India a major focus for the air-conditioning expert
By N. Balasubramanian
Konvekta AG, leading global manufacturer of thermo systems for commercial vehicles, will be unveiling its all-new streamline series of bus air-conditioning units for the Indian market in 2013.
The company has a 75:25 joint venture with Excel Industry Co. LLC of the Excel Group of Ajman, UAE for the production of roof top air-conditioning units for buses.
It has a facility near Mumbai with an annual production capacity of some hundred AC units per year. At the IAA show in Hanover held in September, the company showcased three of its latest roof-top AC units for buses, namely, the KL 48T unit, the Streamline series and the second generation of the UltraLight series.
In a discussion with MOTORINDIA, Mr. Reiner Boland, Director, Business Division Bus, Konvekta AG, talks about the company’s plans for the Indian market. Konvekta is working on developing a specific product for India as the market calls for units which can perform well in the challenging conditions.
“We did not want to bring an existing product to the Indian market, we wanted a tailor-made one. Hence, we are currently working on the new streamline series and are localizing it to be cost-competitive”, says Mr. Boland. In the first half of 2013, the company will build its after-sales network, qualify its products for end-users and then arrange prototypes for the vehicle manufacturers.
“We will be supplying products in the range of 33-44 kW, specially designed for the hot Indian weather conditions. These products will also be sold in Europe, Middle East and Latin America after customization to suit the different markets”, he adds. The new products will be fitted to city buses and coaches as well.
Konvekta has already started appointing service dealers in order to provide an adequate service network for the Indian market. In 2013 it has a target to appoint service dealers in at least 12 major cities as it plans to arrange prototypes for some coach manufacturers soon.
On the truck refrigeration side also, Konvekta is keen on exploring the huge potential in the Indian market. In India, the incidence of food wastage is very high, estimated at close to 40 per cent of the country’s total food production. One of the key reasons for such high wastage is the lack of organized cold chain and refrigerated transportation.
This offers a huge opportunity for chilling and deep-freezing trucks, the market for which is expected to grow by 15 per cent annually in the coming years. “India is surely our focus in refrigeration transportation too. We hope the government will give some incentives to boost the market potential here. We have also established a second joint venture with Excel for the manufacture of transport cooling units and refrigerated bodies, so that we are ready when the market booms”, he explains.
Globally, Konvekta works with leading bus and coach manufacturers including MAN, Solaris, Mercedes and Setra (Evobus). The company supplies also to Scania for its coaches manufactured in China. With the likes of Mercedes, MAN and Scania entering India in a big way, the company intends to bring its global collaborations to the Indian market as well. In 2011, Konvekta sold around 50,000 air-conditioning units in all its operating divisions and achieved a turnover of 90 million Euro. The company is headquartered in Schwalmstadt, Germany with subsidiary locations in Turkey, Argentina, and China. It has been a successful and innovative manufacturer of CV thermo systems for more than 50 years and it will be interesting to watch it bring its expertise to the Indian market in the coming years.