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12
MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
cover story
As a challenger brand, Mahindra
Navistar’s strategic intent is to chal-
lenge this status quo by not only try-
ing harder but also trying out-of-the-
box measures which can be summed
up by the brand philosophy of ‘OK
IS NO LONGER OK’. Our target is
to reach an annual mark of 50,000
HCV trucks in 3-4 years”, said Mr.
Mehta.
MNAL trucks are 100 per cent in-
digenised with Navistar bringing in
its engineering expertise and techni-
cal know-how. Recently, at the Mid-
American Truck Show (MATS) in
North America, a Mahindra Navis-
tar truck occupied the limelight in
the Navistar pavilion, highlighting
the US major’s commitment to-
wards its Indian venture. Navistar’s
contribution to the JV comes in vi-
tal areas such as product design and
validation techniques. The products
were first showcased at the Auto
Expo 2010 and since start of pro-
duction in June 2010, a total of 5398
HCV trucks have rolled out from its
Chakan facility.
From having just eight dealers and
200 service points in October 2010,
the company emphatically declared
itself as a full-range player with
pan-India presence with 48 deal-
ers and 800 service points in De-
cember 2011. MNAL also has 29
mobile workshops, five spare parts
stocking points, including a centre
warehouse in Pune and seven fast
response centres across the country.
The company has NOW which is a
24x7 toll-free helpline service with
technically-qualified engineers at-
tending to the drivers’ queries. The
call centre is multi-lingual and is
equipped with personnel who speak
English, Hindi and south Indian lan-
guages.
Despite the domination of the In-
dian HCV market by just two play-
ers for decades and the challenges
posed by the market, MNAL is bull-
ish on its prospects. The company
considers its product as the most
important USP. MNAL products
have been well tuned to the Indian
conditions and being a part of the
mass-market, the entire range has
performed outstandingly well. An-
other telling aspect, the state-of-the-
art Chakan plant, with its high level
of automation and quality standards,
promises to roll-out more top-notch
trucks in the coming years.
Unique dealerships
MNAL dealerships are unique,
starting from looks to the kind of
facilities provided for drivers. The
dealerships can be compared to any
modern car dealership and take care
of the basic
requirements
and amenities
of the drivers.
The company
offers a 48-
hour uptime
g u a r a n t e e
through its
1,001 serv-
ice
points
across India
and boasts of
a remarkable
97 per cent
performance
in successful-
ly putting the
truck back on
road within
48 hours of
complaint.
Focus on Truck industry