far as high-end buses go, their growth is again driven by the quality of roads in the inter-city market. Further, they compete with other modes of transport like rail and up to a point, air – given the limited capacity in these sectors, the overflow of demand from these modes are met by this segment of buses. Therefore, this is a new segment that caters to the class of customers who would probably not want to travel by the conventional buses. Therefore, it would be safe to say that the conventional buses will cater to a more price sensitive category of customers and will also dominate the routes that are not connected by important highways.

In an urban setting, these high-end buses compete with personal transportation and therefore cater to



Picture for representation purpose only

an emerging segment of customers. In all, it would be safe to say these products cater to emerging segments and serve needs that have not been served well so far. So, the volumes of the conventional products may not go down but they will end up catering to the segments that find the value proposition they offer relevant over a long period of time.

Is the LCV segment expected to contribute a major chunk of the volumes in the coming years? The LCV is already the dominant segment. While it is likely to be the case in the future, given the unique market characteristics referred to earlier, it would be every OEM’s aspiration to increase the numbers of M/HCVs. Clearly, the OEMs will find it difficult to sustain investments in key aspects of their business like new product development, dealer expansion, etc, if their portfolio is not made up of higher margin products. That said, there may be players who will focus only in the low end of the market who will create cost structures to play to

that business model, which will be different from the full product range companies.

As industry analysts reckon that the Indian CV industry is poised for growth from 0.8 million units to 1.6 million units by 2016-17, what would be the key growth drivers?Given the current state of the industry, one would think some of these milestones will take a little longer. Apart from the numbers per se, the important thing to look for is the type of CVs that are consumed. For the industry, it is critical that the numbers are not made up of entry level products. The growth in investment in sectors like infrastructure and mining would drive demand for material handling and transportation. Further, as the consumer demand grows, the demand for products and services in different parts of the country would require transportation. Third, urbanisation will create transportation opportunities as more satellite towns will get created around the big cities.

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THIMMAIAH N.P. - Managing Director & CEO - Meritor India Pvt. Limited

MERITOR INDIA

Meritor India is a joint venture company promoted by Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems LLC, USA (a subsidiary of Meritor Inc, USA) and Kalyani Group, Pune, India. Meritor Inc is a US$ 5 billion global automotive major, a world leader in axles and brakes technology for On/Off- highway commercial and industrial vehicle and military space. Kalyani Group is an internationally recognised forging and automotive giant, with Bharat Forge Ltd. as its Flagship Company. The company is producing and selling axles and brakes for last 32 years. The company is primarily engaged in design, development, sales and marketing, including export of automotive components and aggregates thereof. The objective of the enterprise is to channelise world class technology related to design and manufacture of drive axles, brakes and aggregates. Presently, the products are manufactured in India by Automotive Axles Limited, a JV between the two partners a QS 9000 Company situated in Mysore, Noida, Pantnagar.

Report Avishek Banerjee, Photography Mohd. Nasir

Meritor is primarily an axle maker in the CV segment. Does your forte lie in this space or do you have plans to have multiple products in your portfolio in India?Historically speaking, we were predominantly an axle and brakes manufacturer for commercial, industrial, off-highway and military vehicles. We are the No.1 independent axle manufacturer in India and in the world for the CV segment. We are working on addressing various other product segments such as Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs), suspension products for the CV industry in India and the product development is at an advance stage.

Unlike other auto component firms, why have you confined yourself to the CV business?Before we became Meritor from erstwhile Arvin Meritor, we were into passenger vehicle segment as well with various product offerings. However, as a company we took a decision to exit the passenger vehicle segment and focus only on the commercial, industrial, off-highway and military segments. We would not like to divert our attention to other segment other than the above and will focus on bringing in next generation technology to address these segments.



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COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SPECIAL - TÊTE-À-TÊTE


You had earlier launched the Meritor MS245 or the twin-speed axle for the Indian market. Is it completely indegenised? And what has been its response? Our Meritor MS245 or the twin-speed axle for the Indian market has become really popular with leading vehicle manufacturers fitting the axle on their new models. It’s a very high-tech product in the CV axle segment and is 100pc indigenised. This product is running successfully in Brazil for decades. We have brought the same technology from there and redesigned it to suit to Indian market. We have also done extensive tests on Indian road conditions for the same. Offering significantly improvement in fuel economy, the twin-speed axle technology allows the driver to shift to fuel economy mode just by pressing the ‘twin-speed’ button fitted on the dashboard of the vehicle. In addition to the conventional drive gearing in the axle, the twin-speed axle has an additional planetary gear system which helps the driver switch to a faster gear ratio by a simple flick of the ‘twin-speed’ button. This enables the vehicle to move at a higher speed, thereby reducing fuel consumption and improving the turnaround time. The new Meritor twin-speed axle reduces fuel consumption by about 7 to 12pc and improves turnaround time by 10-25pc while also reducing driver fatigue. While our traditional products were indeed efficient, we came up with this innovative twin-speed axle solution to bring about significant reduction in fuel consumption and faster turnaround time with overall reduction in operating cost. The initial market response has been pretty good & we see repeat orders flowing in

significantly. We are very upbeat about this next-generation product which is making a huge mark in the Indian CV industry. Going forward, we might sell it in the aftermarket as well along with the OEMs.

You are also offering a new range of products for the LCV range known as the MS04 which was launched at the last Auto Expo in New delhi. Do you expect this to be your flagship product?Yes, we are also offering a new range of products for the LCV range. That’s altogether a new vertical we are working on. The MS04, launched at Auto Expo, is Meritor’s first axle for six to eight-ton vehicles and comes with an axle-weight rating of 4 tonnes. Like the twin-speed, it is also 100pc localised. With this product we have sharpened our focus on the LCV segment which has witnessed double-digit growth for the past three to four years. We have incorporated all our learnings into this product. We believe this is a technologically superior product than the ones sold by our competitors. We intend to expand our product range to cater to the entire segment. We are working with a lot of OEMs to bring this product into the market. This product has been 100pc developed at our technical center in Bangalore & the entire platform for the development will be based out of India. We will be supporting the launch of this product in other global markets supported by India both engineering and manufacturing standpoint.

You were also working on hub-reduction axle for heavy duty vehicles. Please can you give us an update on the same?That’s again a next-generation

technology for heavy duty axles for high-powered vehicles that we are working on. The Meritor hub-reduction axle has an extra gear reduction at the wheel hub to the existing reduction at the drive system and hence is named accordingly. The axle provides customers with higher torque capacity coupled with increased ground clearance for heavy duty, construction and mining applications. The hub-reduction axle is the highest capacity axle locally produced for the on-highway segment in India, and is also the first in a series of hub-reduction axles that we are planning to launch soon. We are in the advanced stage of development and have bagged a couple of orders from the OEMs. We are already supplying them the prototype version. We may display this product at the upcoming Auto Expo’14. Our focus is to make the entire product required for Indian market to be 100pc localised including the hub reduction product.

