Mahindra Truck and Bus has expanded its existing Furio, intermediate commercial vehicle brand that debuted in 2019, to include the Mahindra Furio 7, an all-new light commercial vehicle. Rajesh Rajgor visited the state-of-the-art Mahindra plant at Chakan near Pune and experienced not only the CV assembly line but a ride on the new LCV along with a walkthrough of the iMAXX war room
From the first day of its launch, the Mahindra Furio brand has promised higher profitability, best-in-class mileage, higher payload and a benchmark cabin offering optimum comfort, convenience and safety. These promises will now be delivered through its range of the four-tyre cargo, six-tyre cargo HD and six-tyre tipper which will address every application of business demands in the light commercial vehicle (ILCV) category. The vehicles also boast of an unprecedented double guarantee of ‘more mileage or truck back’ and ‘guaranteed resale value’ after five years. It also has the in-built Mahindra iMAXX, one of the most advanced telematics technologies in the industry. The Furio 7 is the latest in the Furio series which delivers what has been promised.
Furio 7, the four-tyre and six-tyre HD variant with red, golden brown and white colour options, has 10.5 and 14-feet cargo body (load body) options. The six-tyre tipper comes with 2.85 cubic metres cargo body. The cargo variants are powered with 2.5 and 3.5 litre Mahindra MDI engines. The tipper variant is powered by a 3.5 litre proven Mahindra MDI engine. The range has a narrow cabin of 1.85 metres with a low turning radius to operate in narrow lanes, quarries and construction sites. Additionally, the Mahindra Furio 7 tipper features a heavy-duty design that provides increased mileage and the ability to haul greater loads through challenging terrains, making it a true building site buddy that provides increased profits and peace of mind.
A Fulfilling Furio Experience
On entering the cabin of both the variants, one can easily see the rake angle, fitted outside, doing its magic. Being slightly on the lower side, at the exterior, the cabin has an amazing aerodynamic feel. Sunrays could not go beyond the steering wheel despite the vehicle moving right into the sun. This prevents the cabin from heating and the cabin remains cooler for the driver. There are eight blower vents that boost the ventilation of the cabin. The seats too are designed keeping in mind the basics required for the driver and co-passenger. Stitched with a dual combination of fabric and leather, it serves the right purpose of providing adequate comfort to the driver.
The view from the windshield is impeccable, providing top to bottom clarity without any discomfort or hindrance to the neck or the eyeline. Another aspect that catches attention is the cabin height. The writer, despite being over six feet tall, had enough headroom. The tiltable four-spoke steering wheel comes fitted with a standard power steering. On switching the ignition, what meets the eye is the simple instrument panel with a combination of analogue and digital views. The driver can easily read the basics alerts about mileage, service alert, speed and rpm. The clutch pedal is boosted with a soft touch and the accelerator and brakes are ergonomically placed.
The tipper variant has a PTO switch to operate the tipping mechanism and a regeneration button for soot removal in the silencer. The overall storage is quite good for mobile phone, water bottle and a slot for a customised music system is also available. Since the vehicle is made to operate both in city and intercity conditions the driver can sleep across the seats, thanks to the bench seats instead of bucket type seats, while loading or unloading the vehicle. The head lamp and brake lever are quite within reach and the driver’s seat has access to every utility in the cabin. The walk-through cabin, complete with a flat driver resting bench, is an example of clever cabin design. It also includes storage space as a standard OE feature, as well as seating for three people, including the driver. A sleeper provision between the driver and co–driver seats is also included in the revolutionary and ergonomically designed new Furio 7.
This is a first in the business. It also has some other industry-first innovations, such as corner lighting for enhanced vision at night and standard radial tyres, all of which contribute to improved safety and fuel efficiency. Jalaj Gupta, Business Head (Commercial Vehicles), Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, said, “The launch of the new Furio 7 range of LCV trucks with an unprecedented customer value proposition of more mileage or return the truck and guaranteed resale value after five years is a landmark in the industry. It will set new benchmarks of excellence and customer-centricity while reflecting our serious commitment to the segment and confidence in our products.”
