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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
trucks under testing and are in dis-
cussion with some customers for
our on-road vehicles, both trucks
and buses. In the mining and con-
struction segment, we will continue
to work closely with L&T to further
strengthen our aftersales.”
Scania has been working with
L&T in the mining and construc-
tion segment and will cater to the
on-road segment with its new Nar-
asapura facility. The CKD plant will
be constructed on an area of 35 acres
and will also be the headquarters of
SCVI.
Scania’s commitment to the In-
dian market is highlighted by the
increase in its investment from an
initial figure of Rs. 1.5 billion to
Rs. 2.5 billion at present. The com-
pany’s new facility will function as
a CKD assembly unit for trucks and
buses in the first phase and will also
be used for bus body building and
servicing at a later period. The com-
pany will also set up a warehouse
in India to improve availability of
parts. Since its entry into the Indian
market, it has focused on the mining
and construction segment and has
performed quite well with the part-
nership of L&T. With 80 per cent of
the country’s electricity being coal-
powered and the huge reserves of
coal available, the mining segment
offers enormous scope for the com-
pany’s products.
Focus on niche segments
After a comprehensive study of
the Indian market, Scania is now
ready to foray into the on-road seg-
ment where it will focus on the
over-dimensional cargo (ODC) sec-
tor and other niche segments. These
include transport of chemicals and
petroleum, which are quite demand-
ing, and have high dependence on
uptime, fuel efficiency and total cost
of ownership (TCO). In the niche
segments, fuel efficiency influences
45 per cent of the TCO while the
capital cost of the vehicle is only 25
From left, Mr. Suresh Ekambaram, Director After Sales, Mr. Henrik Fagrenius, Managing Director, Mr. Stefan
Wiklund, Director Finance, and Mr. Sivakumar Viswam, Director Sales, Scania Commercial Vehicles India, at
the ground-breaking ceremony
vehicle zone (cover story)
The company targets an annual roll-out of 2,000 heavy haulage
trucks and 1,000 inter-city multi-axle buses and coaches from the
plant within five years. The first truck is expected to roll out in
April 2013, before which the company might import and supply
completely-built vehicles.