Are there any other new products that you are developing, especially for the bus segments?We are also zeroing in on off-highway and military vehicles. We are already working in the defence space to widen our base. We will be coming up with 4X4, 6X6, 8X8, 10X10 products for the entire military range. Even if we come up with new products, we will be mainly focussing on the CV segment. As far as the bus segment is concerned, we are already in that segment. We are developing new products along with the OEMs to cater to the new requirements

You are also heading the R&D centre in Bangalore. What

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activities are carried out there? And do they contribute to your global operations too?The R&D centre in Bangalore is actually globally integrated with our overseas centres. The technical centre leads the company’s advanced product development initiatives for its broad portfolio of axles and brakes for commercial and other vehicle applications, and supports the company’s engineering needs in North America, South America and Europe. The Bangalore Technical Center has a test lab as well to cater to the product development requirements. The R&D centre is a critical element in the company’s global engineering network that also includes R&D labs in Troy, U.S.; Cameri, Italy; and Cwmbran, U.K. Around 25pc of our global R&D team is based out of our Bangalore facility. So it is not like a back-end design kind of a centre as we are now doing an end-to-end global product development there. Furthermore, we also have a global sourcing office in Bangalore which is engaged in shipping out high-quality components to our global supply chain. We ship out components like castings, forgings, etc to countries like the US, Europe, Brazil, Australia, China, etc. We manage to export components worth US$ 250 million of auto parts from Indian suppliers. We would like to scale up that amount to US$ 500 million in the next three-four years.

How much has Meritor invested in the Indian market. And going forward what are your capex plans?Even though I can’t share the data of the exact capex, what I can confirm is that every year we are investing a sizeable sum on product

development and for setting up new facilities. We are also ramping up our manufacturing operations of Automotive Axle arm. We are building two new factories with one in Jamshedpur and the other one in Pantangar. We have also brought around 45 acres of land in Pithampur for our future expansion.

How is the aftermarket vertical contributing to your overall business and how are things progressing on that front?Currently, the aftermarket vertical contributes around 15pc to our overall business. That is another focus area for us and we are bringing in a lot of products in that space. Globally, we have a huge aftermarket division and are looking at enhancing the product range

in India. We are already running a distribution centre in Pune.

Lastly, how important is the Indian market for Meritor? How big are you betting on that?India is a very important market for us. We are banking very heavily on the Indian CV market as there is a huge potential here. For a long term perspective, the CV market will witness an unprecedented boom. If China is a 1 million truck market, India is still underpenetrated with just 350 thousand in overall M&HCV sales. We not only want to grow along with the market in the axle & brake segment, but would also come up with new products like LCV-centric products, advanced suspension systems, high-end military products, etc.



CV NEW.indd 44 8/29/2013 6:57:35 PM



DR. CHRISTIAN NEUMANN - Head Business Unit, Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket, Continental Automotive Components India Pvt Ltd.

Report: P.Tharyan

What are the different products that Continental makes worldwide for trucks and buses? Continental offers several technologies and products for safe, economical, networked and, in particular, efficient commercial vehicles. It is our core belief that the mobility has to be safe whether it is commercial vehicles or passenger vehicles. Safety also reduces cost of ownership, in addition to safeguarding lives.

In order to make buses and trucks safer, we offer emergency brake assistant system, Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal, ARS300 radar sensor, object recognition and signal processing software and Continental eHorizon, which constantly sends small data packages via the vehicles data network (CAN bus). These packages contain information about the stretch of road ahead as well as topographic information. With this information, the engine control unit, the transmission control device or the driver assistance systems

can optimise their respective functions. With eHorizon commercial vehicles can expect a reduction in fuel consumption, greater traffic safety and enhanced ride comfort.

Continental uses its many years of experience in the field of passenger car engine technology to maximize synergies and transfer this expertise to commercial vehicle technology. We offer Piezo fuel injectors, engine control units, innovative exhaust after treatment technologies, transmission control units from our Powertrain portfolio.

With more than 40 years of experience with electronic systems for commercial vehicles, Continental has intimate knowledge of what

end consumers need. We also develop a host of networking/connectivity technologies which would eventually make fleet management more efficient - digital tachograph, customised telematics modules, exterior light control unit, tire guard, tire information system, intelligent antenna modules and our AutoLinQ platform. AutoLinQ is a flexible automotive-grade

hardware and software platform. The scalable architecture is based on various views and provides vehicle owners with information that is relevant to their location. For example, through AutoLinQ’s mobile view, fleet owners can ask questions or send commands from their mobile phone to their vehicle, including options like checking the status or location of a vehicle.

Have these products seen radical technological changes too in the last decade or so? Today, Intelligent Transport Systems are ensuring non-stop travel. These systems facilitate networking of all modes of transport and transport operators without barriers and across all borders with the aim of handling transport tasks as quickly, safely, cleanly and economically as

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possible. They aim to use existing resources as efficiently as possible; including electronic management of traffic flows and supply of comprehensive information to all users of the transport channels. This ranges from intelligent changing of means of transport and farsighted and adaptive route planning right through to warnings of serious hazards.

For example, the innovative digital tachograph solutions from Continental make fleet management more efficient, enable the fleet operators to cut cost, optimise routes and distances and make more use of working hours. It ensures a far more efficient, convenient and secure fleet management operations.

Which are the major OEMs in the CV space that Continental caters to? We have very strong customer base in the country with all the key commercial vehicle OEMs as our customers.

In India, how is Continental faring in terms of supply of different parts to manufacturers here? India is a strategic emerging market for our CV Business unit. With the introduction of more vehicle electronics on Indian commercial vehicles, we expect the market to mature and grow in the coming years.

A majority of our sales in India comes from the vehicle electronic segment and we are committed to double our sales within the next couple of years in India. We have established strategic relationships with our key customers so that when the market takes the upturn we are the preferred supplier for our customers.

Are all these products supplied to Indian truck and bus makers made here or are they sourced from your worldwide plants? We strongly believe in a local-to-local and local-to-global approach. As far as the CV segment is concerned, extensive product development, design, and manufacturing (software and hardware) are led out of India for

Continental Powertrain Business Unit Sensors & Actuators has launched one of their Low Pressure Differential Pressure Sensors, the Particle Filter Differential Sensor (PFD) to cater to the needs of commercial vehicle OEMs adhering to the recently introduced OBD II (On Board Diagnostic) norms for BS IV compliant commercial vehicles / engines with EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) technology.

OBD II certification, as part of the BS IV regulations, is mandated by legislation for all commercial and passenger vehicles since 1 April, 2013. For truck applications with EGR systems, the Continental Particle Filter Differential Pressure Sensor enables differential measurement and therefore allows enhanced monitoring of Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) Partial Oxidation Catalyst (POC). The sensor facilitates direct measurement of delta pressure. The robust

design of the Continental Particle Filter Differential Pressure Sensor helps to meet the always more stringent durability requirements of commercial vehicles.

