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MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
69
them, it offers both ecological and
commercial advantages. It increases
the average speed of the vehicle and
reduces fuel consumption, a fact that
is impressively underlined by more
than 600,000 Voith Retarders deliv-
ered so far.
With a mileage of 1.5 million km,
vehicles without retarder would
have to visit the workshop up to five
times more often, depending on their
application, in order to have their
brake discs and linings replaced.
This means that the investment in a
retarder often pays off after just one
to two years. The retarder also helps
to reduce brake dust emissions by up
to 80 per cent.
Apart from the classic Voith Re-
tarder using oil as an operating
medium, the Voith portfolio also
features two Aquatarders for heavy
commercial vehicles up to 40 tonne
GVW. These retarders run with the
cooling agent of the vehicle and are
maintenance-free. For lighter com-
mercial vehicles in the 7.5 to 16
tonne class, Voith offers the mainte-
nance-free Magnetarder.
In the Indian market
Voith entered the Indi-
an market through Volvo
whose buses
came fitted
with its re-
tarders.
The
general strategy
adopted by Voith
for any new market
is to start with the
coach segment with
the truck market unfolding
in the long term. In India, Voith
is localising the R 123 Retarder.
Two modified versions of the same,
VR 119 and VR 123+, are also in
the process of being localised in Hy-
derabad. The localised product will
be available in India in a few months
and supplies will begin to the local
market shortly.
The company is confi-
dent of partnering leading
manufacturers, including
Tata Motors, Ashok
Leyland, Volvo and
Mercedes-Benz, who
have all shown inter-
est in its retarders.
Voith retarders are
performing
suc-
cessfully in many major
markets across the globe, and the
Indian market would require only a
technology transfer and subsequent
localisation of the product.
Retarders are very common in
certain markets, for instance, in the
coaches in Western Europe, and
in major parts of South America,
a retarder is a standard for safety
reasons. In the truck segment, 90
per cent of the long distance truck-
trailers and 80 per cent of the 4x2
trucks in Germany are equipped
with a retarder, while 50 per cent
of the short-distance delivery vehi-
cles and construction vehicles come
with this equipment. The total Ger-
man heavy-duty truck segment is 50
per cent retarder-fitted. The same is
the target in the Indian market in the
coming years.
Voith has also been keenly fo-
cused on the Indian bus market
which, over the last few years, has
seen steady growth in high-end ve-
hicles with retarders as a standard
fitment. The trend in the Indian bus
market is a clear indication of the
huge potential available for retarder-
makers such as Voith Turbo.
w
component zone
“India is a relatively new re-
tarder market for us. The lo-
calisation of the product will
give us a higher potential for
success, which would also be
driven by our technological
know-how and the better pric-
ing we will offer. We are really
confident on our prospects after
localisation.”
– Mr. Hans-Günter Böhm