“Mahindra Furio 7 range is designed around the unmet needs of LCV customers. Our customer insights for the category revealed that they are looking for a truck that can deliver higher earnings, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), best warranty offer, lowest maintenance, safety and comfort – all these leading to a risk-free business and complete peace of mind, all in one truck. The Furio 7, with its unmatched package of customer value propositions and a very competitive initial price offer, is precisely that. We are confident enough to guarantee higher mileage or give the truck back as well as guaranteed resale value after five years that makes it a defining moment for the industry. This will help us in our objective of making our customers more prosperous,” he added.
The iMAXX Edge – Visit to the War Room
The all-new Mahindra Furio 7 is equipped with iMAXX, Mahindra Truck and Bus’ next-generation telematics technology. iMAXX is a smart fleet telematics solution that can help businesses maximise company profits. It gives fleets a lot of information on the vehicle’s health and performance. Smart features including correct refills, theft alarms, fuel usage, AdBlue monitoring, driver behaviour monitoring and a variety of automatic operating reports. Fleet operators can keep track of their vehicles and better manage their business with the help of these capabilities. The Mahindra iMAXX-embedded device’s fundamental capability is to safely absorb massive amounts of high-frequency engine and allied system data and transfer it in real time over 4G airwaves for server processing.
To put this in perspective, the volume of data supplied from the vehicle via the Mahindra iMAXX device is 600% higher on an average than the previous generation telematics systems on the market. The iMAXX war room decodes the information it receives from the iMAXX device fitted on to the customers’ vehicles. Right from over-speeding, harsh breaking, fuel theft, harsh acceleration to vehicle location and idling, everything is read real time. The Mahindra Blazo comes with a factory-fitted in-built device along with a three-year subscription for data and reports while the Furio range comes with a one-year subscription fee as a standard practice. Apart from this, the iMAXX is known for its prognostic alerts. When a vast volume of data is ingested by Mahindra iMAXX cloud servers, the machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence models implemented at the Mahindra iMAXX digital twin platform level assist in providing accurate, reliable and predictive business and engineering insights.
While most telematics solutions simply retrieve and display vehicle data to customers without any additional intelligence or analysis, Mahindra iMAXX has the unique and unrivalled capability of adding machine intelligence to normal data for increased credibility, efficacy and reliability – a first in the Indian CV industry. Approximately 10,000 vehicles from Mahindra and Mahindra’s stable are currently running with the iMAXX technology and the company is mulling over rewarding drivers based on the data they receive in collaboration with the fleet operators. The company discussed an actual scenario that occurred on one of its customer’s vehicles during Lockdown 1.0 to demonstrate the power and uniqueness of this solution.
It also highlighted how this technology enables its service guarantees for customers. The system’s artificial intelligence, which monitors several linked vehicle metrics, was able to forecast an engine cooling system issue 33 hours before it occurred on the vehicle, i.e. the vehicle reported a high coolant temperature error code through its ECU. With the predictive alert provided at the correct moment to MTBD’s NOW 24×7 helpline and Uptime monitoring team, as well as the customer, and the customer support team’s agility and fast action, a potential serious vehicle breakdown was avoided, and the driver continued on his journey after minor repairs were performed by the mobile service van.
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Assembled to Precision
The writer also had the chance to have a tour of the shop floor or the body shop area where the MTB produces Furio and the Blazo range of trucks. It is around 9,000 square metres in size with 92 stages of assembly and a model capability of over 80 variants. Critical operations are handled by over 100 robots and automatic weapons. For maximum power efficiency, body shop welders use integrated transformers. A computer-controlled sequence of processes that is synchronised ensures precision. Manufacturing with robots is more efficient. It can deliver 12 vehicles per hour when the component and parts are delivered just in time. The shop floor offers adaptable assembly lines.
These can handle substantial variations in parts and processes to fulfil the needs of ever-changing customers. An army of precise tools pushes the finishing level to new heights. For inter-process connectivity, an electrified moderator is used. The mPOWER and MDI engine is a wonder of modern engineering created by highly experienced craftsmen and precision machines. Intensive testing lines ensure that the highest quality standards are met. Wheel aligner test, rain shower test is all in place. Waste and water generated is recycled. The recycled water is used in the paint shop – in short, a modern engineering marvel.