Viswanath Nagaraja, Head of Sensors & Actuators, Powertrain Division, Continental Automotive Components India said, “With stricter monitoring legislated by the OBD II regulation, OEMs are looking for reliable diagnostic capabilities for monitoring emissions in the field. Continental is pleased to be one of the first suppliers to provide the Commercial Vehicle market in India with Particle Filter Differential Pressure Sensors that have the ability to measure such low values of delta pressure. We have started to supply leading truck OEMs in India. We expect continued growth in demand with the extension of BS IV regulations to fifty cities at first and eventually to the rest of the country”.

Continental launches Particle Filter Differential Pressure Sensors for the Indian CV Market

the projects in the country.

Lastly, do Continental plants in India supply products to global OEMs in the CV space?We are now aggressively quoting global projects out of India for the US, Italy and China markets. We will support the growth of both our local and global business out of India.

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A. RAMASUBRAMANIAN - President, Asia Motor Works (AMW)


What sales projections have you set for FY 2013-14? Do you expect any upward trend?It is very difficult to make definitive projections at this stage given the uncertainty of the economic climate and the difficult period that the industry is facing. We believe that the new products that we have introduced in the haulage as well as the special purpose vehicles segments will give us increased volumes, but more importantly, we expect to gain market shares in our chosen segments.

Do you have any plans to make a full-fledged entry into the bus segment? We are currently focusing our efforts on addressing the entire M&HCV range in the transportation of goods.

Do you think you will be able to retain your maketshare with the entry of new players in the market?We are definitely seeing high acceptance of our vehicles among customers across all usage segments and are happy that over 80pc of our orders are for repeat purchases. We are sure that this will help us gain market share in our segments as more existing customers are not only buying from us, but are making recommendations to new customers.

Do you have any plans to get into the LCV space? We are concentrating on addressing the entire range of M&HCV vehicles currently.

Do you expect more volumes from your high-margin premium trucks and buses?AMW was the first to offer fully air-conditioned vehicles, bogie suspension and modern features in its entire product range. We offer our customers a highly competitive “cost of ownership”, and better returns on investment.

Are you exploring any new markets to export your vehicles? We have already made initial forays into SAARC markets like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and are pursuing opportunities in Indonesia, and African markets.

What kind of capital expenditure have you outlined to enhance your output? Our capital expenditure programme for capacity and up-gradation is complete and we are currently investing resources in R&D and New

Product Development.

You have launched a handful of trucks last year. What has been their response?The response to the products launched by us in the haulage segment as well as mining and construction segments has been satisfying and with our increased network of dealers and touch points, we expect to continue our growth story.

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MARC LLISTOSELLA - MD & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV)


How do you see sales progressing in the coming year? What game changing models are you bringing in to arrest the downfall in sales?As a policy, DICV does not publish future volumes/targets. The truck market has seen a tight situation since the last year. However, we remain optimistic about the future of Indian trucking and feel encouraged by the response we have received in the market despite challenging environment. Fleet owners and operators have welcomed our products and benefitted with better fuel efficiencies and turnaround time. We are also extremely pleased with the acceptance of our vehicles with the driver community. The cabin comfort, ergonomics and drivability have resulted in most of them reporting better turn-around times. DICV has already rolled-out 9 models spanning the heavy/medium/light-duty segments. More models are expected to be launched in the forthcoming 8-9 months as per our plan.

What specific buying patterns have you perceived in India? And how have you benefitted out of it?Consumers are increasingly focusing on better total-cost-of-ownership than merely looking at the initial price. They are also benefitting from a wholesome full-loop attention right from buying a new truck along the entirety of its life-cycle that BharatBenz provides. Increased reliability, lesser breakdowns, longer service intervals are aspects that customers have now realised through BharatBenz trucks. We aim at maintaining the share of mind of

our customers by engaging them with the superior performance of our trucks and towards this end, we are extremely confident.

Do you expect more volumes from your high-margin premium trucks and buses? Or, will you be coming up with low-margin Small Commercial Vehicles (SCVs)?BharatBenz trucks are positioned in the volume segment of Indian trucking. This must be clearly differentiated from our Mercedes-Benz Actros Mining Tippers which perform in a completely different category. The Mercedes-Benz Actros tippers focus on a niche segment where a very high performance level is required. This segment is not necessarily a volume influencer. BharatBenz focuses on trucks in the >6 – 49 tonne category. Any further plans on other products will be duly announced at an appropriate time.

Are you exploring any new markets to export your vehicles? If yes, please can you specify them along with the existing markets?Daimler Trucks announced its ‘Trucks Asia’ strategy early this year. As part of this strategy we have already started exports of the FUSO range of trucks to countries in Asia & Africa. These trucks will be exported and sold through the FUSO network to 15 markets in Asia and Africa like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda,

Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles.

What kind of capital expenditure have you outlined to enhance your output? And where will the amount be deployed?DICV has a total outlay of 4,400 crore towards the launch and ramp-up of BharatBenz truck brand as already announced in the past. The total capacity of the plant is designed to handle the production of up to 36,000 trucks annually.

Lastly, when are you planning to roll out BharatBenz-branded buses? Can you share a timeline?DICV is focused on establishing the BharatBenz range of trucks and we are very much in this process. While we have launched some of our models we are still due to launch other models and this we will be realising over the next year.

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JAGADISH BHAT - Managing Director, MAN Trucks India Pvt. Ltd.


How have things progressed post MAN buying out Force Motors’ stake in the JV? After the takeover of Force’s stake in JV, we have been continuously striving for aligning our operations as per standards of our parent MAN Truck & Bus AG, Munich. As a part of this process, we have been able to streamline our manufacturing, logistics and sales processes to a great extent in the last one year. We are putting more focus on ramping up our distribution network and providing round the clock after-sales support to our customers. Our R&D capabilities have been enhanced so that there is a renewed thrust on development of innovative and advanced technologies for Indian and export markets. As far as our perception about Indian market is concerned, we effusively acknowledge the potential it has on offer at present as well as in future. India is one of our strategically key markets and we are keen to be a part of this great economic growth bandwagon. We have already invested close to €300 million ( 2960 crore approx.) in our Indian venture during last 4-5 years and will continue to do so in future as well.

Can you tell us about your present product portfolio and their USPs? We are already an established player in mining, construction and long-haul applications in India. Our products are known for advanced technologies which deliver high reliability and performance output. If we want to mention about our product portfolio, for mining and construction, we have CLA series

of trucks in 16 to 31 ton range fitted with 220 and 280HP engines. These trucks are equipped with tipper bodies with capacities ranging from 8cu.m. to18cu.m. In haulage applications, we have an impressive range in 25 to 49 ton category fitted with 220 and 280 hp engines. Apart from these products, we are also offering products in wide range of special applications like transit mixers, boom pumps, bulkers, batching plants, fire fighting units, rescue vehicles, ODC, garbage compactors, road sweepers, sewer cleaners and many more.

