Motown India May 2012

7/31/2019 Motown India May 2012

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The pulse of the automotive industry

Vol-2 Issue-8 / May 2012 /`10

Jaguar XJUltimateunveiled


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Mahindra navistar autoMotive ltd.

G pg

Ever wondered how a man can

be as passionate making a

monstrous truck or a bus, as

he is while making a smart,

muscular sports utility vehicle,

or a small compact car, or even a snazzy

looking electric vehicle? The answer, by

all means, lies in the deoxyribo nucleic

acidor the DNA o the person or the

organisation. At Mahindra & Mahindra,

the passion to make trucks and buses,

besides all kinds o motorised vehicles,

runs in the DNA o the company and its

people.

The passion to handle such a

diverse business runs in the DNA o

Mahindra & Mahindra. I you start

with Anand Mahindra, he is o course

handling much more diverse portolio

than I am handling,says Dr. Pawan

Goenka, President, Automotive &

Farm Equipment sectors, Mahindra &

Mahindra.

Dr. Goenka is candid when he says

that or the truck business it is Nalin

Mehta who is responsible or the

delivery. Mehta is the Managing Director

o Mahindra Navistar Automotive Ltd

(MNAL), a 51:49 joint venture company

between Mahindra & Mahindra and

Navistar o the US. Mehta is responsible

or the volumes, the investments and

the proitability o the business. We

have structured ourselves in a way that

at my level I am able to change my

hat by the hour, ocussing rom one

business to another. I have a clearly

deined matrix, as to what are my

control points, etc as is said in the policy

deployment that we do. On that basis

we are able to ocus on every business,

he inorms.

So how do people like Dr. Goenka

maintain the passion to run this

business? Passion goes back starting

rom the core purpose we have or

the Mahindra Group-- and which we

have deined very careully ---about

driving positive change in the lives

o people whom we touch whether

they are employees, customers, stake

holders, suppliers or investors. Any

business that we are running has

that element going across.

Everything that is coming

under me in Automotive and

Farm Equipment sectors

(AFS) has two threads. One

is the automotive thread. The passion

or automotive is dierent as compared

to any other business. This is one glue

that binds us together. The other

glue is agriculture where the passion

is o a very dierent kind. Its not so

much about glamour but about the

contribution that we can make to the

arming community in order to drive

armersprosperity. So, I am basically

working with two glues. I keep them

separate, yet I work with them together,

he points out with a smile.

Mahindra Navistar, aiming to become

a strong third player

The commercial vehicl e space in Indi a

has at one end the commercial three-

wheelers and at the other end trucks

beyond 40 tonnes. I one were to take

into account this space in its entirety,

Mahindra & Mahindra and Mahindra

Navistar are already creditable

Report: P.Tharyan & Photography: Mohd. Nasir

Motown Indwww.motownindia.comwww.motownindia.comMay 2012 / Motown India44

Cover story C


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players. In the pick-up truck we have the

largest market share. In the sub-one tonne

we are No. 2. In the three wheeler space too

we are No. 2. So in the small commercial

vehicle segment i we were to aggregate

all the numbers we are already No. 2. Its

in the heavy commercial vehicle segment

that we are relatively new in a very distant

third or ourth position. Its here we need

to make our mark. There is no doubt that

the minimum we need to achieve, is to

be a creditable third player or which we

have quite a bit o space to cover. We are

running at around 500 vehicles a month.We need to get to 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles a

month beore we can stake our claim to be

a strong third player. Once we get there we

shall talk about the next stop. Right now

our goal is to get to the third position in a

reasonably short time,he clariies.

Dr. Goenka eels that the major issue at

Mahindra Navistar is not about prospective

customers getting convinced o the

We have structured

ourselves in a way that

at my level I am able to

change my hat by the

hour, focussing from onebusiness to another.


To become a creditable t

player is extremely importa

us before we make a huge

into overseas markets.

product. I do not think it is a major issue

right now. It took us longer than what we

thought it would take. But we have crossed

the stage where the customer sees a value

in a product. The problem there is that

in itsel is not enough or us to become a

creditable third player. We need to convert

our customers to buy our products much

more than what we are selling today. I I

were to compare as to where we are todayand as to where we were one year back,

we made big progress. I would say that

this is not anywhere near enough. As I

mentioned we have to target a minimum

1,500 to 2,000 units per month. And to get

to three or our times rom where we are

today, it would take quite a bit, especially

to convert the customers o No. 1 and 2 to

go or our products. And in this business,

customers do not switch easily,he admits.

Dr. Goenka points out that their US

based partner Navistar has played a

signiicant role in several areas in this joint

venture company. One is in the initial

styling and engineering. Navistar had lot o

its engineers working closely on the design

and engineering o the products. A lot o

our testing was done in the US. That wasa major role they played. Another big role

they would be playing would be exporting

these trucks, either under the Navistar

brand name or under the Mahindra

Navistar brand. We are already looking at

some markets. This could be in the orm o

a ull truck or even a cabin or some parts

o the trucks. That will help us to get much

larger volumes, better recog

brand, etc,he says.

