Volvo operates only through dealerships and being a local dealer was advantageous for me, since Volvo has its manufacturing facility and head office in Bengaluru, says Vinayak Nayak, Managing Director, Encore Heavy Machinery Pvt Ltd.

Could you brief us on Encore and its dealership business?
Encore Heavy Machinery Pvt Ltd was incorporated on June 15, 2015 having its registered office at Peenya, Bengaluru. Encore is the exclusive dealer for Volvo CE for Karnataka.

Tell us about your association with Volvo CE.
I have been associated with Volvo for 12 years (1999-2011) through the earlier dealer with the last position held as CEO. During this period, we sold more than 1,000 machines in Karnataka. We had built a population consistently year after year in Karnataka, with strong presence in iron ore, road, general construction, granite and stone quarry and rental segments.

Do you deal with Volvo construction equipment exclusively or do you have other business interests also?
At present we are exclusively handling Volvo CE. Apart from this, our sister concern Encore Builders Pvt Ltd is into commercial and residential building construction for the past one year in Bengaluru.

What are the reasons for taking the dealership of Volvo equipment? How does Volvo support your efforts in market development, after market, technical resolutions and introduction of new products and technologies?
Since 2012, with my vast experience and knowledge in construction equipment segment, I was looking for dealership and wanted to represent a world-class equipment manufacturer. There were lots of dealership opportunities, but I wanted to represent the best. The patience paid off, when I was asked by Volvo if I was interested to take up their dealership. It was an easy decision for me, since I had knowledge of all the Volvo products, processes and their expectation from the dealership apart from customers, financier?s knowledge and expectation.

With the government?s focus on infrastructure development, demand for commercial and residential space, the opening of few iron ore mines, there will be a huge demand for construction equipment. Volvo operates only through dealerships and being a local dealer was advantageous for me, since Volvo has its manufacturing facility and head office in Bengaluru. Volvo is the best when it comes to supporting the dealer which I had already experienced earlier. These were the main reasons for taking up the Volvo dealership.

Volvo has a strong sales and support team with its presence for the last 18 years in India. Most of the customers are aware of the products and strong after sales support. The dealer is supported with all the technical details to cater the customer requirements. Regular training to sales and aftermarket engineers ensure that we are able to provide quality service to the customers.

What is the average annual sale of Volvo equipment in your assigned territory?
We expect a sales of approximately 150 machines annually in Karnataka.

What is your staff strength? Are they fully trained to address 100 per cent of the business related issues for sales and after sales?
At present we have 70 employees working for Encore, based out Bengaluru, Hospet, Chitradurga, Hubli, Bijapur and Mangalore. Most of the employees have been working with previous Volvo dealer and have been trained to handle all business related issues.

Do you provide training to your customers? What are the available facilities for the same?
Volvo has a customer training facility at its Hoskote plant and regular customer training is provided for customers from all over India. We have training centre in our dealership too. This will be used for in-house training and customer training.

Which range of equipment sells the most through you and why? What is your customer profile?
Typically Karnataka has been more of retail customers, 7-20 tonne excavator and soil and tandem compactor market. With Volvo being one of the few companies to have the complete range of road equipment, we sell a lot of compactors and graders. With fuel efficient, high productivity and low breakdown machines, we have good market share in 14-20 tonne excavator segment and road equipment. Few of our customers are doing mining activity in Karnataka, where we sell big equipment.

What are the financing options for your customers?
Volvo has tie-ups with all major financiers and banks on a national level. Volvo also recently launched Volvo Financial Services which is a separate entity to finance Volvo products.

Could you name some of your major clients? What is the fleet size with them?
We have customers like Vedanta in Chitradurga with 20 machines, MSPL in Hospet with 24 machines, Dolphin International in Ilkal with 10 machines, PB Ibrahim in Bhatkal with 10 machines, and Worldwide Shipping Mangalore with 8 machines, to name a few.

What are your long term plans?
We aim to be the best dealer for Volvo and first choice for customers and employees. We also plan to run the business professionally at a healthy financial condition.