Transport Solutions of India Pvt. Ltd. (TSI), the home-grown powerhouse in the field of truck and other vehicle-related applications, is adopting a new strategy to grow. The company is planning to step up its focus on the Defence sector and gear up further to cater to the growing demand from the open market. “Today we are changing our strategy and are also going to meet defence needs (directly as well as through OEMs) and open market. Both in Chennai and Pune we have got big plans for defence. We are at the same time going to focus on meeting demands from the OEMs as well,” said Mr. V.K. Singh, TSI Managing Director.
The company has recently bagged an order for Agni Missile Launchers and is also into regular manufacture of mobile shelters and tank carriers for the Indian Defence. The Pune-based firm is also actively involved in implementing the standards and norms for the trailer industry together with ARAI and BIS. Some of TSI special applications trailers include the Bom-Carts, harvester equipment and heavy earth moving equipment carriers.
Since TSI acquired Automotive Coaches and Components Ltd. (ACCL), a company known for its range of truck and trailer applications in India for nearly three decades, the latter has penetrated 20 per cent of the open market. “We should cross 40 per cent given our renewed focus on defence, trailer variants, cabins, fifth wheel couplings, etc.,” revealed Mr. Singh.
Growth drivers
While the main bread and butter for TSI remains the tipper and trailers, acquisitions, JVs and product variants are the three key decisions that have helped TSI grow. “By the end of this FY we are expecting our turnover to be Rs. 300 crores, and by 2020 we should definitely cross Rs. 500 crores. We saw some good change from November-December last year, and to us the market looks good. If you see the performance of TSI and ACCL (owned by the shareholders of TSI), we have seen an improvement of roughly 40-50 per cent. Everybody is hopeful that we may get to the previous good years of 2011-12,” beamed Mr. Singh.
The replacement demand from car and truck chassis carriers as well as new demand from the same segment and motorcycle carriers should boost TSI growth. He explained: “We are already looking at expansion and a step forward is setting up a new factory for LOHR. This will free up 50 per cent space in the current facility that can be used for defence, open market and demand from the existing OE customers.
LOHR has expanded from its erstwhile single bay manufacturing space to a separate plant at Chakan in order to step up its production to cater to the growing demand in the vehicle carrier segment. LOHR’s most recent design is a bike carrier capable of carrying the maximum number of bikes on a trailer built as per the CMVR norms.
On the reefer side, HLM has seen good success in the recent past, bagging a single order for reefer containers worth Rs. 13 crores from one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the country and going aggressive on exports.
Mr. Singh further said: “People realized what value we were adding a little late but now even our reefer business is picking up steam and growing. We are proud to have grown to become a preferred reefer container manufacturer for vehicle manufacturers for their export business and are gearing up for exporting to Africa, Mozambique and the Middle East”.
HLM has seen 100 per cent growth over the last year and has diversified into GRP-based retail vending vans, ambulances, etc.
TSI’s JV with Scorpion Automotive of the UK is a new feather on its cap, as it enters the burgeoning field of Vehicle Electronics and Vehicle Tracking Systems (VTS). The company is currently in discussion with OEMs for factory-fitted immobilizers, VTS and speed control systems. Scorpion has recently become a preferred supplier for one of the largest business houses in the country, reflecting the company’s technology know-how and the acceptance for its solutions in the Indian market.