BS-VI Transition Experience
It is almost a year since India transitioned to the BS-VI emission norms. India had 1,000 days to leapfrog to these stringent norms while globally it was almost a decade-long journey. But we have demonstrated that when we put our heart and minds to it and set a clear path, nothing is unachievable. So, it has been a challenging yet enriching experience. For Cummins India, it was one of our most successful launches in what were undoubtedly extremely challenging conditions. The products have been well-received by our customers and the product has outperformed competition in terms of reliability, fluid economy and driveability.
Cummins is recognised worldwide as the engine supplier of choice due to market-leading reliability and emissions technology. We successfully leveraged our extensive and global experience in low emission technologies of combustion, fuel systems, electronic controls, turbo-charging, exhaust after-treatment and filtration. We had an integrated team structure to handle this level of change involving engineering developments as well as setting up a new plant for emission solutions. We also had well laid out reliability testing plan in India duty cycles and environmental conditions.
Challenges and Takeaways
The pandemic brought many challenges during transition. Supply chain ramp-up was one of the most critical challenges. At the same time, there have also been shortages in semiconductor availability. The entire industry today is struggling with this issue. Cummins is using its global scale and local investments to maximise shipments in the market. Post the launch, getting the service and aftermarket team ready posed to be another challenge given our target audiences. Cummins being a technology leader successfully adopted digital techniques to train and educate dealer technicians, drivers, bodybuilders and OEM plant quality and service teams. We introduced several campaigns such as ‘Badho Befikar’ genuine Cummins parts and ‘Mitwa’ mechanic loyalty program, amongst others, to reach out to the last mile.
Opportunities
Cummins’ engines and emission solutions have an established presence worldwide. Globally, Cummins has sold more than 5 million midrange engines, equivalent to BS-VI or stricter emission norms. With BS-VI you will find that Cummins’ engines and components are used by multiple OEMs in India. With BS-VI we have been able to expand our footprint in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment. Many OEMs are finding comfort in using Cummins’ products that are well-proven for their performance in advanced emission markets.
Current and Upcoming Financial Year
All our OEMs are seeing significant upside in volumes compared to last year. Naturally, we also expect growth in volumes in line with market. As the economy regains momentum, there is an increase in demand in medium and heavy commercial vehicles driven by pick-up in overall economic activities and infrastructure development. The focus for the year will be to strengthen supply chain, nurture our existing and new relationships as well as focus on the aftermarket to maximise growth opportunities. At Cummins we are also planning to bring new engine and product platforms to India. With BS-VI products localised in India, we may see increased export opportunities out of India.