SML ISUZU LAUNCHES MOST POWER FUL TRUCK IN 12T

SML Isuzu Ltd., the joint venture of Swaraj Mazda Ltd., Isuzu Motor Corporation and Sumitomo, has launched the first Isuzu branded truck, marking the entry of Isuzu into the Indian truck segment. The first truck launched with the Isuzu badge is a 12-ton GVW medium duty cargo truck.

The Isuzu IS12T was launched in Chennai and the first vehicle was handed over to Gaurda Logistics. The all-new Isuzu IS12T is fitted with Isuzu 150 hp, 4-cylinder, BS 3 common rail engine and 6-speed Isuzu gear box, making it the most powerful in its class. Both the engine and gearbox are imported directly from Isuzu, Japan.

The vehicle comes with three chassis options – cab and chassis, cab with load body and cab with high deck body. The fully-built truck with cab and cargo body is priced at Rs. 14 lakhs.

This is the first launch for SML Isuzu in the higher hp segment. Normally in this segment most trucks are fitted with 100 to 125 hp engine. The Isuzu IS12T is the first in the segment to be fitted with 150 hp engine. This helps in faster turnaround time resulting in more trips and more productivity for the customer.

The truck is built with more powerful aggregates for heavy duty applications, including Meritor axles, Wabco brake systems and Rane power steering system. It comes with power steering as a standard feature.
What’s interesting is that the company has launched a 12-tonner, which is closer to the existing range of light and medium duty trucks that the company offers. It’s a more sensible move, instead of directly entering the 16-tonner heavy truck segment, which is a completely different segment with different customers and expectations.

SML Isuzu manufactures and sells light commercial vehicles for goods and passenger applications. Its products include ambulances, buses, dual cabs, and trucks. Currently majority of the stake is held by the Japanese giant Sumitomo Corporation (54.9 per cent). Isuzu own (four per cent) and P/E player Actis holds 5.6 per cent. Isuzu is seriously interested to increase its current stake and take control of the company. Isuzu is leading manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks, and Swaraj Mazda is a perfect fit for its Indian dreams.

MAHINDRA NAVISTAR SETS FRESH STANDARDS

This is just one of the many ways by which MNAL is trying to differentiate itself from competitors. The commercial vehicle industry is going through a very interesting phase. In the next couple of years, it will become a level playing field, where all manufacturers will offer similar products, with very limited scope for product differentiation. Factory-built cabs, higher hp power engines, more efficient aggregates will all become a standard feature on Indian trucks. What is going to be different is the after-sales and service support that manufacturers offer. This includes quality of service, availability of spares, overall maintenance cost, driver training, highway breakdown service and driver helplines. All these will be key differentiators in the industry, and these are precisely the areas which MNAL is working on.

Within six months of launch, MNAL truck sales have crossed the 1,000-mark. The company has set an ambitious sales target of 50,000 HCVs and 20,000 LCVs in the next three-four years time. The current product range includes an MN25 6X2 haulage truck, MN25 tipper, MN31 8X2 haulage truck and an MN40 tractor. All these trucks are fitted with 210 hp MAXXFORCE engines. MN 40 comes with an electronic 260 HP option. The company is planning to launch a 25 tonner 6X4 heavy duty mining tipper and a 49 tonne tractor for ODC application, both fitted with 260 hp engine, by the end of the current year.

KAMAZ VECTRA STEBILISES MARKET IN INDIA

Russian truck major Kamaz is in India for the long term. With over 200 trucks on Indian roads within six months of its launch, Kamaz Vectra Motors Ltd. (KVML) has laid strong foundation for future growth in India. Among the many global players that’ve entered the Indian market in the last few years, Kamaz is showing a lot of promise and commitment. For Kamaz, India is not just another market, but “It is the most important market for its future growth”.

KVML is a joint venture between Kamaz OJSC and the Vectra Group (51:49). The company offers its 31-tonner dump truck Kamaz-6540 (8x4) with 19-t legal payload. With more orders for trucks on hand, the company has announced expansion of its product range. “We will launch the 6X4 tipper and 4X2 tractor in September 2011 and 6X4 heavy duty tractor by November. All these products are currently undergoing test. By the end of this year, we will have the complete range to offer – 8X4 tipper, 6X4 tipper, 4X2 tractors and 6X4 tractors”, says Mr. Denis Trifonov, CEO of KVML.

