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MOTORINDIA
l
February 2012
expressed his views on the issue.
“Basically it’s a question of dura-
bility. In frequent stop-start cycles
with heavy vehicles, a mechanical
starting element will always have
trouble whereas a hydraulic con-
verter is doing this wear free. This is
why in all the sophisticated markets,
there aren’t any AMTs or mechani-
cal clutch transmissions in operation
in the city buses. There are no ma-
jor developments for AMTs in the
heavy segment”, he said.
Voith transmissions are under
test by many commercial vehicle
builders in India. At present, eve-
rything is in place for installation
of its transmissions once the cus-
tomer demands for the product. In
Europe, Voith has a market share of
nearly 50 per cent in city buses with
automatic transmissions. In Latin
America, where it enjoys a 60-70
per cent market share, the compa-
ny has a strong presence with over
1,000 transmissions in each city in
the region.
In regions like Latin America and
China, Voith has taken up to a dec-
ade to get a foothold. The company
entered Latin America in 2000 and
in 10 years’ time it sells over 3,000
transmissions annually in the re-
gion. However Mr. Kohler strongly
feels that India would prove to be a
bit different.
“There is a strong correlation with
the development of BRT systems.
The more the BRT systems develop,
the more fully automatic transmis-
sions come into play. Once you are
talking about articulated buses with
rear engine, there is no other option
than automatic transmission. We
are expecting also a strong develop-
ment of the BRT systems in India
and once this happens we will be
in the race. We are seeing this de-
velopment and are working with all
the major OEMs for being prepared
to cater to those demands then”, he
said optimistically.
Voith’s expertise is in city bus
applications, reflected in the name
of the organisation – bus drive sys-
tems, a segment in which it aspires
to create more value for its custom-
ers. The company is not looking at
other applications such as trucks,
high-end tippers and mobile cranes.
Furthermore, it has plans to offer a
whole package to customers to pro-
vide added value by means of after-
sales offers such as the Diwa excel-
lence programme and programmes
like SmartNet which offers opera-
tional data monitoring to customers.
The package also includes impor-
tant aspects such as reducing fuel
consumption, providing better eco-
nomic value, reducing downtimes,
increasing service intervals and fa-
cilitating easier maintenance.
Voith is ready for a potential mar-
ket like India with its focus on city
bus applications and is not looking
at other applications, however op-
portunistic they might apparently
seem. The company has facilities
in place for manufacturing other
industrial products which could be
used for the transmissions business
as well. It also has service partners
spread across different parts of the
country. The picture is pretty clear
that the company is waiting for an
opportune moment in the market.
When the time comes, it will be
more than ready to seize the oppor-
tunity and establish its name in India
as it has done across the globe.
w
auto expo 2012
The DIWA.5 transmission
The company is optimistic that
once the market moves to ful-
ly automatic transmissions, it
would establish its presence as a
major player in the field.