All our products are known for their high durability and excellent performance. With advanced features like MAN Planetary Axles with hub reduction offering superior traction and high ground clearance, front axle with maintenance free unitised hub bearings, heavy duty dual circuit air actuated drum brakes with automatic slack adjuster, extra strong ladder chassis made up of high strength steel, ergonomically designed spacious cabin with NVH insulation and hydraulic tilting mechanism, our products are very well accepted in Indian market, even

at a slight premium to competition.

What is your current capacity at Pithampur? And going forward, what will the overall capacity? And is the company planning to set up a greenfield facility?Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Pithampur, near Indore, is spread over a huge area of 85 acres. We have an installed capacity of manufacturing 12,000 HCV units per annum. We are proud to mention that we have in-house facility to assemble powerful MAN engines and axles.

Is the company planning to make

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fresh investment plans? As mentioned earlier, we are fully committed to Indian economic growth story and strongly believe in the future potential it holds. Even as we speak, we are continuously investing in enhancing our manufacturing, distribution, after-sales support and R&D capabilities to provide the best of experience to end-users. If overall market conditions demand, we are prepared to increase our investment levels over and above our present outlay.

Currently what is the sales and service infrastructure of MAN in India? How many dealers, authorized service centers and parts dealers do you have? When we started our operations in India, we had less than 10 dealers to cater to vast Indian market. However, in last 5-6 years, we have been successful in revamping our distribution network to a great magnitude. At present, our network has grown to 75 dealers, which includes both 3S and 2S dealerships. We are targeting minimum 100 outlets to cater to sales and after sales support needs of our

customers in India. To enhance spare parts logistics, we have established parts warehouses at Bangalore and Kolkata apart from our central warehouse at Pithampur facility.

How many units have you sold during the last fiscal? And what is your sales target for this financial year?As we are predominantly focusing on being perceived as a premium player in mining, construction and long-haul applications, we have been able to make good inroads in this niche market during last 4-5 years.

Where is the company exporting its products?Our “Made in India” products, vis-à-vis competition, have been well accepted in overseas markets. We are already exporting our CLA series of trucks and Airobus buses to over 30 countries in North & South Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, CIS Countries and many more. We have developed an in-house innovative packaging system called “Truck in Box”, with the help of which we are able to dispatch and transport

export vehicles in minimum time and space.

Where do you carry out your research and development activities for your India-specific products? We have a strong team of over 100 R&D professionals working out of our Corporate Office at Pune, Maharashtra. This team is dedicatedly endeavouring to develop innovative technologies for Indian as well as export markets. We also have an advanced Test Centre in Pune where we test our new vehicles before introduction/ launch in market.

Does the company have any plans to foray into the LCV space? If yes, can you please share details?At present, we are not thinking of entering LCV space because of pricing constraints. LCV industry in India is very price sensitive and competitive. It will take time to convince the consumers to pay more for advanced features. Hence, as stated earlier, we primarily want to position ourselves as a superior brand in HCV segment. What is your take on present slowdown in Indian HCV industry? What corrective actions should be taken by Indian government to revive it? Due to various factors, we are facing economic headwinds in recent times. Majorly infrastructure development activities like mining, road construction, power generation etc. have almost stopped. However, we are equally confident that Indian economy is reasonably resilient and holds a huge growth potential for next 15-20 years. We just need to be patient and believe in Indian story.

CV NEW.indd 50 8/29/2013 6:59:34 PM



SANDEEP KALIA - CEO, Valvoline Cummins Ltd. (VCL)

VALVOLINE CUMMINS LTD.

Valvoline Cummins Ltd. is a joint venture between Ashland Inc., USA, and Cummins Sales & Services (India) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cummins India Ltd. Valvoline is today the fastest growing lubricant marketer and producer of quality branded automotive/industrial products. The products offered in the Indian market include automotive lubricants, transmission fluids, gear oils, hydraulic lubricants, industrial oils, automotive filters, specialty products, greases and cooling system products. The company also provides car care products for cleaning and maintenance, including waxes, fragrances, arometrics, wax and paint sealants, water based dressings, cleaners, solvents, glazes, compounds, clay bars, performance chemicals, and filters; and tire care, interior care, glass care, and car wash products. It serves distributors, institutional customers, and retail counters. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Gurgaon, India.

Report Avishek Banerjee, Photography Mohd. Nasir

How important is the Indian market for Valvoline and why are you focussing specifically for the CV segment?The Indian market is very significant for Valvoline globally and is the largest in terms of net revenues and marketshare for the company outside the United States. Moreover, the recent investments by VCL prove the fact that the

Indian market is very critical for us. Although we have been present in all the other segments like passenger car, motorcycle, industry, off-highway oils, we are pretty strong in the CV segment. The primary reason for us to focus on the heavy-duty segment is that the opportunity to explore is huge. If you deep-dive into the Indian automobile lubricants market, the CV segment accounts for more

than 50pc of the sales pie. While the total market size is close to 2,000 Kilo Tones (KT) per annum, close to 50-51pc would be industrial oils, the balance will be for the transport ones. And within this 51pc of the transport segment, more than 51pc would be for diesel engine oils. And this is how the overall market is split. Moreover, our association with Cummins Inc. puts us on a bigger platform in actually allying with those OEMs. It’s a known fact that Cummins is a leading enginemaker globally and has been doing phenomenally well in India too. It’s probably our expertise (in heavy-duty engines) give us an edge to offer best-in-class products.

VCL has recently established a facility near Mumbai at an investment of US$ 30 million. What made you take such a decision when the CV market was witnessing a continuous deceleration?Firstly, to have a dedicated state-of-the-art facility was a strategic move. Built on 10 acres, the new US$ 30 million plant expands

CV NEW.indd 51 8/29/2013 6:59:48 PM



the Valvoline brand’s in-house production capabilities. It also enhances the brand’s ability to deliver fast, localised technical services to customers in India, South Asia and other nearby countries. Initial production capacity of the new plant is 120 million litres per year with future capacity of 150 million litres. Even though the numbers are not looking up in the automobile market, I would term it as a temporary phase. We have been in India since 1998 and our growth records are very robust. We are one of the fastest growing companies in this industry. Therefore, we look at this market very seriously. So the economic slowdown will not deter us in our expansion plans.

You are engaged in contract manufacturing of engine oils in China. Can we expect a similar business model in India?We are actually here as a contract

manufacturer before we got into full-fledged manufacturing operations. Since its inception, the company has outsourced manufacturing to a toll blender in Mumbai which was dedicated for Valvoline products only. That basically was a third party facility. We then initiated establishing our own plant once we believed that we have the right investments, location, etc.

