The collaboration with Hammer Clutch Products will give the company an advantage in terms of global quality and assured service channel, reports Rajesh Rajgor
India’s leading manufacturer of clutch release bearings, Delux Bearings has introduced ‘Hammer’ clutch for heavy-duty buses and trucks. Sharing details of the product, Jagpreet Khurana, Head of Marketing – Aftermarket, said: “We have been selling bearings in India for the last four decades both to OEMs and also in the aftermarket through various channel partners. We wanted to share with our end users, fleet operators and body-builders, directly, information about our new offering in technical collaboration with Hammer Clutch Products. When they decided to enter India with us, we did a test survey of the market with the bigger clutch they sell. Hence, we are sensitising end users about the clutch range of 395 mm diaphragm and above.”
“Since we already have a wide range of clutch bearings in our portfolio, this should be seen as a brand extension,” he added. Hammer is a big name in the clutch market and covers almost 90% of the kit reference of leading international brands such as Mercedes, DAF, Scania, MAN, Iveco, Volvo and Renault. Clearly buses, that too the ones with 40 seats and above are potential clients for the bigger clutches. As a lot of people travel in these buses and many lives are at stake, nobody wants to take chance with the quality and hence opt for a reliable product.
“Operators now know that we are a complete solution provider along with bearings and we can give them the right product for the high-end heavy-duty premium buses. Therefore, the response has been encouraging,” Khurana said. Delux Bearing’s clutches offer protection against harmful torsional vibrations and pre-damper, reducing the idling noise. It also helps reduce friction and runs up to 2 lakh kilometres. Apart from the operators of the Swedish buses, if the home-grown Indian bus manufacturers also find acceptance in the luxury bus segment, the company will cater to the aftermarket demands from the existing operators.
Another focus area for Delux Bearings is promoting its high-quality products like clutch bearings, taper roller bearings, king pin bearings and centre joint bearings, etc., to gain direct access to the customers, who are not served by the big OEMs in the aftermarket. “There are not many retailers who sell the genuine parts of Volvo and Scania buses; even in case of Indian brands like Tata and Leyland the fleet operators are dependent on the products available in the market and have no way of approaching the manufacturers directly. Thus, we would like to offer that platform to them,” Khurana said.
The company is confident of good market response as the operators are aware of the quality that is being used in global trucks and buses. Delux Bearing commands a strong position in the Indian market in the high-value, high-volume market of the clutch release bearings. They are also strong in the taper roller bearings, supplying approximately 1.5 to 2 million units a year. The company has also made inroads in the market for centre joint bearings. There has been good progress in the automotive bearing segment too, including two-wheeler and passenger vehicles. “We are confident that the introduction of clutches will only push our business further and open new avenues from the aftermarket segment,” Khurana stated.