At present, however, the

domestic market. To becom

third player is extremely im

beore we make a huge ora

markets. We are looking at t

right now where we shall b

which will be through Navis

shall be getting our eet wethen grow rom there. The t

very good value propositio

as well as overseas markets

been a single person who h

negative to say about the tr

very happy with the produc

want more customers to bu

with a determination.

Cover story C

Dr. Pawan Goenka


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I think we have n

reached the tipping

and we are doing b

than many players al


Mahindra navistar

sg, b

gp

There is no doubt that the commercial vehicle

space or medium and heavy trucks and buses

in India is dominated by two major players in

IndiaAshok Leyland and Tatas. With a whole

host o new players coming in, the scene is

expected to change in the coming years. Nalin Mehta,

Managing Director o Mahindra Navistar Automotive

Ltd (MNAL) eels that there is tremendous scope or his

company in the Commercial Vehicles (CV) space in India.

Mahindra Navistar is currently in the 3.5 to 7-tonne

category. It is also present in the 25-tonne to 40-tonne

segment. It acquired the LCV business rom Mahindra

in order to become a ull range player in CVs. The LCVproducts are sold under the brand names Load King, Cab

King & Tourister while the HCVs have been named MN25,

MN31, MN40---the MN standing or Mahindra Navistar.

Mahindra Navistar which started operations in October

2010, began its innings with a 25-tonne product. It

added a 31-tonne product almost simultaneously. The

company then added a 25-tonne tipper or construction,

ollowed by a 40-tonne tractor trailer. It already had an

LCV range o 3.5 to 6-tonne range available in cargo. As

or the buses it has a 15-seater, a 25-seater, a 32-seater

and a 40-seater. For the last three months, the company

is selling about 500 HCVs a month and about 1,000

LCVs a month. The plant in Chakan in Maharashtra has a

three-shit capacity o producing 50,000 units per year.

Currently the company is running one s hit. I think time

has now come or us to ramp up the LCV capacity and we

want to get ready over a period o time or about 20,000

LCVs per annum. It would be about 3 years to 4 years

when we add about 50,000- 60,000 CVs as Mahindra

Navistar,says Mehta.

We have a plan to introduce a 49-tonne tractor

trailer, so that will happen sometime in the current

nancial year. In the Auto Expo in New Delhi we had

shown a rerigerated van. Cold chain is a business

really developing in the country. So we will oer

eventually integrated rerigerated solutions. We are not a

rerigeration expert or sure. There is also a mining tipper

Cover story C


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and a coal carrying tipper coming. The

market is moving towards concrete mixers

on the site so mobile concrete mixers are

coming. There is a lot o s cope and we want

to be true to our philosophy o OK is no

longer OK,Mehta says.

In act the CV segment is very scarcely

populated. We have had a duopoly existing

in this market or quite a ew decades now

with two players holding literally 85pc o

the market share. There are a ew other

players who play in the rest o the market.In my interactions with the industry and

the consumers I can tell you that they are

looking or a creditable third player. They

want the power o choice. They want an

appropriate product. Some o the new

players have come with certain niche

market products, while the market is

looking or a product which will be better,

yet a part o their mass requirement.

Mahindra Navistar has positioned itsel

as something which stands out but does

not stand apart. We have come out with

oerings which the market needs and they

are more appropriate and relevant or the

market,he notes.

Philosophy o OK is no longer OK

Mehtas philosophy OK is no longer OK is a

strong thought process. Its not a slogan, itsthe way he and his company want to think

and the way they want to work, which really

means challenging the status quo. Mehta

claims that he has in place a network de-

signed or the customers requirement that

include ully covered truck workshops with

a driver lounge where the driver can sleep

or the night and get his boarding lodging

while his truck maybe gett ing repaired. The

company also has a 24x7 call centre or the

customer to call in case he is stuck on the

highway.

And this is not an ordinary call centre.

It is truly an OK-is-no-longer-OK -call

centre. Everybody has a call centre. This

is multilingual. The drivers may not know

English and Hindi. They could be speaking

any o their native languages so we can

speak seven languages. It is not an ordinary

call centre with ordinary employees. We

have got diploma engineers sitting in our

call centres who are multilingual,he says.

Thus any customer acing a technicalissue with his Mahindra Navistar vehicle

can call up the centre and converse in his

own language to the technically sound

employee. In case a spare part is required,

the companys mobile workshops get into

action. Its a workshop ully equipped. It can

even remove an aggregate i necessary so

our mobile workshop will carry the relevant

to increase to 80 dealers in the next 12

months. It has also put seven ast response

centres or spare parts across the country

that carry the big parts which the dealer

may not be carrying all the time. In additionto that the company has 220 authorised

service centres which are basically Mahindra

automotive and arm dealers who are very

well trained in the automotive business. In

addition to that, the company has nearly

800 roadside assistance mechanics. These

mechanics have been trained and many

o them carry the truck parts also. Our

promise is that typically we will reach the

customer in any part o the country within

our hours. And also remember its a call

centre which will understand the customers

problem. Thereore the person who reachesthe customer on the highway is likely to go

with the correct part. For the rst time we

have given a our-year unlimited mileage

warranty. In addition to that we have also

given 48 hours up time guarantee. This is

today available on the golden quadrilateral

and the north-south and east-west corridor.