You came out with a ‘Fluid Management’ solution and there is also a scheme called ‘POST’ under this. What has been the response?That’s right. The ‘Fluid Management’ solution that we have rolled out is in a pilot-testing stage. We did mini-trials among various small/medium/large fleet operators and the results are pretty encouraging. This has actually pushed us in working on better solutions for our customers. We devise a full product

portfolio and introduce it in the market. It’s just two quarters since we have launched this initiative and the response has been very satisfactory. The Valvoline POST – Progressive Oil Sampling Test that you are talking about involves fleet operators sending oil samples to the Valvoline lab and then receiving detailed results and a prescription for recommended actions. We test these samples and revert to our customers within the stipulated time i.e. not more than 48 hours. The customer can actually view the whole mechanism that includes the track record and the update (of the vehicle) on web. We give them the unique number on ‘POST’ and he can actually track the progress of the product on quality aspects.

The Indian CV industry is witnessing the entry of many global players. Does that mean that you will be achieving enhanced business opportunities in the OEM space?As you are aware, we have been already selling co-branded engine oils with a number of OEMs. So any new player’s entry is definitely a gainful proposition for us. We have formidable credentials in the commercial vehicle market. Our marketshare is much better than our peers. We will always have an upside as we have the right technology to support any new player. We will be definitely approaching any firm which is planning to tap the domestic market. We can consider multiple strategies like private labelling, co-branded products, or the vehiclemaker’s endorsement on our products.

You have been selling a number of engine oils like ‘Max Life’,

CV NEW.indd 52 8/29/2013 7:00:03 PM



‘Premium Blue’, ‘All Fleet Turbo’, among others. Which one would you consider your flagship product?I would say that within the Diesel Engine Oil (DEO) category, our flagship product is the Premium Blue. Valvoline Premium Blue 15W-40 engine oil is a globally-accepted product which is approved by all Cummins engines globally and designed to provide advanced lubricant performance in modern, low-emission diesel engines operating under a wide variety of service conditions. The advanced product technology offers a long-life, extended drain capability. The balanced formulation helps maximise engine durability.

Are you betting big on the LCV space too?Yes, we are catering to the entire spectrum of products. And LCV is one segment where are already making a mark. We are already selling products that are tailor-made for products like the Tata Ace, etc. Right now we are selling the All Fleet, All Fleet Turbo, All Fleet Gold, to name a few. So certain capacities are lower versus same products going into the HCV.

At a symposium held last year in Singapore, you were quoted as saying that the distribution of lubricants is the key to success in the Indian market. Does that mean the aftermarket vertical is more important for you than the direct one?What my personal take is that the direct market is always your own market. While you go through the OEM route which is very critical for any business, OEMs generally have an agreement in place which may

or may not be renewed. The OEM has the leeway to renegotiate the agreement with us and three other vendors. The business may become zero if the agreement expires. But whatever happens on the streets (through the aftermarket vertical), the channels that I create and the loyal customers that I generate are my business. The business at the retailers’ end doesn’t come to a zero on day one itself and is more permanent in nature.

Coming back to your distribution network, you are usually retailing your products through the multi-brand distribution network. Doesn’t the concept of flagship stores excite you?I would like to clarify that we have close to 350 distributors and most of them are exclusive for us. So more than 70pc of our distribution network is exclusively dealing in my products. And secondly, we don’t find any retail outlet which is single-branded. If they are available, their presence is pretty minuscule.

Are you working on any India-specific product? If yes, can you shed some light on that?All our lubricants are specifically made for the Indian markets and conditions. I cannot mark a product (in India) that is there in the United States for their climatic conditions. Our plant produces everything for the domestic market.

Could you also talk a little bit about your R&D operations in India?We are running an in-house R&D centre in Mumbai that is engaged in fulfilling our local requirements. We are on course to set up a global technology centre within

the premises of our own plant in Mumbai. The engineers will be working along with our global OEM supplies.

When it comes to marketing and promotional strategies, you have been allying with Rajasthan Royals team at the IPL. As this cricket league is marred by controversies, how are you protecting your brand equity? I would like to clarify that we are now associated with Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils teams. So we have actually sponsored two teams during the IPL6. So whatever controversy any team is in is owing to their players. As a team sponsor, we went out with them in the belief that they will do well which they actually did. Rajasthan Royals were one of the semi-finalists. Therefore, I don’t see any controversial issues with players will dent our company’s image.

Lastly, do you aspire to be the number one CV lubricants maker in the country?In the last ten years, we are already one of the fastest growing brands in the country. I would say we won’t be the number one firm in the immediate term. We have been able to buck the trend by witnessing a sustained double-digit growth in revenues. What we are strongly looking at is attaining the second spot not only in the CV segment but also among the foreign brands in India. If we are the number two foreign brand here, we will automatically become the 2nd largest player in the CV space. We have some robust strategies chalked out to attain that position and are also heading towards the right direction.

CV NEW.indd 53 8/29/2013 7:00:13 PM

ANDERS GRUNDSTRÖMER - MD, Scania Commercial Vehicle India (SCVI) and Senior Vice President Scania Group


You have launched quite a few on-road trucks last year. What has been the response to those products? We have had a very good response to the on-road truck launch that happened last year. The customer feedback after the first phase of trials has been very positive. Customers have cited lower fuel consumption and better turnaround as the unique propositions offered by us in comparison with their current transport partners. These coupled with a lower total cost of ownership make Scania a preferred choice transportation partner for customers. Our foray into the on-road haulage segment of the Indian market is completely customer focussed, providing reliable, fuel efficient transport solutions with a lower impact on the environment. The thrust has been on catering to the needs of diversified and growing segments in India such as long haul container handling, steel, chemical, special bulk transportation, mining and over dimensional cargo transportation.

Is it true that Scania is close to inking a JV with JBM Auto for setting up a busmaking plant in India? We are not looking at any joint venture as for now. We have earlier announced an investment of 1.5 crore in early 2012 in India and revised it to 2.5 crore during our groundbreaking ceremony in June 2012. The investment is towards the plant in Naraspura which will

also house both truck and bus assembly units. The bus roll out is planned from early next year. Scania Commercial Vehicles India (SCVI) was the newly formed venture that will cater to both the bus and truck segment. At this point of time, we will be approaching customers directly for sales of our buses.

When will your manufacturing facility at Bangalore (Karnataka) go on stream? What will be the initial and subsequent capacity?We have started production of trucks in the new manufacturing facility in Narasapura from June onwards. The facility has a manufacturing capacity of 2,500 trucks and 1,000 buses per annum. The trial of the production has begun with mining and off-road trucks. The production of on-road trucks is to start soon. The Narasapura plant will house two manufacturing units one for truck assembly and another for bus assembly. The bus manufacturing unit, which is under construction, will commence operations in the first quarter of 2014.

In the beginning of 2013 Scania launched a new coach range, especially for the Indian market. What has been its response? The initial response has been overwhelming. From the launch till date, we have already sold 50 buses so far, in line with our targets for the year. We are also receiving more orders and requests from customers across the country and this we believe is a very positive sign. These

buses are designed and developed specifically for the Indian market post studying the Indian consumer behavior and requirements. Hence we believe that these products will be highly suitable for the Indian consumers today.

