VE Commercial Vehicle (VECV), the 50:50 joint venture between Eicher Motors and the Volvo Group, has completed half a decade of 
its existence and is now gearing up for a new growth curve by unleashing its much-anticipated Pro series truck range to take on competition. While the Volvo brand continues to dominate the premium truck and bus market in India, VECV, with its new Pro series trucks, aims for a bigger role not just in the Indian market but also in some of the emerging markets across the globe.
The all-new range of futuristic trucks and buses were unveiled at a huge product presentation function in Pithampur, Indore, on December 2, as part of a week-long line-up of events which had participation from the company’s top management, dealers, key customers and other stakeholders. The Eicher Pro series includes 11 new truck and bus models covering the entire five to 49 tonne GVW range that marks the Eicher brand’s entry into the emerging premium segment in its bid to change the future of Indian trucking.
The ‘Eicher Go Pro’ drive is aimed at modernizing the Indian trucking industry by offering higher PROductivity, PROfitability and PROsperity for the customer. The Pro series promises to deliver best-in-class fuel efficiency, higher loading capacity, superior uptime and vehicle lifetime profitability to its customers. The products will be made at VECV’s Pithampur facility which currently has an annual production capacity of 66,000 vehicles, which could be scaled up to one lakh units.
In a special video message screened during the event, Mr. Olof Persson, CEO & 
President, Volvo Group, said: “India is a very important market to us and the JV with Eicher is an important part of the group’s strategy to grow globally. The partnership has been very successful. The trucks launched today are an embodiment of our JV efforts over the last five years. It positions Eicher on a new level, capturing growth opportunities in markets with significant untapped potential.”
Mr. Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director and CEO, Eicher Motors Ltd., said on the occasion: “The Volvo Group and Eicher Motors came together five years ago with a vision to modernize the Indian commercial vehicle industry. We are here today to present the most professional, holistic and progressive approach to Indian trucking. Our philosophy of ‘Go Pro’ implies that our customers can truly work with, and rely on a professional partner. Eicher’s products, service and attitude are truly professional, and this enables our customers to become more productive, profitable and prosperous in their work and life”.
According to Mr. Joachim Rosenberg, Executive Vice-President, Volvo Group Trucks, the Swedish major’s strengths in technology have taken the joint venture business to a “completely new level”. The processes have also played a key role in laying a strong base. “With the improvement in infrastructure and road network in India, there is need for more effective transport chains. The new Pro series of trucks being revealed today is in a prime position to meet these requirements”.
Mr. Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV, attributed the success of the JV to four pillars namely quality systems, revamping or modernising world-class processes, products, sales and service and, finally, the combination of Volvo’s top-class technology with Eicher’s strength in frugal engineering.
He said: “The blend of Volvo’s technological prowess and Eicher’s Indian heritage and frugal cost 
expertise has created a new range that will support our customers in achieving their business needs. We have improved every aspect of our products from exterior design and engine technology to cabin features, in order to deliver excellent results for our customers.”
While continuing to address the Indian mainstream market, the new Eicher range covers models that enable entry into the evolving customer segments in India that require higher power and torque offerings. The Pro series offers models that will be powered by engines adapted from Volvo Group technology with a power capacity of 180-280 hp, offering high fuel efficiency, reliability and durability.
The Pro range project involved a massive upgradation and modernisation of VECV’s industrial facilities at an investment of over Rs. 1,000 crores. The investment includes new assembly lines, new cab factory and cab painting workshop as well as a world-class engine factory. The company will start production of the Pro series in February next with the products hitting the roads in the next 18 months, in a phased manner.
Marketshare growth across segments
In a casual chat with MOTORINDIA, Mr. A.K. Birla, Executive Vice President – Sales, Marketing and Aftermarket, VECV, spoke about the Volvo-Eicher JV, its market share in the truck and bus segment and the new Pro series range. He said: “We have received excellent support from our customers for our trucks and buses. When we started the JV, our overall market share was 7.8 per cent which has now increased to 13.8 per cent. We have more than 3,50,000 trucks and over 50,000 buses on Indian roads and another 30,000 vehicles in overseas markets, with presence in nearly 32 countries across the globe. In order to serve our customers across India we have more than 300 authorised touch points, 1,600 service centres and 2,400 part retailers.”
