MAN Force Trucks Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG and Force Motors Ltd, which recently appointed Narbheram Motors as its authorised dealer for Jharkhand and Bihar, sees a good future for its heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) in this mineral-rich state.
The company, which is currently manufacturing HCVs of 25-50 tonne carrying capacity, has recently introduced its 25-tonne truck that was yet to hit Jharkhand roads even though a small number has already been sold in West Bengal.
“The entire segment of HCV owners is moving to heavier commercial vehicles by way of replacing their old fleet,” said Narbheram Motors managing director Jay Parekh.
He sees a good future for the MAN trucks in the Jharkhand mining sector in the coming years, particularly once the state had unveiled its rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy.
Likewise, fleet owners were also increasing their profitability by replacing their old fleet in the mining area by higher capacity HCVs. Here, two MAN tractor models, the 49-tonne CLA 49.280 and 40-tonne CLA 40.280, were making a good impact.
The tractor models were being used for applications ranging from long haul carrying of perishable goods in reefers and containers and short/medium haul of raw materials such as coal, iron ore, aggregates, loose cement and limestone.
According to Parekh, Narbheram Motors intends to sell around 500 MAN Force vehicles during 2008-09.
Priced at Rs 28.50 lakh for the 14-cubic meter Rock body model and Rs 26.79 lakh for the 16-cubic meter box body model, the tippers are being used mainly in carrying out mining operations in Jharkhand.
“The payload capacity of the MAN tippers being higher than other models available in that price range, profitability for the fleet owners has gone up,” said Parekh. Some of the Volvo models and Tata Motors’ Novus are said to be competing with the tipper.
MAN Force that had produced around 5,000 HCVs in 2006-07, is likely to end the current year by producing around 24,000 vehicles, of which half of them will have been exported by it.
The HCV manufacturer exported its first consignment of around 2,500-3,000 vehicles around three months to Bangladesh, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and to other Asean countries.