The new plant in Bangalore will serve as the assembly unit for our buses. Body building of the buses and coaches will happen at the plant and service workshop will also be a part of this facility. Chassis for the buses will be assembled from knocked-down kits and the bus body will be indigenized and assembled with a full focus on quality.

Where do you carry out your research and development activities for your India-specific products? At Scania, we are focused on continuously improving the products globally and have an established R&D team in Sweden where most of our R&D work happens. The new facility in Narasapura, we will also have a local R&D team which will help us to constantly improve our products and services to meet the customer and market needs.



CV NEW.indd 54 8/29/2013 7:00:40 PM



RAVI PISHARODY - Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors Limited.


Can you share the sales forecast for this financial year?Tata Motors continues to dominate in all aspects of the CV industry. However, the CV industry as a whole is seeing a clear impact from the economic downturn, as key sectors remain stressed. At Tata Motors we do not share a forecast on our sales and production figures.

What was the response to the products that you have launched last fiscal?During the last fiscal, Tata Motors launched 7 new advanced vehicles which have done well. The Tata Xenon Pick-up, a stylish and rugged workhorse, the Tata LPT 3723, the first 5-axle rigid truck in the country, in the 10x4 configuration, the Tata PRIMA 4938 tractor, the Tata PRIMA 3138K tipper, the Tata PRIMA LX range of 4923 & 4023 tractor and the Tata LPK 3118 tipper were launched.

Are you working on any gamechanging products to weather the headwinds?As in other years, we will be launching a number of new products this year. The Tata Ultra range, which we showcased at the Auto Expo 2012, will be launched during the course of this fiscal and there will be several other product and variant launches in M&HCV trucks and buses from existing as well as Prima platforms.

What specific buying patterns do you foresee amongst your consumers? Do you think you

will be able to retain your market share with the entry of new players in the market?Consumer preferences in India are expected to shift first towards more advanced products and services, with best lifecycle cost. This would entail large investment from OEMs and channel partners to gear up to provide a basket of services.

With respect to foreign competition, Tata Motors product plans have been made taking into account that there will be competition, and their entry was expected. We have introduced products with world-class platforms and new variants have been added, which place us well with the competition. We will continue to grow the market segments and also protect and grow our market share. We have steadily maintained 60-65pc market share over last 10 years plus.

Going forward, do you expect more volumes from your high-margin premium trucks and buses?In the recent past customer preferences have inclined towards more comfortable vehicles, with better aesthetics and assured on-time performance. The demand for these vehicles is also expected to grow in the near future, on account of better infrastructure, fuel efficiency and operating economics.

What kind of capital expenditure

have you outlined to enhance your output? And where will the amount be deployed?As indicated in the past, we will spend annually around 3,000 crore on investment for the future, both for product development as well as capital expenditure. Out of the 3,000 crore about half would be

infused in the commercial vehicle business.

Is there any new technology that you are actively working on?The company also introduced Tata FleetMan – Telematics & Fleet Management Service, which offers advanced Telematics solutions, which enable remote vehicle tracking services of fleet vehicles, thereby increasing productivity and profitability. The ‘Tata Alert’, a highway assistance programme for medium and heavy commercial vehicles, was also introduced, to ensure that drivers receive on-site breakdown assistance within 4 hours.

CV NEW.indd 55 8/29/2013 7:00:55 PM

MOTOR SPORTS


Vettel takes home the Belgian crown

FORMULA 1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

From the moment the race started, it was Sebastian Vettel of Infiniti Red Bull-Renault at his best as he overtook Lewis Hamilton

of Mercedes in the opening lap of the 2013 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on August 25, 2013. Hamilton who started on pole position was unable to thwart the fast paced Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who pushed his car from ninth on the grid to second place.

Hamilton, however, held on for third for a podium finish as he edged out his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg in turn had Mark Webber of Infiniti Red Bull-Renault snapping at his heals but the Australian could not go past Rosberg.

Jenson Button of McLaren-Mercedes who at one point was racing well, slipped back to sixth place in the final run. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa finally overcame Lotus-Renaullt driver Romain Grosjean on the 40th lap to claim seventh, as a great run from Adrian Sutil earned Sahara Force India-Mercedes two more points.

Besides Paul Di Resta of Sahara Force India and Charles Pic, whose Caterham faded early, the only other

Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Infiniti Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium after winning the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 25, 2013 in Spa, Belgium. Ph

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Motor Sports.indd 56 8/29/2013 7:03:16 PM

MOTOR SPORTS


retirement was Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus-Renault. The Finn’s run of 27 consecutive points finishes ended with an apparent brake problem. It was mixed fortunes for Sahara Force India as Adrian Sutil raced to ninth place in the Belgian Grand Prix, while Paul Di Resta failed to finish after being hit by Pastor Maldonado of Williams-Renault on lap 27. Said Adrian after the race, “An interesting and exciting race, and it’s good to come away with two points. At the start I didn’t make the best getaway and lost a few places, but after that I settled into the race and was able to get ahead of a few cars and move

into the top ten. I always enjoy driving here at Spa and I had some exciting overtaking moves today,which felt very nice. The two-stop strategy was the best way to go and it worked out well because I think we achieved the maximum that was available to us. We are still in a close fight with McLaren so it was important to get back in the points

Race winner Sebastian Vettel (2nd right) celebrates alongside second placed Fernando Alonso (left) of Spain and Ferrari, third placed Lewis Hamilton (right) of Great Britain and Mercedes GP and Michael Manning (2nd left) of Infiniti Red Bull Racing on the podium

Vettel during the Belgian Grand Prix

today after a couple of tough races.” In the constructors’ stakes, Red Bull have 312 points to Mercedes’ 235, Ferrari’s 218, and Lotus’s 187, while McLaren move back ahead of Force India with 65 to 61.


MOTOR SPORTS


Five exciting races in Round 2 of JK Tyre Racing Championship 2013

The concluding day of Round 2 of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship witnessed five exciting races, two

each in the JK Racing India Series and JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup and one in the Formula LGB 4 class, at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.

Fresh after the previous day’s scintillating victory in the first race, the JK Racing India Series’ second race witnessed pole position holder Vishnu Prasad leading the pack of drivers by a margin that kept widening after each round. The young driver had a dominant race that he attributed to a lightning-fast opening lap, proving just how decisive the first few laps are. He was followed by Bangalore boys

Akhil Rabindra and Arjun Maini for the first few laps before Maini gave up his position to the Kohlapur based Chittesh Mandody. The trio held onto their positions until the end and Prasad took the chequered flag with a margin of six well-made seconds. Towards the end, an event involving Karminder Singh and Maini helped Hyderabad’s Akhil Khushlani

to register a fourth place finish with a total time of 17:00.389.