Now our perormance in the 48-hour up

time guarantee is more than

moment. All this has been p

o the extensive network we

place,elaborates Mehta.

The 48 hours uptime guathat i a Mahindra Navistar t

problem and i the company

back on the road within 48 h

the company will give the c

compensation. When it com

product I think the product

The industry today acknowl

aggregates are more robust

parts. This call centre is equipped to give a

very ast response to the customer. Also we

have housed the call centre in our service

headquarters. Here senior technical people

are also present during the day. In case thecall centre technician is unable to redress

a callers issue, he is able to call our service

engineer rom the service headquarters

and answer to the customer. Our service

headquarter is based in Chinchwad (Pune

district in Maharashtra),points out Mehta.

Mahindra Navistar currently has 56 world

class dealers ready. The count is going

Cover story C

MNAL plant at Cha


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lasting longer. Our engine will easily last

a million kilometres. The typical industry

standards will be 600,000km to 700,000km.

The cabin stands on a our point suspension

or extraordinary comort to the driver, the

ergonomics o the driver seat ---it can be

adjusted and all the displays are within the

easy reach o the eye or the hand as the

need may be,he adds.

Mehta claims that a Mahindra Navistar

truck cabin has been built ater studying

the drivers habits closely with all kindso lockers to keep his valuable saely

when he is not driving. So the l ockable

compartment is really giving them a lot o

peace o mind. Then we have als o given

them storage which is appropriate to their

requirements. They carry clothes, grains,

lubricants and also cookers. So we have

given them two compartments which are

reachable rom outside. In one he can keep

lubricants and some other things required

or the maintenance o the truck and in the

other he can keep eatables. All this adds

immensely to the comort o the driver,says

Mehta.

The cabins also have ans or comort.

Air-conditioning is an option available

to the customer. Two sleeping berths are

also provided within the cabin. Braking is

another issue that has been given a major

boost. The products come with a 10-inchbooster. We are using a 10 bar system

against an 8-9 bar system the industry is

using and it is being acknowledged now

by the drivers that the braking is giving

him extraordinary condence. It is proved

by statistics by my own customers that my

truck is running about 10pc more than what

otherwise he was getting rom the existing

old truck. Other eatures are adding a lot to

the productivity and the earning capability

o the truck. So I would say we have made

our place under the sun and the CV market,

Mehta notes.

Instilling confdence in customers

Mehta says that the commercial vehicles

market is looking or a t hird player. Even

though the Mahindra brand itsel is very

trusted in India, the customer has to have

more condence in the Mahindra Navistarproducts. The trust is already there.

Condence takes times, I know. Nobody says

that Mahindra will not be the third player.

People say that Mahindra can be and is the

only company which can be a third player,

he says.

Mehta points out that the growth in the

light commercial vehicles (LCV) segment

has helped the growth in the medium and

heavy commercial vehicle segment. The LCV

growth is mainly because o growth in t he

one-tonne category. Mehta says that the

25-tonne segment is moving towards 31-

tonne. While the 25-tonne market has not

really shown much promise, the 31-tonne

market has grown remarkably. Multi axles

and tractor trailers are growing well and

moving upwards thanks to better highways

and the hub and spoke met hodology. Thus,

according to Mehta, both the small LCVsegment and the big vehicles segment need

to grow together. Both must grow or the

transportation industry to become healthy,

he adds.

Exports o Mahindra Navistar trucks are

also in the pipeline. We have made a world

class cabin. This cabin was displayed in

the US truck show. We had displayed this

cabin in the South Arica Motor Show also.

Now we have a right hand dr ive product

so we must rst attack the right hand drive

markets. So our rst export oray will be

South Arica. And we have a ull fedged

network o Navistar available in South

Arica. They are selling trucks rom US. Their

distributors have visited us and they ound

the product antastic. The motor show gave

us a lot o encouragement in South Arica.

The product is being congured or that

country,says Mehta.As or the bus that was displayed at the

recent auto show in New Delhi, Mehta

admits that this was not just a show bus. The

company is seriously developing it. Within

a year or so it would be on the road. The

company already has a range o buses at

present. We are leaders in school bus. We

actually are perhaps the rst players to give

an integrated school bus so

have to be lower or children

to be hung somewhere, so w

rst ones to make a bus mea

The saety doors have to be

visibility has to be there, the

notice board, announcemen

buses that you saw in Auto

like contract buses which go

and things like that but mos

intra-city. The inter city big b

some time away,he says.I think the whole conde

product, service, repeat ord

customers etc are now in pl

I thought it would happen a

has taken time, but it has ha

And I am glad. I think we ha

the tipping point and we are

than many players already,

Cover story C


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