There's just no stopping the Indian CV sector now...
The commercial vehicle segment in India will soon witness a lot of action from new as well as established players, even as new joint ventures are being formed, investments are being made and products are being readied for launch.
The recently announced Daimler Hero Motor Corporation (DHMC) will also start making trucks under a new brand name by the year 2010, and apart from catering to the Indian market, the company will also explore the export market.
Daimler Trucks, a division of Daimler AG, has five truck brands in its portfolio – Mercedes-Benz, Sterling, Freightliner, Western Star, and Mitsubishi Fuso. With a wide range of trucks to choose from Daimler Trucks’ range, and with the Hero Group’s marketing and supplier network, DHMC could be in a powerful position in the Indian CV market within the next five years.
Initially, the company will only look at light and medium commercial vehicles, and will add HCVs to its lineup only after 2012. Apart from introducing CVs from the Daimler Trucks range, DHMC will also develop light, low-cost CVs especially for the Indian market.
DHMC isn’t, of course, the only new player in the Indian CV scenario. Nissan has tied up with Chennai-based Ashok Leyland, and will manufacture LCVs and small trucks for the Indian market. Navistar, the world's fourth biggest manufacturer of trucks, has tied up with the Mahindras to produce HCVs for the Indian market. And German company, MAN (Europe's third-largest CV manufacturer), had formed and a JV with Force Motors, and the company has set up a new manufacturing plant near Indore, in MP, to build up to 24,000 CVs per annum.
Older, more established players are also taking steps to ensure that they stay at the top of their game. Volvo, for example, has picked up a stake in Eicher Motors, investing US$350 million in the new partnership, and the Swedish company will now control Eicher’s truck, bus and auto components businesses.
Whichever way you look at it, the Indian CV segment looks all set for some frenetic activity over the next few months.