The final Race 3 of the Formula LGB 4 class was undoubtedly the most exciting contest of the day. Mumbai’s Rayo Racing driver Ameya Bafna was the pole starter followed by Tejasram Caveripakam (Meco Racing) and Advait Deodhar (Dark Don Racing). Chennai’s Saran Vikram and Sarosh Hataria (Dark Don Racing) were fourth and fifth on the grid respectively. In a magnificent display of talent and expertise, the Coimbatore based Hataria made his way up the order and battled it out with Bafna, who was going strong in first place.

In September, round three of the six-round JK Tyre Racing Championship 2013 will once again offer drivers and spectators the finest racing action in the country.

Drivers of the JK Racing India Series race in action, on Day 2 in Round 7 in Coimbatore

Race winner Sarosh Hataria of the Formula LGB 4 Category in action on Day 2 in Round 2 in Coimbatore


MOTOR SPORTS


Jeffrey Kruger wins Round 2

Nayan, Kush & Pradyumna win round 3

JK TYRE VW POLO R CUP

JK TYRE-FMSCI NATIONAL ROTAX MAX KARTING CHAMPIONSHIP 2013

In an exciting Race 2 of the JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup, Jeffrey Kruger edged past Race 1 winner Prashanth Tharani to

win the first place on the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Yatin Magu took the 3rd place on the podium. This happens to be his 1st ever podium finish. Rahil Noorani had crossed the finish line in 1st place, but was penalised with 20 seconds due to a jump start and thus ended

up in 7th place.With the reverse grid

for Race 2, additional element of excitement is always guaranteed. Race 1 winner Prashanth started from 8th while 2nd finisher Jeffrey Kruger started from 7th. Having finished 3rd in Race 1, Rahil Noorani took off from 6th place and tried an aggressive start. He went from 6th place to 2nd on lap 1 and went into lead by

the 2nd lap. However, he received a 20 seconds penalty for a jump start which pushed him down to 7th place. This automatically brought Jeffrey, Prashanth, Yatin and 3 others up by one place each. While Prashanth and Jeffrey have been regularly finishing on podium, it was the first one for Yatin Magu.

Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing (Senior Max), Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing (Junior Max)

and Pradyumna Vipul Danigund of Mohite’s Racing (Micro Max) won the Round 3 of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship 2013 in at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on August 18, 2013. The championship’s 36 racers in three categories - Micro Max (7 to 12 years), Junior Max (13 to 16 years) and Senior Max (15 and above) competed at Kari Motor Speedway - the fastest karting track in India and displayed their excellent driving skills.

In the Senior Max category, Nayan won the toughest race of the Round after beating top racers

such as defending champion Ameya Bafna of Rayo Racing and Vishnu Prasad of Meco Racing. With this victory, Nayan toppled Vishnu in the championship table with 255 pts, just one point ahead of Vishnu (254 pts). Ameya Bafna is at third position with 244 pts

In the Junior Max, Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing dominated both Final and Pre-Final races and was way ahead of rest of the karters. He was chased by Krishnaraaj D Mahadik of Mohite’s Racing, who attacked Kush in last few laps but Kush handled the pressure well and didn’t allow him to overtake.

Defending champion Pradyumna V Danigond of Mohite’s Racing won Final and

Pre-Final Race of the Round 3 in Micro Max category and maintained his lead in the championship table. He received a tough competition from Yash Aradhya of Meco Racing. Yash claimed the 2nd position in Pre-Final race but he was beaten by Paul Francis in the Final and he finished at 3rd podium in the Round 3.


Wheelz & Roadz


Volvo V40 Cross CountryStunning ScandinavianReport: Abhijeet Singh, Photography: P. Tharyan

Wheelz & Roadz.indd 60 8/29/2013 7:18:26 PM

Wheelz & Roadz


Engine Transmission Max Power Max Torque Kerb Weight

1984cc, D3 5-cylinder Turbo diesel

6-speed Automatic 150 bhp@ 3500rpm350 Nm@ 1500-

2750rpm2010 kgs

Suspension: Front/Rear Brake: Front/ Rear Fuel Tank Capacity Tyres: Front/ Rear Price

McPherson Spring Strut/ Multi-Link

Disc/Disc 60 litres 225/50 R1728,50,000

(ex-showroom Delhi)

Everybody likes a change. Whether it is food, climate, holiday destinations, or many such variables, change is

necessary. Cars play a very important role in this changing cycle. Well not earlier, but now with a range

of so many vehicles from around the globe, they have become an integral part of life. Volvo is a brand which got less attention from Indian customers, which is unfair. In the sea of the usual German and Japanese brands, Volvo adds exquisite Swedish essence to the buffet. The Volvo V40 Cross Country has entered the Indian

market as a bold statement urging people to try new flavours.

EXTERIOR

Styling is one of the strongest points of V40. The 5-door hatch looks absolutely beautiful from any angle you ogle at it. The smooth curves


Wheelz & Roadz


flow all around the entire body. The honeycomb grille at the front and the vertical fog lamps give a sporty and distinct look to this Volvo. The rear bumper with built-in plastic skid plate and the sill extensions give it a rugged look. Another likable detail is the use of gloss rather than chrome, thus lending elegance and class to the Cross Country. Then there are the roof rails which add a bit more height to the car and further enhance its crossover image.

INTERIOR

Step inside and you feel that the quality and the fit and finish are at par with more expensive stuff you can buy in the segment. The flowing lines of the exterior are not carried in here. Instead you get smooth clean lines with decent aluminium inserts lending a classy look to the cabin. The gear knob is the only shiny bit and is illuminated notifying the driver of the mode which is been selected. The seats are very

comfortable and supportive all-round. However it must be noted that the rear seats are for two people only, as it is a squeeze for the third passenger. The switches and buttons feel tough and surely will last ages. The floating console gets copper coloured finish and has a small storage pocket behind it. Another

beautiful feature is the frameless rear view mirror, which also automatically dims glare from headlights at the rear of the vehicle.


Wheelz & Roadz


ENGINE AND PERFORMANCE

The V40 Cross Country comes equipped with a 2.0 litre 5-cylinder diesel power plant which develops a meaty 350Nm torque. It sprints from 0-100kmph in 9.3 seconds. Torque is available from as low as 1500rpm which means you are in the torqueband almost all of the time. The steering connects to the driver only when pushed hard, other times it is pretty normal. You may push the V40 Cross Country to the limits,

but it feels that it does not like it because at nearly 2.0 tonnes this Volvo is in fact very heavy.

Volvo cars are widely considered as the safest vehicles in the entire automobile industry and the V40 is no exception. Numerous driver aids like Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC), Laser Assisted Automatic Braking, Intelligent Driver Information System, and many more keep the occupants safe in case of an accident. The car comes equipped with side airbags, driver knee airbag and whiplash protection (WHIPS)

enabling it to receive 5 stars in the Euro NCAP collision test.

The Volvo V40 Cross Country is a fun hatchback which really cares for its occupants. It has a frugal diesel which will return nearly 19km for a litre and with 150bhp on tap is not exactly a slouch. The ride is comfortable and it eats up uneven surfaces with ease and plaint. Yes it may be bit expensive but consider this, with a host of so many safety technologies taking care of you and your loved ones. It is a cool bargain really.


