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.

FIRST ASHOK LEYLAND DOST ROLL OUT

Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company rolled out on July,22 its first Product, the Ashok Leyland DOST   from AL's Hosur facility. The first Vehicle was sye mbolically driven out from the dedicated newly commissioned light commercial vehicles line.

Dost will be available in 3 versions with the top-end version featuring air-conditioning, Power Steering, dual-colour beige-gray trim and fabric seats.

DESIGNED HIGHER PAYLOAD 1.25 TONNES

VECV's GREATER FOCUS NOW ON HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS

Though there are several players in the Indian Commercial vehicle market vying to step up their sales in a highly competitive enviroment, VE Commercial Vehicle Ltd. VECV a joint venture between the V olvo Group and Eicher Motors, has its special reputation among customers.

In the 5T to 12T category, the company has an attractive market share of 30%, and with in the 9T to 12 T category it has whopping 40% market share. The company has now its focus on heavy duty trucks with an idea to expand market share. Currently it produces around 600 heavy duty trucks per month and has set a goal of taking it to a level of 1,000 Units per month. Its investment in design ,development,manufacturing systmes, distribution and services are largely oriented towards creating a stronger position in the heavy duty market.

The first 6months calender year (Jan-Jun), it has achieved a 27% growth and hopes to retain the growth rate during the second half, if not more. Last year, VECE sold 39,000 Eicher trucks and buses and 1,000 Volvo Trucks with turnover of Rs.4,000 Crores 

India: AMW shelves plans to enter local LCV segment

Indian commercial vehicle and components manufacturer Asia MotorWorks (AMW) has put on hold its plans to enter the country's light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment. This decision has been attributed to a slowdown in the Indian automotive market following a series of interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
AMW had intended to enter this segment with its 1.5-tonne Pug LCV. The company has decided to continue focussing on the medium and heavy CV (M&HCV) segment, as well as its entry into the bus segment.
"We have put our entry into the LCV segment on hold at present, even though we are going ahead with our plans to launch buses," A Ramasubramanian, president of Asia MotorWorks, told the Financial Chronicle.
The LCV market in India has been witnessing strong growth. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), in the first four months of the current financial year (April-July 2011), domestic sales of LCVs rose by 25.6% year-on-year. Comparatively, the M&HCV segment posted a growth rate of 6.4%.
Beyond this inviting growth rate, however, OEMs such as Force Motors and Piaggio have reportedly had difficulties in securing significant market share, in a segment dominated by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.
AMW's entry into the bus segment too will pitch the company against giants such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, which dominate the mass-market bus segments, and Volvo Buses which leads the high-end multi-axle segment. According to the Financial Chronicle, the winding down of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme has resulted in the domestic bus market slowing down considerably (+2.9% y-o-y in

HISTORY OF KING PINS

Originally this was literally a steel pin on which the moveable, steerable wheel was mounted to the suspension. Free to rotate on a single axis, it limited the degrees of freedom of motion of the rest of the front suspension. When its bearings were replaced starting in the 1950s by ball joints, more complicated suspension designs became available to designers  made of metal.

Although they are largely obsolete, kingpin suspensions have the advantage of being able to carry much heavier weights, which is why they are still featured on some heavy trucks.
No longer restricted to moving like a pin, the part was not necessarily still called a kingpin; but in newer designs, the term may be used not for an actual pin but the axis around which the steered wheels pivot.^[The nipple at the front of a semi-trailer to connect to a fifth wheel coupling is also known as a kingpin.

On most modern designs, the kingpin is set at an angle relative to the true vertical line, as viewed from the front or back of the vehicle. This is the kingpin inclination or KPI (also called steering axis inclination, or SAI). This has an important effect on the steering, making it tend to return to the straight ahead or centre position. This is because the straight ahead position is where the wheel is at its highest point relative to the suspended body of the vehicle - the weight of the vehicle tends to turn the kingpin to this position. A second effect of the kingpin inclination is to set the scrub radius of the steered wheel. This is the offset between the tyre's contact point with the road surface and the projected axis of the steering down through the kingpin. If these points coincide, the scrub radius is zero. Zero scrub radius is possible without an inclined kingpin, but requires a deeply dished wheel so that the kingpin is at the centerline of the wheel. It's much more practical to incline the kingpin and use a less dished wheel, which also gives the self-centering effect. Zero scrub radius is not necessarily desirable - larger scrub radii lead to less steering effort (especially on vehicles without power steering) but more force applied to the steering components by road surface imperfections, braking, etc. Zero scrub radius isolates the steering from these effects but can lead to a "dead" feel for the driver which is undesirable, especially on performance vehicles

Meaning of "king-pin: that which holds together any complex system or arrangement.