Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and Mr. Dee Kapur, President, Navistar Truck Group, USA, unveiled the MaxxForce 7.2 litre diesel engine.
Dr. Goenka said on the occasion: “The Mahindra Navistar truck and the MaxxForce engine have been designed and developed by the joint venture using the technology from Navistar combined with the engineering capabilities of M&M.; The truck has been completely designed by the JV in India keeping in mind the requirements of the Indian market and customers”.
In 2005, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and International Truck and Engine Corporation, the operating company of Navistar, entered into a JV to manufacture light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles for Indian as well as export markets. Subsequently, they signed another agreement for the JV, Mahindra Navistar Engines Private Ltd. (MNEPL), for manufacturing engines.
Said Mr. Kapur: “I am delighted to introduce the MaxxForce brand of engines, which power the world’s best trucks, to the Indian market. With its outstanding performance and low cost of ownership, I am sure that the MaxxForce 7.2 diesel engine will enjoy the same equity in India, as it does across the globe. We are also pleased to extend our association with Mahindra which is one of India’s leading auto brands.”
MNAL will be addressing every segment of the commercial vehicle market, from 3.5 tonne GVW to 49 tonne GVW with variants of passenger transport, cargo and specialized load applications. Mahindra Navistar aims to expand its product line over the next two years to emerge a full range commercial vehicle player. The JV has invested Rs. 1,200 crores at the new greenfield facility at Chakan in Pune for manufacturing trucks and engine.
MNEPL has been established with a capacity to manufacture 40,000 engines. The truck and engine facility is part of a much larger units established by M&M; at Chakan over an area of 700 acres. Apart from the MNAL and MNEPL plant, the Chakan plant will also build the new small LCV and the new SUV which M&M; plans to launch in 2010.
Mr. Rakesh Kalra, MNAL Managing Director, said: “We will unveil the trucks at Auto Expo and hope to launch it in the next few months. We are also planning to launch buses which will be fitted with rear engine in the next year and a half. Both the trucks and buses will be fitted with MaxxForce engines developed by the JV”.
Dr. Goenka said: “The MaxxForce 7.2 engine is known the world over as a high performance, reliable and fuel efficient engine and it is now all set to redefine the M & HCV segment in India. The engine has been designed for rugged operating environments and modified substantially for Indian truck requirements which will make it the driving force behind our forthcoming range of M & HCV Trucks. Mahindra & Mahindra has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, and by partnering with Navistar Inc., the world leader in diesel engine technology, we are well positioned to revolutionise the trucking business in India”.
MaxxForce 7.2 diesel engine, will power Mahindra Navistar’s new range of M & HCV trucks and buses which will be introduced in the Indian market in the coming months. The MaxxForce 7.2 engines will be manufactured at a state-of-the-art engine manufacturing plant at Chakan in Maharashtra. The plant will be spread across 23 acres of land and is equipped for serial production of medium speed diesel engines.
The new truck has been developed from scratch without adapting any of the global models of Navistar. Most of the Navistar models have a long hood in the front, which is typical of American trucks. Initially there was a plan to look at one of the models from the Navistar stable and adapt it to Indian market, said Dr. Goenka.
The JV then decided to design and develop a cab-over model, which is more specific to the Indian market, and hence the delay in the project which was conceived in 2005. The new range of trucks developed with a cab-over design will compliment the global product range of Navistar and this will open up opportunities for both the JV and the partners to look at various global markets for export of trucks and aggregates”, Dr. Goenka adds.
The trucks have been indigenously developed; hence there is a very high level of indigenisation. Except for the few components which are being imported for the engines, all other components have been completely indigenised, says Mr. Kalra.
“MNAL would be a major player and not a marginal player in the commercial vehicle segment. We will look at double digit market share in 2 to 3 years from launch of our product. We think we have a very strong value proposition in terms of pricing, technology, comfort, convenience, load carrying capacity and the way we will market and service the product”, says Dr. Goenka.
As with other JVs, exports will be an important area of focus for the MNAL JV. “We will certainly look at opportunities for export of truck and aggregates as well. One of the distinguishing factors of the JV is that, the truck which has been developed is owned by the JV and not by their parents. The JV has full freedom from both the partners to export the product to markets where it makes business sense. Export will help in increasing volumes for the project”, adds Dr. Goenka.
Mr. Rakesh Kalra says: “The JV has already been working on exporting components, and we already export truck and engine components back to the US worth $25-30 million per annum, and as we go along we will look at opportunities for engines as well as trucks. We will start export of trucks and engines in the next 12 to 18 months”.
Mahindra Navistar is already selling a range of LCVs, the Tourister and Loadking, which have been transferred to the JV from M&M.; The new truck launch will be the first brand new product from the JV.
Currently the LCVs are being manufactured at M&M;’s manufacturing facility at Zaheerabad. The company sells close to 10,000 units of the passenger and cargo versions.
The company has recently given a complete facelift to the existing LCV range. The new range called CRX offer more comfort, reliabity and load of Xtra features, says Mr. Kalra. CRX range comes with a new dash board, better roof linings, improved head room and seat positioning, which helps in easier entry and exit from the vehicle.
Sales & service
An importan
t area which MNAL is working on is setting up of sales and service infrastructure. Currently the company is using M&M;’s network for its commercial vehicle range. But with the launch of the new range of trucks, the company is setting up an independent sales and service network across India. “We will have our own network, and if we are able to use M&M;’s existing network for preliminary service, then we have a huge network in place. We will have our own 3S dealers and service available in the next few months”, asserts Mr. Kalra.
In 2010, the competition in the CV segment will get intense. All commercial vehicle manufacturers have got their product range in place to meet customer expectations. How does MNAL plan to take on competition? “At the end of the day it is the product plus service, as a package which counts for the customer. We have developed a product which is fuel efficient, reliable, better ergonomics – at the right cost. We are working on ways to enhance his business and remain very competitive for our customer”, says Mr. Kalra.
Mr. Dee Kapur made an interesting observation on the Mahindra Group. Mahindra first launched its tractors 50 years ago, which was a model from the International stable and today M&M; is the world’s largest manufacturer of tractors. Going by the same logic, Mahindra is launching its first heavy commercial vehicle jointly with Navistar. This could well be the start of another successful venture for the Mahindra Group.
