Kerala leads in SML-Isuzu sales for seventh consecutive year

By R. Natarajan, Managing Editor & Publisher

SML-Palakkad-pic — Mr. V. Nilakantan,
Area Manager, SML Isuzu Ltd.

Though comparatively smaller in size, Kerala’s commercial vehicle requirements are much higher, particularly for transportation of plantation goods, timber, etc. For the Chandigarh-based SML-Isuzu Ltd., the State has proved the real centre of gravity in the sense that it has maintained leadership in selling the record number of commercial vehicles in the country for seven consecutive years.

Disclosing this in an exclusive interview to MOTORINDIA, Mr. V. Nilakantan, known as Neel among his friends, said that during 2011-12 his company sold 2,535 vehicles in Kerala, which is the highest number among States in the country. In fact, the company was targeting sales of 2,800 units. However, the figure could not be reached because of some supply constraints. It has strong plans to grow minimum of 20 per cent in the current financial year. Interestingly, in the range of 5T to 12T GVW, SML-Isuzu vehicles emerged the market leader in Kerala with a hefty 35 per cent market share. The State also offered good market for the company range of newly introduced buses, trucks and chassis.

According to Mr. Nilakantan, since there is a growing demand for SML-Isuzu products in Kerala, the company expanded its sales and service dealership last year. Today, the company has a dealership network covering all the 14 districts of Kerala.

Recently, the company bagged a bulk order from the All Kerala Cement Dealers Association, Palakkad, and a special function was got up for handing over keys to the Association members. The function, which was addressed by Mr. Nilakantan, was attended by the officials of Sundaram Finance Ltd., New India Assurance Co., and the Cement Dealers Association.

SML-Palakkad-pic-1 — Mr. V. Nilakantan addressing a meeting held in connection with handing over of keys to customers through the company authorised dealer, Kingston Motors, Palakkad. The others (from left) are Mr. Ramachandran, Branch Manager, Sundaram Finance Ltd., Mr. Raghavan, Branch Manager, New India Assurance Co., Mr. Ansari, President, Cement Dealers Association, Palakkad, and Mr. Sreekumaran Nair, Managing Partner, Kingston Motors

For the current year, SML-Isuzu has set an ambitious plan for setting up new world-class workshops in Trivandrum and the other parts of Kerala. A new state-of-the-art workshop covering 15,000 sq.ft. will be operational by August. Recently the Kannur SML dealer set up a sophisticated showroom-cum-workshop with all modern amenities, added Mr. Nilakantan.

“Kudos to Neel”

The secret of success of Mr. Nilakantan lies in his simplicity, humility and his inborn nature of helping others around him. No doubt his aggressive marketing approach, coupled with his vast experience in the CV field, kept Kerala the No.1 State for SML-Isuzu for seven years in a row.