Asia MotorWorks (AMW) will end the year 2010-11 with sales of 8,000 trucks, and for 2011-12 the company has set an ambitious target of 50,000 units, which is currently its total manufacturing capacity. The company plans to achieve this magical number by entering the mass market haulage segment with the launch of two new platforms in the 16-tonne and 25-tonne categories within the next two months.He added: “With our special thrust on mining and construction, we are gearing up production and are seeking to penetrate the existing markets with newer products, with improved features and performance parameters”.
AMW first launched its trucks in August 2006. In less than five years, the company has established its presence as a high performance, reliable trucking brand. Today, with more than 20,000 trucks on road, AMW has become the preferred choice, particularly in mining and construction applications, like tippers, tip-trailers and concrete mixers. AMW’s present product portfolio comprises vehicles in 25, 30 and 49-ton segments in haulage and fully built vehicles like tippers, dumpers and transit mixers. The cost of vehicles ranges from Rs. 17 lakhs to Rs. 26 lakhs. The company offers a total of over 25 variants.
AMW has introduced products that are customized to the highly demanding construction segment as well as other road and dam building and other allied infrastructure segments. Built to provide higher efficiency and increased productivity, the products are ideal for a range of applications. A trend-setting “ready-to-use” air-conditioned cabin now comes as a standard fitment in all AMW trucks. These have proven to be highly comfortable and contribute to significant increases in driver productivity.
Mr. Rajesh Mangal, CMO, AMW says: “Business at AMW is booming. We have a very robust order book and are seriously working on ramping up our production. There is a steady increase in demand for trucks from the second half of 2010 which has resulted in a serious slump in availability of good vehicles in the market. With many ongoing infrastructure projects like road, dam construction and power projects, this demand is bound to increase further”.
AMW is now all set to foray into the mass-market segment of haulage vehicles. “We will be launching a 10-wheeler truck for the mass market haulage segment. It will be different in terms of pricing and specifications. We are also looking at launching 4×2 mass market haulage trucks which will be a natural progression for us”, adds Mr. Mangal.
The backbone of AMW’s engineering prowess is its manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The plant has an installed capacity of 50,000 trucks per annum. In addition, AMW has a capacity of 12,000 fully-built vehicles and 4,000 trailers per annum. AMW Auto Component manufactures wheel rims for trucks, cars and tractors. The plant has a capacity to manufacture 15 million wheel rims.
In terms of product expansion, the company has started manufacturing cabs at its Bhuj facility, which was earlier being imported. Aggregates include Cummins engines and ZF and Eaton transmissions.
AMW has also recently soft-launched a product for the mining segment. The 31-tonne 8×4 tipper is ideal for coal transportation. One of its kind in the AMW stable, this product lends itself to high loading capacity and can be used for transportation of coal from crusher sites to railway sidings.
“Over a period of time, customers have realized that they need a reliable product, and even the application builders have realized the same. Application providers in the construction segment, like manufacturers of concrete mixers, boom pumps and cranes, have evaluated our trucks vis-à-vis competition and found our truck far superior and reliable. Customers are getting much better value proposition. We work closely with all application providers but eventually the customer drives the demand”, said Mr. Mangal.
In the initial euphoria, AMW did attempt to enter segments like buses and light trucks, like the Tata Ace. The company showcased some of the future products at the Auto Expo in 2008. After the recession in the same year, the company realized that, instead of spreading thin on too many segments, it is better to concentrate on its core segment of heavy duty trucks for now.
Five years since the launch of its trucks, AMW has already established service centres within every 200 to 300 km across the country. It has dealerships and service teams working at 60 locations.
