European heavy-duty vehicle majors including Volvo, Scania and DaimlerChrysler have created a separate vehicle segment in the Indian mining and construction (M&C) industry, which has a huge potential for heavy-duty tipper trucks.
Volvo India Private Ltd managing director Eric Leblanc said the company has 50% of market share in the high-performance tipper market in India. “In fact, this market did not exist before Volvo entered and is largely a substitute to the existing large dumpers in mining sites – and not merely the earlier 4×2 tipper trucks. We feel privileged to have had the chance to develop the market,” he said.
Currently, the company is exporting these trucks to overseas markets such as South Korea, Japan and expect to expand this list in Asia, he said.
The current models of Volvo include FM400 8X4 and FM340 6X4 Tippers with various body options in the price ranging from Rs 50-60 lakh.
“We will continue to keep upgrading and launching new variations and models,” Leblanc said.
DaimlerChrysler India’s chief executive officer and managing director Wilfried Aulbur said the company has launched tipper trucks in India in mid-2006. So far more than 100 trucks have been sold in the Indian market.
Optimistic on M&C industry, Aulbur said India is a power deficit country and 70% of the power generation is through coal, which is the major mining sector. Hence, demand for heavy-duty trucks in mining sector will increase.
The company serves M&C segment with its Mercedes Benz brand Actros 4840k model truck. Buoyed with bullish sales, DaimlerChrysler, which was importing it as CBU earlier, has started assembling the trucks at its Pune plant from last month. In 2009, the company plans to move its manufacturing operations into its new facility in Pune, where it would intensify its tipper truck assembling too along with Mercedes Benz car production.
Scania has launched its 8X4 multi-axle tipper recently through its Indian partner L&T. The total market size of these tippers stood at around 650 units in 2006 and is expected to increase to 1,000 units in 2007, J P Nayak, member of the board and president (machinery & industry products) of L&T said.
“We are expecting the segment comprising this class of multi-axle tipper trucks to grow at more than 30% in coming years on the back of heavy mining activities in India. We are targeting 25-35% market share in this segment with Scania’s product,” Nayak said. To start with, he said the company plans to sell around 60-80 Scania tipper trucks by the end of March 2008.