KVML has set up a plant at Hosur with an annual capacity to produce 5,000 trucks. Currently the company is assembling the Kamaz-6540 tipper, and it will shortly start production of tractors Kamaz-5460 (4X2) and Kamaz-6460 (6X4), as well as Kamaz-6520 dump trucks. The company has localized most of the key aggregates achieving over 70 per cent indigenisation. With the existing products and the proposed launch of new products, the company has set an ambitious target to sell 2,500 units during 2011-12. The company commands 18 per cent share in the 8X4 truck market in the very first year.

SCANIA AGGRESSIVE ENTRY INTO INDIAN CV - STARTED BANGLORE PLANT

In 2011, Scania completes 100 years of its existence, and the company has taken the important decision to enlarge its presence in the Indian commercial vehicle market.

Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of heavy trucks, buses, and industrial and marine engines. In 2010, it clocked a turnover of 8,700 million euro by selling 56,837 trucks, 6,876 buses and 6,526 engines. Operating in more than 100 countries, Europe is the company’s main market, accounting for 39 per cent of its sales. Latin America accounts for 32 per cent, Asia 19 per cent, Africa and Oceania five per cent each and Euroasia four per cent.

Scania entered India in 2007 in partnership with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for selling its high-end tippers in the Indian mining market. The company currently offers Scania P380, a 380hp tipper truck for mining applications. Till date the company has sold over 600 tipper trucks in India. Currently these trucks are imported as fully-built units with the tipper bodies being sourced locally. After a careful study of the Indian market and the potential it offers for high-performance trucks and buses, Scania has taken the next big step of setting up an

TATA MULTI AXLE 3118 8X2 TRUCK WITH LIFT AXLE

Multi-axle 8X2 segment

One of the biggest success stories for Tata Motors in recent years in the truck segment has been the 3118, 8X2 4 axle truck. Initially the haulage market moved from the 4X2 to the 6X2 multi-axle truck, and this has now moved to the 8X2 segment.

He said: “Within the multi-axle segment, we are seeing an increasing trend towards the 4-axle from the 3-axle truck. We expect the multi-axle truck markets to move to 8X2. Our 3118 8X2 model is the largest selling model in its segment. Till the first half of 2010-11, the 25-tonner multi-axle truck used to be the largest selling truck in the M&HCV segment. But from the second half of last year and in the current year, we see the 3118 doing very well”.

The 8X2 makes business sense for the operator as it offers better operating economics. You get 6 tonnes of additional payload. Tata Motors is offering its 8X2 truck with lift axle, which reduces the tyre life and fuel consumption during empty return trips, resulting in better operating economics.

Today the 8X2 truck has become a well-accepted model for all applications, including market loads, tankers, transportation of cement bags and others. The industry size for 8X2 trucks is around 4,500 vehicles, of which Tata Motors sells around 3,500 vehicles every month.

NEW CUSTOMER FOCUS

Tata Motors has had a very good year in 2010-11, particularly in the commercial vehicle segment. In the domestic market, the company’s commercial vehicles sales increased by 22.7 per cent year-on-year to 458,828 units, with its market share in it of 61.8 per cent.

Overall the CV industry grew by 27 per cent in 2010-11 over the previous year. The growth was supported by sustained economic growth leading to significant revival in exim trade, infrastructure development, pick-up in mining & construction activities, favorable vehicle financing, healthy freight availability, etc

Growth in the MHCV segment has been accompanied by a structural alignment and shift in favor of higher tonnage trucks. Tata Motors has witnessed growth of 31 per cent in the M&HCV segment, of which the tractor trailer segment grew by 59 per cent, multi-axle segment by 35 per cent, tippers by 24 per cent and the 2-axle trucks by around 11 per cent.

Tata Motors commands a 61 per cent marketshare in the overall commercial vehicle segment, but it is going to become increasingly difficult for the company to preserve the marketshare because of competition. From just three CV manufacturers a decade ago, today there are nearly a dozen manufacturers in India, and more are waiting in their wings to enter the fray.

As a market leader, the company is fully aware of this fact and is gearing up in all possible manner to tackle competition. Mr. Vinod Sahay, Head of Sales and Marketing (M&HCV), Tata Motors, spoke in detail on the product and customer support initiatives of the company that help it remain on top.

Starting with the products, Mr. Sahay said: “Earlier we had just one or two products at every GVW, like the 16, 25 or 40 tonne segment. Today we already have minimum two and in many cases more than four products at every GVW, price and performance point across all segments – rigids, tippers and TT. Going forward, we will have a basic product, a mid-range product and at the top end we will have Prima. For instance, in the 40-tonne TT, we have two offerings, one is a mass market product and the other high-end Prima”.

