TEPL has ambitious plans for quadrupling its top line from present levels
Vijay Sharma, Executive Director, Terex Equipment

Terex Equipment is all set to ride the bandwagon and be a part of this tremendous growth story that is unrolling in the country, "We have set up another state-of-the-art facility at Hosur, near Bangalore, apart from the existing Greater Noida facility, and revamping our product portfolio as we see a strong demand for heavy product line in forthcoming future, opines Vijay Sharma, Executive Director, Terex Equipment. In an excl?usive interview with Equipment India, Sharma outlines the company's growth strategies and core competencies. Excerpts from the interview.

After a tough last year, are things back on track this fiscal? How Terex is placed to meet the surging demands for advanced products and services in this evolving scenario?
India is one of the top priority markets for Terex Group. According to various sources, India will need an infusion of nearly $ 1 trillion investment during 12th Five Year Plan (2012 - 2017) to build more airports, sea ports, highways, power plants, railways, and dedicated freight corridors etc. Hence, there is lot of opportunity for capital equipment manufacturers like us to exploit. We sincerely believe that overall earthmoving industry in India will grow by at least 10-15 per cent over the next 5 years. With this background, Terex defini?tely wants to ride the bandwagon and be a part of this tremendous growth story. This is why, along with Greater Noida facility, we have set up another state-of-the-art facility at Hosur, near Bangalore, which is spread over a huge area of 45 acres. We are also revamping our product portfolio as we see a strong demand for heavy product line in forthcoming future.

What was the performance of the last two quarters and how does Terex look at ending this fiscal?
2010 has been a great year for TEPL. At the end of last quarter, we have already exceeded our annual production and sales targets for backhoes and skid steer loaders. With respect to last year, we see a minimum topline growth of 40 to 50 per cent. In skid steer loader segment, we can easily project a market share of approximately 40 per cent this year.

What sort of top line growth are you looking at, and where do you see the growth coming from?
Till 2015, TEPL has ambitious plans for quadrupling its top line from present levels. To achieve this target, we have already put a strategy in place, which mainly involves introduction of new product line comprising of soil compactors, wheeled loaders, site dumpers, and midi - excavators. We are also in process of expanding our distribution network aggressively in order to cater to the needs of our ever increasing customer base.

Tell us about the core competencies and strengths of Terex?
Terex Equipment (subsidiary of Terex Corp., USA, a $ 5 bilionl global behemoth in infrastructure machinery space) is a relatively young company that started manufacturing backhoes in '04 from its 35 acre state of the art facility at Greater Noida, as a 50:50 joint venture between Terex Corporation, USA and Vectra, UK. In Mar  '2010, Terex hiked its share to 99 percent in the joint venture bringing in new technical and systems up gradation into the young yet thriving organization. Terex products are acknowledged to be highly productive and reliable, and the company has earned a reputation of working closely with its customers. Terex is very much committed to India and has ambitious plans to enhance its investment multifold in coming times.

Is there a move towards more affordable product lines with more value add-ons?
At present, our existing product line which mainly comprises of backhoe loader, skid steer loader and lighting tower is very much competitively priced, which ultim?ately is benefitting our customers. For example, we are the only CE manufacturer in India which is having localized prod?uction of skid steer loader (HEMAN 175). As a result, our product can be termed as complete value for money for our cust?omers. In case of backhoes, we are con?tin?uously striving to bring new features which not only improve the efficiency of the machine but also make it more affordable.

Terex had an ambitious plan to be one among the top three players in the backhoe market in India.
We strongly believe in the efficiency and reliability of our TLB series of backhoe loaders. We do not see any reason why we cannot acquire a double digit market share in Indian backhoe loader industry in the next couple of years.

Financing still seems to be a challenge, especially when it comes to individual buyers. How do you address these issues?
As Terex is relatively a new entrant in Indian CE industry, we are facing a lot of challenges in terms of financing of our machines especially in cases of FTB or FTU. However, to bring comfort to our customers, we have recently entered into an exclusive finance tie-up with one of the leading private banks of India. Due to this arrangement, we have been able to bring down the lead time to process a finance prop?osal drastically.

The market for the skid steer loader in India still seems to be untapped.
The versatility of a skid steer loader has still not caught the attention of diff?erent customer segments in India. The ma?in rea?son behind this scenario is the lack of awareness about the benefits and applic?ations of this machine. However, we have started a campaign all across India where we are demonstrating the capabilities of our HEMAN 175 Skid Steer Loader to various customer segments like builders, co?n?tractors and construction houses. This machine, wh?i?ch has more than 50 standard attachments, is more like an engineering marvel.

Tell us about the footprint cre?ated in India and what are you pl?ans on further dev?elo?p?i??ng the dealer network/service stations/etc
Terex Equipment, even though being a new ent?rant in Indian CE indu?stry, has been able to establish a vast distribu?tion network all across India and neighboring nations. The company has 49 committed dealers who sell, service and pro?vide parts rou?nd the clock with the help of a work force of over 600 trained engineers and technicians. However, as we see a spurt in demand for Terex products in coming times, we are continuously enhancing our distribution network which includes adding branches to existing dealerships as well as appointing new dealers at strategic locations.

To what you attribute the success Terex has registered so far?
The success of Terex in India can be attributed to the two main factors - excellent work environment at our workplace and indelible trust of our customers. We recognize that to accomplish our goals, we need diverse perspectives and inclusive work environments that enable us to attract, develop, motivate and retain the very best people. We believe that being a great place to work means creating the kind of workplace where great people can do great things.

Diversity at Terex is about respecting and embracing more than our tangible differences, like gender, ethnicity, national origin and race. We also value diversity of thought, experience, culture, background and style. It is those unique characteristics that make each Terex team member a vital contributor to our competitive advantage. We celebrate that each and every one of our team members brings something unique and beneficial to our workplace. Due to these attributes, we are able to roll out the best machines in terms of reliability and performance which eventually wins the trust of our customers.