New production facility worth Rs. 400 crores planned at Bhopal
Commemorating the completion of 10 successful years of partnership between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, VECV has announced plans to set up a new greenfield truck manufacturing plant at Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh Government has allotted land for the new plant, work on which is expected to start soon.
The target is to commission the plant in the next 18 months at an investment of around Rs. 400 crores with an initial capacity of 40,000 trucks, in addition to the capacity of 90,000 trucks at the Pithampur plant.
With a strong foundation built on mutual trust, respect and a win-win approach, the joint venture has grown from strength to strength over the years to put VECV in a very good position with an yearly average growth of over 18% in last 10 years with a turnover of Rs. 10,200 crores in 2017-18.
The entire Board of Directors of AB Volvo was present on the occasion to celebrate the highly successful joint venture in India.
Speaking on the occasion, Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO, Volvo Group, said: “It is a proud moment for us as we celebrate an extremely successful partnership with Eicher Motors. Together we have created many industry-leading benchmarks to drive modernization in the last 10 years.”
“India is a home base for the Volvo Group, with a presence of over 2 decades across our various business lines, and we reiterate our strong commitment to the future of the country and VE Commercial Vehicles.” he added.
Also commenting on the occasion, Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO, Eicher Motors Ltd., said: “The partnership with Volvo has been extremely fruitful for VECV that is reflected in its strong performance in the last decade. VECV is today a full range player in 4 to 55 ton GVW market.”
“Not only VECV has benefited from this partnership; at the same time, we have been able to contribute to the cost-reduction opportunities for the Volvo Group through supply of cost-effective engines from India. As we move into the next decade, we reiterate our strong commitment to this partnership.” he added.
Håkan Karlsson, President, Volvo Group Trucks Asia & JVs and Chairman, VECV, added: “With the announcement of setting up of a new plant at an investment of INR 400 crores, we have full confidence in the growth potential in the Indian market, and with technologically superior products, VECV is in an advantageous position to fully leverage the opportunities in the market.”
“The visit by the Board of Directors of AB Volvo reflects the strong commitment of the Volvo Group to this partnership, and we are looking forward to further develop the partnership to lead the rapid transformation in the industry.” he said
VECV is today an exclusive manufacturing hub for the medium-duty Euro VI engines for the Volvo Group and is a fine example of the “Make in India” initiative of the Indian Government.
These engines, manufactured at the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pithampur, are being exported to Europe and Asia to take care of the needs of the Volvo Group.
The JV between Volvo Group and Eicher has been successfully driving modernization in commercial transportation in India and the developing world. In line with this vision, VECV successfully developed and launched technologically advanced the Eicher Pro series of trucks & buses by incorporating a lot of the Volvo Group technology.
Based on this, VECV is all set to participate in the huge growth opportunities in the Indian economy as well as the commercial vehicle industry in both trucks and buses.
VECV continues good run in September
VECV recorded sales of 6,663 units in September 2018 as compared to 6,083 units in September 2017, registering a growth of 9.5%. This includes 6,588 units of the Eicher brand and 75 units of the Volvo brand.
Eicher branded trucks & buses recorded sales of 6,588 units in September 2018 (YTD 34,581 units) as compared to 5,934 units in September 2017 (LYTD 26,276 units), representing a growth of 11%.
In the domestic CV market, Eicher branded trucks & buses sales totalled 5,685 units in September 2018 (YTD 29,840 units) against 5,084 units in September 2017 (LYTD 22,533 units), representing a growth of 11.8%.
On the exports front, Eicher branded trucks & buses recorded sales of 903 units in September 2018 (YTD 4,741 units) as compared to 850 units in September 2017 (LYTD 3,743 units), representing a growth of 6.2%.
Volvo Trucks has recorded sales of 75 units in September 2018 (YTD 442 units) as compared to 149 units in September 2017 (LYTD 324 units).