Wheelz & Roadz


Audi A7 SportbackGenteel artistryReport: Abhijeet Singh, Photography: P. Tharyan

What do you get between hot and cold, sweet and bitter,

fast and slow? You get something which is just-right. The Audi A7 Sportback sits between the luxurious

A6 and the powerful A8. The recipe for the A7 is simple, take the underpinnings of the A6, create the interior as beautiful as the A8, and finally garnish it with that gorgeous body. And yes, give it the brilliant Audi 3.0 litre TDI engine as the cherry on top. We have to say the recipe is absolutely crowning.

EXTERIOR

There is nobody who will not give a second glance to the A7, even though it whizzes past you. This thing looks stunning. The long low slung body is quiet racy in appeal with the sharp nose and the sloping roofline. The muscular bonnet


Wheelz & Roadz


swoops down to the trademark Audi grille and the LED headlamps. The nose is quiet low and you fear you might snag it on a curb, but the A7 handles them with ease. And if you do happen to come across a large curb, thanks to the air-suspension you can always raise the nose at the push of a button. One thing that will never lose its charm is the pillar-less doors, which just make you go wow every time you open them. Other

spectacular features include the retractable spoiler, 18” alloy wheels and the slick brake light mounted high on top of the rear windscreen.

INTERIOR

Audi makes one of the best interiors in the business, and the A7 happens to the best of the best. Everything is beautifully appointed, right from the switches and knobs to the

leather and wood. Then you get the infotainment screen and the optional Bang and Olufsen twitters which rise up from the dash when the ignition is switched on. The seats are very comfortable in the front and you set them up in a million ways to suit individual preferences. The front seats also get massaging feature with different modes and intensities, which is rather an indulgence rather then a necessity, but is very alluring.

Engine Transmission Max Power Max Torque Kerb Weight

2967cc, V6 Turbo Diesel 7-speed S tronic 245 bhp@ 4500rpm500 Nm@ 1400-

3250rpm2320 kg

Suspension: Front/Rear Brake: Front/ Rear Fuel Tank Capacity Tyres: Front/ Rear Price

Five-link wishbone/Trapezoidal link axle with

wishboneVentilated Disc/Disc 65 litres 255/45 R18 93,28,000


Wheelz & Roadz



Wheelz & Roadz


The rear seats are relaxing but suffer in terms of headroom because of the low roofline, but we presume everybody would be more keen to be in the driving seat.

ENGINE AND PERFORMANCE

We have mentioned time and again that the Audi’s 3.0 litre TDI is a gem of an engine, the same powering the A7 Sportback. Add the updated 7-speed S tronic and the Quattro and it becomes a match made in heaven. The ton marks is achieved in 6.3 seconds, and the A7 runs into the electronic buffers at 250kmph, very impressive when you consider that it is 2.3 tonne car carrying four people in comfort. Then is the safe-keeping of the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system which just grips and grips. There is no way the A7 will misbehave in terms of handling characteristics. It just does not let go off the back end, only a hint of safe understeer when you push it to the limit. Enthusiasts will love the A7’s performance, and to top that it is even better and safe when the roads are wet. The only tiny problem is the suspension, which communicates every bit of the road surface to your back when left in the Dynamic mode. Best way around is to just leave it in Auto or Comfort.

The Audi A7 is the lovely blend of luxury and performance, and a good quantity of style to go with it as well. And atop this it returns a fuel efficiency of 16kmpl. Then are the safety measures, such as Audi pre sense and night vision assist to name a few, which means Audi is very concerned about passengers and wants them to have fun while making sure they are safe. And at the end you will never get bored A7 happy face staring at you from the driveway, urging you to go for a spin.



INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Based on SIAM figures

COMPANY %Maruti Suzuki 38.64

Hyundai Motor 26.45

Nissan Motor 8.51

Honda Cars 6.05

Tata Motors 4.98

Toyota Kirloskar Motor 4.41

Volkswagen India 3.36

Ford India 3.07

OTHERS 2.27

Skoda Auto India 0.83%

Mahindra & Mahindra 0.56%

Renault India 0.31%

Fiat India Automobiles 0.50%

Hindustan Motors 0.07%

General Motors India 2.26

PASSENGER VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

1,84,055 Units

COMPANY %Mahindra & Mahindra 30

Maruti Suzuki India 20.47

Tata Motors 16.12

Ford India 11.22

Toyota Kirloskar Motor 10.67

Renault India 6.55

General Motors India 3.93

OTHERS 1.04

Force Motors (0.40%)

Hindustan Motors (0.27%)

Honda Cars India (0.22%)

Skoda Auto India (0.07%)

Nissan Motor India (0.04%)

Hyundai Motor India (0.04%)

UTILITY VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

59,519 Units

Industry Overview.indd 68 8/29/2013 7:31:58 PM


INDUSTRY OVERVIEW


COMPANY %Hero MotoCorp 37.83

Bajaj Auto 22.28

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India 19.15

TVS Motor 11.38

India Yamaha Motor 4.51

Suzuki Motorcycle India 2.30

OTHERS 2.55

Royal Enfield 1.18%

Mahindra Two Wheelers 1.16%

Piaggio Vehicles 0.20%

H-D Motor Company India 0.01%

TWO WHEELER MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

12,88,641 Units

COMPANY %Bajaj Auto 52.01

Piaggio Vehicles 23.65

TVS Motor Company 10.56

Mahindra & Mahindra 7.23

Atul Auto 4.53

Scooters India 1.77

Force Motors 0.25

THREE WHEELERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

66,335 Units



COMPANY %Tata Motors 53.18

Mahindra & Mahindra 31.12

Ashok Leyland 6.08

Force Motors 4

VECVs - Eicher 2.11

Piaggio Vehicles 1.47

Mahindra Trucks & Buses 1.10

SML Isuzu 0.85

Hindustan Motors 0.09

LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

40,771 Units

COMPANY %Tata Motors 53.28

Ashok Leyland 30.10

VECVs - Eicher 11.06

SML Isuzu 2.22

Asia Motor Works 1.57

Mahindra Trucks & Buses 1.36

VECVs - Volvo 0.41

MEDIUM & HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA (Total Domestic Sales + Exports - July 2013)

20,693 Units


INDUSTRY OVERVIEW


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MotownI N D I A

VOL-3 • ISSUE-12 • SEPTEMBER 2013 • 100

T H E P U L S E O F T H E A U T O M O T I V E I N D U S T R Y

HERO CYCLES NEW PLANT BELGIAN GRAND PRIX AUDI A7 SPORTBACK

WHEELZ & ROADZ


Volvo V40 Cross Country Stunning Scandinavian

VE COMMERCIALVEHICLES (VECV)

READY TO REAP


Pages 32-55

Cover September 2013.indd 1 8/29/2013 7:16:44 PM

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