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14
MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
cover story
offer a series of integrated solutions
such as MN25 (6×4) Transit mixer,
MN25 Refrigerated van, MN31
Bulker, MN31 Haulage Tipper and
MN25 HD Tipper. MNAL show-
cased some of its integrated solu-
tions at this year’s Auto Expo. The
fully-built applications will be done
in Chakan with a tie-up, however,
key aspects such as design, qual-
ity and control will be handled by
MNAL.
In what was a surprise move,
MNAL announced the launch of the
cowl-chassis version of its trucks
in December last year. According
to Mr. Mehta, “Our ramp-up was
slower than expected, because many
customers did not consider us as we
did not offer a cowl version. They
liked everything in the trucks but
still wanted only the cowl. After we
introduced the cowl, they were more
interested in our products and then
we could explain to them about the
advantages of the cab. We tried to
raise the standard of the market but
we had to bring the cowl.”
New 170hp MAXXFORCE engine
Mahindra Navistar trucks are
powered by 210 hp and 260 hp
MAXXFORCE engines. Address-
ing the demands of the market, the
company has recently launched a
170 hp engine.
While the 210 hp engine gives bet-
ter turnaround time, the 170 hp en-
gine is tuned for better fuel efficien-
cy. Mahindra Navistar trucks come
with a 4-year unlimited-mileage
warranty which offers warranty for
four years for the entire truck, other
than the wear parts, irrespective of
the number of kilometres covered.
The unlimited-mileage warranty is a
move to encourage drivers and fleet
operators to keep the truck running
for maximum time.
Export market
The export market offers good op-
portunities for MNAL with South
Africa being an obvious first choice
for the company. The cab version
has been received very well in the
South African market where both
Navistar and Mahindra already have
a well-established network. The
SAARC market is another potential
export option for MNAL products.
Several major transporters like
DARCL, Kaushik Logistics, Three
Star Shipping, Siri Tecon, AT Trans-
port, Chaudhary Transport, Pink
Logistics, Namakkal Transport Cor-
porations (NTC), Janata Roadways
and Siddhi Vinayak Logistics are all
proud owners of MNAL trucks. The
product performance and customer
satisfaction are evident in their re-
peat orders. Incidentally, a recent
TNS customer satisfaction survey
picked MNAL as No.1 in LCV
trucks & buses segment and Joint
No.1 in HCV multi-axle trucks seg-
ment.
MNAL trucks are approved and
financed by leading finance compa-
nies. While 35 per cent of the financ-
ing is done by Mahindra Finance,
the other companies involved are
HDFC, ICICI, Magma, SFL, Kotak
Mahindra and Shriram Transport Fi-
nance.
The Mahindra Navistar Transport
Excellence Awards, an initiative to
laud the heroes of the transport com-
munity, was a first in the industry.
The very first edition of the event
in 2011 attracted close to 1,000 en-
tries and was a huge success for both
MNAL and the transport communi-
ty as a whole. The Outperformers’
League (OPL) formed by MNAL is
a forum where transport-related is-
sues such as GST are discussed. The
forum has been a big hit among fleet
operators, drivers and other industry
professionals alike.
MNAL has tied up with the Ex-
Focus on Truck industry
Chakan plant: The body shop has 86 assembly stages,
electrified monorail system for cabin assembly, IT type weld-
guns for power efficiency, robotics and advanced processes.
Chakan plant: The completely modular and flexible
Schuler press line, one of three such machines in the world.