VECV has grown its market share across segments since the formation of the JV five years ago. While Eicher has traditionally been known for its leadership in the light and medium-duty truck segment, the partnership with Volvo has seen VECV emerge a major contender in the heavy-duty truck space as well. “Our share in light and medium-duty trucks has increased from 27 to 30 per cent and in buses it has gone up from 6 to 14 per cent. Since the launch of our heavy-duty trucks in 2010, we have sold over 25,000 units with over 5 per cent market share”, Mr. Birla added.
With the new Pro series launch, things can only get better, be it customer satisfaction level or market share, for VECV, the country’s most successful truck joint venture.
Numbers behind the Eicher ‘Go Pro’ project:
• Three million hours of engineering effort
• 7.7 million km of testing
• 50,000 hours of engine development effort
• Over Rs. 1,000 crores of investments
• More than 4,000 new parts and sub-assemblies
Consolidating the future
Interview with Mr. Philippe Divry
VECV-Divry-pic
To begin with, please share your views on Volvo’s successful five-year-old journey with Eicher Motors.
From the Volvo Group we see that this journey has been successful in many areas:
We have doubled volumes and almost doubled the market share from the very inception of our JV. We have been laying the foundation for future growth and success by modernizing our product range, manufacturing footprint, and our ways of working throughout the company.
We have been investing to prepare the future, while improving our financial results and funding this investment plan through our own accruals, without any borrowing. We have a robust financial situation.
This is due to two major factors: The strategic match between the Volvo Group and Eicher has delivered the full potential intended when creating the JV. We have injected Volvo Group’s Technology in selected areas to create modern products, but we have also created tremendous value through the Volvo Group’s processes which brought a high level of professionalism in all areas of the company. This value was visible not only in engineering and manufacturing but also in quality management with our Japanese experts, and in sales and aftersales.
On the other hand, the frugal know-how of the indian teams turned out to be a key success factor in implementing the product and manufacturing renewal with an incredible speed and cost efficiency. Another important factor was that we were not starting from scratch. We have already a market presence, and a countrywide service network, which is a major advantage over the new entrants who struggle to offer their customers a wide service presence.
The other factor was human. The openness on both sides, and the shared vision, from the top management level to operational teams, has enabled us to overcome difficulties. Without misplaced pride, we have always been trying to find the “best of both worlds”. It is also a major competitive advantage, because you can copy technology, you cannot copy a culture. The “Go Pro” mantra is an illustration of this ability to create professionalism in an indian context.
What according to you is the main vision of the JV?
We want to bring about the future of Indian Trucking by offering services and products that are highly professional but adapted to the economic realities of India. We believe the underlying demand is big and has been kept under the lid by the current duopoly.
The VECV JV has been contributing to Volvo’s global operations as well. Your views, please.
We see numerous benefits for the Volvo Group from this joint-venture. The most significant are:
* The frugal mindset of the indian teams has led us to re-challenge some of our own ways of doing things, and will certainly bring further cost efficiency in our global operations.
* Our new engine plant is the perfect example of how we can leverage VECV’s low cost manufacturing approach. But our JV’s engineering and purchasing skills can also be used as a center of excellence for cost-effficient products in the future.
* The new Eicher range will be a great asset on export markets. It will allow us to offer our business partners a full portfolio of brands covering a wide span, from mass market to premium.
* India is the most cost competitive market in the world. By learning how to operate in this market, understanding customers’ needs and being able to build relevant value propositions, the Volvo Group has gained an expertise which will support its performance in many emerging markets around the world, where half of the world’s growth.
With the partnership going strong as seen from the rising sales of your vehicles, can we expect any further investments from Volvo into the JV?
Our joint venture will continue to invest Rs. 700 crores next year to finalize our total product and industrial roll-out. We will later announce our plans for the following years.
In our wholly-owned operations with the Volvo Trucks brand, we will continue to innovate and bring new products which will enhance productivity even further and maintain Volvo Trucks’ undisputed leadership in the premium segment.
Finally, could you tell us about your personal experience working with Eicher’s professional management?
Working in India makes me enthusiastic. There is a high level of energy, entrepreneurship and speed which is highly motivating. Our JV’s teams are eager to learn and improve constantly, and the recent launch event is proof of how much we have professionalized the company and brought it to a new level: it was at the best standard of quality and innovation, a drastically modern touch and feel, everything worked as clockwork. All our customers were adamant that they had never seen something like this in the CV industry, and they understood this as a symbol of the new promise of the Eicher brand. Go Pro is not an advertisement punch line, it is a company culture.