VE Commercial Vehicles has the required technology for the Indian market. 'Interaction with customers helps us understand their needs, and we are able to position our products accordingly,' says Rama Rao AS, Executive Vice President-Sales, Marketing, Aftermarkets, VE Commercial Vehicles. He shares more on the company and the industry...

Market scenario and demand
Customers in the construction sector are in search of higher-capacity trucks. The truck industry catering to mining and construction segment is in a transition mode as segmental shifts are taking place in terms of GVW, vehicle power, and performance Haulage trucks are being used for the transportation of aggregates, which is a new phenomenon. Such new trends are a positive sign as they will keep a check on costs and are profitable. We are witnessing a maturity in the market, with customers in search of customised offerings. Demand has witnessed a positive uptick in the past three months and OEMs have also launched higher-capacity trucks in the last two to three years. Rise in fleet replacement by fleet owners, and movement towards higher tonnages will further push demand for heavy duty tippers and trailers.

Technology innovations
Eicher has pioneered the use of intelligent technologies in trucks and tippers to bring a significant improvement in quality, efficiency and productivity operations. Eicher is one of the first players to introduce the Fuel Coaching system in their Pro Series trucks, which enables the driver to improve his driving and achieve better fuel-efficiency. With services like Eicher Live and new technologies such as ABS, Eicher is ready to keep pace with the government agenda towards modernising the commercial vehicle industry.

VECV has built capability and competence to produce Euro VI engines that are manufactured at the company's Pithampur plant to be exported to Volvo, Sweden. The company's plant in Pithampur is the exclusive manufacturing hub for Volvo Group for all their medium-duty truck requirement for Europe.

What's new
At Excon 2017, Eicher displayed a complete and reliable range for construction and mining applications, backed up with prompt service solutions. We have showcased the 6025 FE tipper with a 14 cu m box body for surface-to-surface transportation. We showcased Pro 8031XM, a mining tipper with 330 HP and a box body of 18 cu m. We also showcased The Eicher Pro 6037, a haulage tipper a box body of 24 with a 24 cu m and the Pro 8049 tip trailer, which has a capacity of 30 cu m.

Company's performance
The company adjusted well while transitioning from BS III to BS IV, in terms of manufacturing. In case of GST, after initial hiccups, sales have improved month-on-month and is on growth trajectory. Hence, we are optimistic about our performance in the coming year.

Challenges
Overloading is a big challenge in current times, and there is pressure on profitability and strict enforcement of overloading offences by authorities. Further, we expect that relevant government policies are rolled out well in advance, so that it gives us sufficient time to be prepared for the effective implementation of these regulations.

-Sudheer Vathiyath, Shriyal Sethumadhavan, Seraphina D'souza