DAILMER RECEIVES RBI NOD FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES

Daimler AG has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up a non-banking finance company for its financial services business in India. The new company, Daimler Financial Services India Private Ltd., will be a 100 per cent subsidiary of Daimler AG and is expected to be operational in the third quarter 2011.

“With business activities in over 40 countries, Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading automotive financial services companies in the world. Every second passenger car and every fourth commercial vehicle from Daimler is financed or leased by us. India is one of the fastest growing automotive markets and the Daimler Group has high expectations from this market,” said Richard Howard, Member on the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services AG responsible for Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Daimler Financial Services India will support the sales of Mercedes-Benz cars and Daimler trucks as there is a large demand for financing solutions in the market. It will initially invest upwards of $50 million as part of market entry.

“By providing innovative and customized finance and insurance solutions to dealers and customers, we intend to enrich the ownership experience of Mercedes-Benz and BharatBenz branded automotive products, under the Mercedes-Benz Financial and BharatBenz Financial labels”, said Mr. Sidhartha Nair, Managing Director, Daimler Financial Services India Private Ltd.

The product range of the new company will include financing, leasing, insurance and dealer financing for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars at market launch. The commercial vehicle finance products will be offered, for the newly developed Daimler truck brand for the Indian market, BharatBenz, in 2012, after the start of truck production in Oragadam, close to Chennai.

Daimler Financial Services AG has shown strong growth in the three other “BRIC markets”. Until year-end 2010, the contract volume of Daimler Financial Services in Russia increased by 25 per cent compared to the year before. In Brazil the increase was 35 per cent and in China even 100 per cent

MAN-SINTRUK JOINT BRAND FOR ASIAN MARKETS

MAN and Sinotruk have unveiled a new joint truck brand for China and other growth markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Known internationally as SITRAK, the truck brand will be marketed under the Chinese name Shandeka in the home market of China. With three stylized ginkgo leaves, which symbolize endurance and vitality in Asia and act as the logo, the brand name stands for the good partnership between MAN and Sinotruk.

While sales in China will be exclusively via Sinotruk, export markets will be served by the existing sales networks of MAN and Sinotruk. MAN will also participate in the sales in China as a result of its direct interest in Sinotruk. The companies expect yearly sales to total 200,000 trucks by 2018, of which 160,000 are for the Chinese market.

Sinotruk and MAN showcased the new brand’s first product, the SITRAK T7H, at their joint trade fair stand in Shanghai. The heavy-duty T7H truck combines Sinotruk’s components and MAN technology. The T7H is due to go into production at the Jinan site in China in December next. Chinese customers will already be able to order the new truck in the first six months of 2012, while sale for export is slated for the second half of 2012.

Sinotruk and MAN are co-operating on two levels: provision of capital and transfer of technology and management expertise. MAN invested Euro 560 million in Sinotruk in 2009 and has a direct interest in the Chinese manufacturer with a 25 per cent stake plus one share. The transfer of technology and management expertise is based on a contract signed by both partners regarding the granting of technology licences.

MAN went into partnership with the Heavy Duty Truck Corporation (today Sinotruk) way back in 1983 for the construction and licensing of Steyr trucks. Sinotruk and MAN are thus united by a long history of working together. Trust is the very backbone of this co-operation.

“In just a short period of time, Sinotruk and MAN have developed a new truck brand, which we present to you together today at the Shanghai Auto Show. This day is a milestone for Sinotruk, since SITRAK will now enable us to offer our customers a Chinese truck with state-of-the-art technology,” said Chunji Ma, Supervisory Board Chairman of Sinotruk.

MAN CEO Dr. Georg Pachta-Reyhofen said: “With SITRAK, we are adding a key element to our BRIC strategy. This heavy truck that is ‘made in China’ complements MAN’s product and brand portfolio perfectly. Thanks to the excellent partnership with Sinotruk, we are able to take another important step in MAN’s global expansion today.”

Sinotruk is one of the largest truck manufacturers worldwide and is one of the few producers in China that can look back on a 50-year history. Sinotruk is considered a heavy truck specialist, especially in China, but has significantly expanded its activities in recent years to include light commercial vehicles and construction vehicles. In 2010 the CNHTC Group generated revenue of Euro 8.05 billion. It also sold around 200,000 trucks, 60 per cent more than in the previous year.

MAN Truck & Bus AG, headquartered in Munich, is the largest company of the MAN Group and a leading international supplier of efficient commercial vehicles and innovative transport solutions. In fiscal 2010 the enterprise, with around 31,000 employees, posted sales of more than 55,000 trucks and over 5,400 buses and bus chassis of the MAN and NEOPLAN brands worth 7.4 billion euros.