With its new BS-VI solution, the company offers a unique mix of Euro 6 base engine expertise, technological edge and uptime solutions
Leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, VE Commercial Vehicles Limited, (VECV), unveiled its entire BS-VI range of trucks and buses across 4.9-55 T tagged with Eicher’s innovative BS-VI solution, EUTECH 6. The new platform combines VECV’s Euro 6 expertise with the most reliable engine technology and fuel-efficient driveline. It also features enhanced uptime, a proposition to ensure the most efficient upgrade to BS-VI with 24 x 7 uptime support and higher profitability for the customer’s business.
Leveraging the Euro 6 expertise of over six years, the newest range of Eicher vehicles will feature an efficient and reliable EATS (exhaust after-treatment system) and engine technology tested for over 5.6 million km. The BS-VI trucks and buses boast of higher fuel efficiency and duty cycle-based SCR solutions for high reliability and low maintenance. The uptime centre at Pithampur will offer service support with a team of diagnostic experts offering remote diagnostics, predictive diagnostics and specialised field support to all BS-VI Eicher vehicles. This is in addition to the 24 x 7 Eicher on-road service (EOS) to provide highway assistance across the country.
The team of experts is equipped to communicate in various languages including English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. To cater to the need of strengthening the ecosystem, the company has added new competence development centres and mobile training facilities, taking the total to 18 such training delivery points. In addition, uptime enablement of all workshops in the network is progressing rapidly to ensure the availability and adequacy of people, process and infrastructure to work effectively and deliver a superior uptime to customers in the BS-VI environment.
Speaking on the occasion, Vinod Aggarwal, Managing Director and CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles, said, “In line with our vision towards modernising commercial transportation, Eicher’s new BS-VI offering takes a lead in providing the most comprehensive and innovative solution for our customers. Our efficient and reliable BS-VI engine technology is backed by over six years of experience of supplying Euro 6 base engines to the Volvo Group. Coupled with this, our new uptime solution is aimed at ensuring a differentiated after-sales experience for our customers.”
He further added, “The EUTECH 6 solution will not only reduce fuel costs but will significantly improve productivity for our customers with new uptime solutions. Our extensive competence development program for technicians in our dealer network and for drivers of our customers will ensure seamless transition to BS-VI across India.” Eicher had unveiled India’s first BS-VI offering in June 2019 with introduction of new-generation Pro 2000 series. The deliveries of BS-VI vehicles have already started in select markets and the entire new range of trucks and buses will soon be available throughout the country.
“The outcomes so far have been distinctively great”
In this exclusive interview, S S Gill, Senior Vice President and Head (International Business Brand and Corporate Communication), VE Commercial Vehicles explains to Dhiyanesh Ravichandran how and why BS-VI lends an excellent opportunity to expedite the company’s decade-long journey in pursuit of superior uptime, best-in-class fuel efficiency and modernisation of products and service ecosystem
The BS-VI is a big transition for the entire automotive industry. As far as VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) is concerned, what sort of value-addition can consumers expect from your latest ‘EUTECH6’ solutions other than meeting stringent emission norms?
With our EUTECH6 offerings meeting BS-VI standards, we drive three distinct advantages to our customers. First, with over six years of manufacturing and technical expertise we have acquired by supplying Euro 6 engines to Volvo Group since 2013, BS-VI is not something new for us, nor a complex transition. We have built over 100,000 Euro 6 engines at our VE powertrain plant, running in over 40 countries around the globe.
We were the first and only plant in the country to manufacture high-spec engines for European requirements. This can give immense confidence and trust in our new offerings to our customers. Second, Eicher products have a great reputation as ‘Mileage ka Badshah’ for over three decades. For trucks and buses, fuel efficiency is cardinal, with diesel costs accounting for a huge chunk of their operating costs. As ever, we wanted to build an edge on this front as well with BS-VI, rather than just meeting the emission norms.
We have leveraged our previous learning and experience to improve fuel efficiency and fluid efficiency, i.e. DEF, by optimizing the powertrain and EATS (exhaust after-treatment system) towards better efficiency and reliability. Lastly, we have realised the critical importance of training mechanics, technicians and drivers of the ecosystem reaping the benefits of BS-VI, as they are the ones in the field who would support and service the new trucks and keep them on road. Hence, we have come up with unique solutions for higher uptime and robust after-sales support system for our customers.
How has VECV re-formulated its product strategy for BS-VI? Are there any product platforms (or model ranges) that are being discontinued for the domestic market?
