SML Isuzu showcased its Hiroi, Executive LX Coach and S7 staff bus at Prawaas 3.0. In an exclusive interaction with Rajesh Rajgor, Anuj Kumar Sethi, Chief General Manager – Marketing, SML Isuzu spoke on the company’s expectations from the school and staff segments, ramping up capacity and meeting fully-built requirements of customers to adapt to changing needs of the market
Adapting to Market
For the first three to four months of this fiscal year it has all been school buses. We could not meet the demand. Things are changing even towards the staff segment from October. The government policy of scrapping is also going to be a booster for at least intercity transport. We have couple of good products, especially the CNG vehicles sold in Patna where the local administration is converting fleets from diesel to CNG. In the segment of 20-seater and 24-seater we have a lot of potential for all the segments for growth.
Today, we are producing 500 buses per month for the past four months and are planning to ramp it up. The demand for school buses has increased. We also have our dedicated bodybuilder of JCBL with our old product which is still a product to reckon with. We have the capacity to make about 900 to 1,000 buses every month. We are increasing it for the AC segment. For trucks we have the capacity to make about 60 trucks a day. So, capacity-wise we are ready for huge numbers within our plant and we have the requisite technology both for buses and trucks.
Supporting Dealer Network
It was tough during the pandemic but we were very aware of dealers’ situation and did not force any product on them. We were giving them whatever support we could manage to handle their manpower. We gave them ideas to focus on the truck business when the bus segment was down. Our basic focus was that dealers should survive. Today, the dealers are positive and looking forward to not only the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment but also for the future of the bus segment. Unless, we take care of our team, we cannot run the business.
With SML ISUZU investing in research and development and manufacturing to release new products, the dealers are confident of superior and on par products with the competition. All the vehicles – whether they are part of the executive coach, GS cabins, S7 range of buses or Hirohi range of products – are compact and of the highest calibre. In terms of price, build quality, functionality and longevity, they are unmatched. As people are looking for a quality product and fully built vehicle, they don’t mind paying Rs 50,000 extra if they get a product on time and OE-built quality. The change has happened as cost is no longer a concern post the transition from BS IV to BS VI. It is a win-win scenario for the customers as well as OEMs.
