As CASE Construction Equipment celebrates its global legacy of 180 years and unveils construction equipment at EXCON 2022, Sarada Vishnubhatla catches Fabrizio Cepollina, Vice President, CNH Industrial Construction Segment (Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific) for an exclusive interaction to find out a nugget or two on the company’s extent of investment, aftermarket, electrification and market strategy in the context of India’s booming CE sector.
Launch at EXCON 2022
The year 2022 is special for CASE Construction Equipment for two reasons – one, the company celebrates 180 years of its powerful existence globally and two, EXCON 2022 became their platform to launch 770NXe 49.5 HP Backhoe Loader and its two variants, CX220c LC Excavator, 1170EX Compactor besides, 845C Motor Grader. Amidst huge applause and appreciation, CASE showcased 10 machines in total, engine technologies, aftersales solutions and made a robust statement on the brand loyalty CASE Construction enjoys in India.
Fabrizio talks about their plans: “In the last decade, we have invested about US $ 200 million dollars globally on new products, manufacturing sites and technology. In India, particularly, we are soon going to launch a new product line which will be dedicated to the country and will be extensively localized. Another important point is that for us India will soon become an export hub besides looking at the domestic market to push certain products.”
Market Demand
He summarizes: “The demand from the market is for economical solutions but with high levels of technology. As a company, we are fully integrated especially when it comes to digitalizing the data. Our India plant was one of the best to keep the cost under control even during COVID pandemic because we have an established supply base here, and this is in comparison to our North American and European markets which experienced much more severe impact in terms of production. When it comes to the increase in the commodity prices where the cost is rising for steel and other materials, we are doing everything possible to help the dealers in these times. We are striving for an increased market share in India, and improved communication with the customers here who will for sure benefit from our wide range of construction equipment.”
Focus on Aftermarket
Fabrizio says: “We have a strong network of more than 60 dealers in the country. There are some who have been with us since we stepped into the country, some are large and still others are medium-sized dealers. We are looking at investing further in more corners of the country. Thinking of the future, we will be looking at reconditioning of the engine, and also on things like telematics. We are also developing a program series to train the dealers, both in terms of increasing their knowledge of connectivity and their level of technical capability. We are keenly focused on integrating the Dealer Management System because we are serious about digitalization of the machine and their performance. Our ultimate aim is to have connected machines and to analyze the data that will be received to be able to offer inputs to the dealers. This will help them predict the performance, the machine and the aftermarket. We are clear that in the near future it is all about connecting the dealers and investments being made in the right direction.”
Electrification in Future
He shares: “Electrification will definitely be the reality but in smaller products to begin with. So, mini excavator probably is an interesting beginning for this. But it will depend on the evolution of the market. We are ready and by the end of this year, we will have the first product in the series that will be produced in Italy.”