Back in June last year when we unveiled our BS-VI products for the first time, we also introduced VECV’s new generation of light and medium-duty trucks by graduating our legacy models into Pro 2000 and Pro 3000 series. They are designed and developed afresh; they are a notch above the industry standards in terms of comfort and safety of the drivers to compete with the best of the world in the segment. This is perhaps a big step, with complete product renewal after working for close to 3-5 years and bringing technologies from the Volvo Group.
With the heavy-duty truck segment already in vogue under Pro 6000 and Pro 8000 series, we have stepped up the ante in buses as well, streamlined into Starline and Skyline ranges. We have also upgraded the heavy-duty 12-metre bus platform with a more powerful engine and electronic technologies from Volvo Group, along with a host of additions for the latest regulatory compliance. Thus, VECV’s entire range of trucks and buses stands updated and well-equipped for the changing demands of Indian customers.
What will be the fate of those model ranges compliant to previous emission norms manufactured at your plant for the export markets?
Since we export our vehicles to many countries with different emission and market standards, we will continue to roll out vehicles compliant to Euro 3 and Euro 4 (BS-IV) norms. Lack of cleaner fuel in such developing countries also makes BS-VI vehicles unviable for those markets.
With so much impetus on vehicle uptime and establishing a dedicated setup for the same at this moment by VECV, is there a presumption that BS-VI vehicles may face challenges in maintaining required uptime if otherwise?
This isn’t something new that we have just begun. Our journey towards optimum uptime started almost a decade ago. Back in 2013 when we launched our ‘Pro’ series, superior uptime was one of the three core pillars that we communicated to our customers, along with best-in-class fuel efficiency and modernisation. Our specific initiatives on uptime started with heavy-duty applications some time ago, as customers in this space were very focused on maximising uptime of their fleets than other truck segments.
The BS-VI transition lends us an excellent opportunity to expedite our decade long pursuit of superior uptime. Further, the technological complexity in BS-VI vehicles also necessitates a much-focused and unique programme aided by connected technologies and real-time monitoring of vehicular health. It will be a challenge for markets like India to accustom to these changes without technological intervention, as even the best of the technologies in vehicles can create problems in the absence of a robust and skilled support system.
With Eicher Uptime centre and diagnostic services, what is your ultimate objective? What has been the response of your customers so far?
With these new initiatives, we are setting new benchmarks in creating a differentiated customer experience for the Eicher brand of trucks and buses. A crucial part of that is a superior after-sales experience. Customers expect the same in different ways; they have a variety of parameters to gauge their experiences, may it be 24 x 7 service assistance and quick availability of spares anywhere across the country, less periodic service stops, reducing unplanned downtime, and so on – all at affordable costs. We began these uptime initiatives and remote diagnosis some 14 months ago, while also offering them commercially for some of our customers since last April. The outcomes so far have been distinctively great, with an immense response and positive feedbacks from the users.
Tell us about the level of localisation that goes on behind the critical BS-VI systems powering your vehicles. Is there a scope for any further localisation to offer any cost benefit to customers once volumes pick up?
The only set of BS-VI aggregates fully imported is the electronics. The rest of the components are locally sourced, which means a great deal of localisation has already been achieved. This has always been the case ever since we started manufacturing Euro 6 engines for the Western markets. Perhaps, the frugal engineering of Eicher Group is one of the reasons why India was chosen as the manufacturing hub of those engines for the Volvo Group. In other words, over the years, we have also reduced the costs and stabilised the same, without compromising the quality and reliability of the engines we built.
Do you think the technological upgrades with the BS-VI will be rightly appreciated by markets like India that are highly cost-conscious?
With my experiences of handling some of the international markets, I believe that worldwide, for manufacturers, quality ultimately pays. If automakers make the right kind of investment aimed at basic customer requirements, their products generate tremendous success. For the domestic market, we are in pursuit of best-in-class fuel efficiency, superior uptime and modern features that are in sync with Indian buyer preferences in our vehicles. Although BS-VI is a regulatory compliance, it makes a huge difference in the entire vehicle system. India is leading the South Asian region in emission regulations. We are confident that our customers will take forward this feat in a big way.
Do you foresee any initial hiccups in the timely supply of BS-VI grade fuel across the country?
We are very much confident that the commitment by oil companies on timely fuel supply will be met. It is quite assuring that the BS-VI fuel with low sulphur content is already available in several parts of the country. In this regard, let me reiterate the fact that VECV has gone for duty cycle-based SCR, which is vanadium-based. This performs much better than a copper-zeolite SCR and boasts improved tolerance for sulphur content and fuel quality. This is also a testimony to the fact that we always choose those technologies that are reliable and suited for Indian conditions.