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Eicher offers a complete range of heavy duty tippers in 16T to 49T GVW category with optimised powertrain and different body capacities for a variety of applications in construction and mining. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rama Rao AS, EVP - Sales, Marketing and Aftermarket, HD Trucks, VE Commercial Vehicles,</span> shares more on the industry and the company.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How do you assess the current market for trucks in India? What is the market size and your sales figure?</span><br />The mining and construction segments account for around 30 per cent of total heavy-duty (HD) truck market in India. But the segments have been facing tough times for the last 2-3 years. <br /><br />The truck industry catering to mining and construction segment is in a transition mode as segmental shifts are taking place in terms of gross vehicle weight (GVW), vehicle power, and performance. The competition is also intensifying as new global players are coming in with high performing trucks with latest technology. High performance and quick service response are the two most important aspects of this segment. While, growth in the first quarter saw a steep decline, it has been excellent since August. The short-term concerns are dissipating and the economy has started bouncing back. The pent-up demand is also getting freed with fleet owners returning to the market, who had deferred purchases till now. This is translating into higher volumes and movement towards higher tonnages.<br /><br />In HD trucks, we have a market share of around 5 per cent. Eicher has built up a significant presence in tipper trucks segment and has around 4 per cent market share constitutes 25T-49T GVW tippers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the major steps taken to meet the growing demands? </span><br />Eicher offers a complete range of heavy duty tippers in 16T to 49T GVW category with optimised powertrain and different body capacities for a variety of applications like over burden removal, earthwork, aggregate mineral movement etc. The HD range satisfies demands for higher reliability, ruggedness and long service life; opening up a new dimension in transport efficiency. The Eicher Pro Series 6000 and 8000 mining tippers come with advanced technology and innovative features, intelligent systems and different power nodes, that work together to achieve best-in-class fuel efficiency for over 16 different applications. <br /><br />Going beyond simple products and services, at Eicher, we aim to provide customers with a complete solution that would increase their profitability over the product life cycle. As both construction and mining throw numerous challenges such as multi-shift operations, heavy load movements on gradients and unpaved dusty roads etc., vehicles which are rugged, robust and can deliver in extreme conditions are required. The Eicher tippers have been designed and rigorously tested to meet these requirements and deliver high performance for moving load with superior fuel efficiency. With the Pro 6000 and Pro 8000 series, Eicher is committed to customer's profitability over the lifecycle of its products, and deliver 'Premium experience at Value'. The USP of the range includes:<br /><ul><li>Range of products for mining ranging from 180HP to 330HP</li><li>Efficient and dynamic engine - For unmatched fuel efficiency, long life and superior performance in its class</li><li>Lifetime support solutions </li><li>Inbuilt safety features - DGMS compliant features and accessories</li><li>Superior driver comfort - aerodynamic and ergonomic cabin design, delivering best-in-class productivity and efficiency</li><li>Optimised driveline to withstand tough conditions, while delivering the highest levels of productivity, reliability, durability and more product life in the segment</li><li>Established product performance and customer value proposition - Best-in-class fuel efficiency, productivity, and uptime. </li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the value additions incorporated for emissions compliance, safety, and fuel efficiency? What are the factors/features in your trucks that help increase the productivity of your product range? </span><br />Eicher has pioneered the use of intelligent technologies in its trucks and tippers to bring a significant improvement in quality, efficiency and productivity of operations. <br />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. <br /><br />Eicher Live enables proactive maintenance of the truck. Together with the fully equipped Eicher service network, this ensures preventive and corrective maintenance of the truck, thus delivering superior uptime. Eicher's Lifetime Support Solutions such as parts availability, accident repair solutions, comprehensive driver development solutions, service agreements and reliable aftermarket services ensure a country-wide network ensuring that the Eicher trucks deliver best-in-class productivity at all times.<br />With more than 250 GPS-enabled fully equipped EOS vans, Eicher has a set of expert technicians available 24x7 to enable faster service to the customer, hence facilitating faster turnaround time for en route breakdown. Our specialised technicians, network and infrastructure support and special tools ensure that our customers get the right repair services and parts, across all our 329 touch points. With our world-class infrastructure and processes, we operate at maximum parts availability to our dealers, 24x7, 365 days - a benchmark in the industry. Through these initiatives, Eicher aims in providing the best on-road and off-road assistance for its customers. Eicher, further brings service support to the mining site so trucks are repaired on the site itself, which maximises truck utilisation and helps them in running 24x7 at the mining sites.&nbsp; <br />Eicher also conducts training programs for drivers, which are conducted at the Driver Training Centres as well as customised programs at the work site. <br /><br />To address concerns of driver comfort and safety, the Eicher Pro series trucks are designed with an ergonomically designed ultramodern truck cabin for comfortable driving and higher driver efficiency. The spacious sleeper cabin has been smartly designed to provide a relaxed yet efficient work space for the driver. Further, mandatory fitment of Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for the domestic market has unlocked several opportunities for us. All trucks have the ABS system as part of safety requirements to help customers gain certain values in fuel efficiency.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the customer approach towards innovations and new technologies?</span><br />We believe in creating and delivering value to our customers. For us at Eicher Trucks, all our offerings emerge from the customers' needs and end with their satisfaction. In line with our philosophy of partnering throughout vehicle life time, we have a host of solutions like Eicher Financial solutions, Eicher Secure Insurance, Eicher Sure used trucks, Eicher Live Telematics, Competence development for customer drivers and technicians, and Eicher Freedom and Eicher Promise comprehensive service offerings.&nbsp; <br />Eicher's new offering for construction segment: 'Think100 per cent Uptime' is based on our 'Nayi Soch' philosophy to create a delightful experience for our customers to maximise productivity and output. We recently introduced a unique application -EOS App, that helps customers log in emergency calls from their smart phone and track the response of the GPS enabled EOS vans. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the new developments happening in Telematics? What is the level of adoption in the current market?</span><br />Telematics is increasingly gaining attention in the Indian automotive industry. The commercial vehicle segment is way ahead of the passenger vehicle segment in adoption of telematics-based offerings like Track &amp; Trace, Fleet Management and other value-added services. India is one of the fastest emerging markets for telematics, with the installations in CVs expected to grow from 2.4 per cent of vehicles in 2016 to 9.3 per cent in 2023, according to Frost and Sullivan. A large percentage of trucks in India features telematics systems, however, their applications are limited to vehicle tracking through GPS and navigation. Advanced uses of telematics such as freight handling, vehicle utilisation and maintenance, driver training and behaviour etc, still remain at a nascent stage in India. <br /><br />However, vehicle telematics has revolutionised the whole scenario of fleet transport over the past few years with a new set of innovations for efficient vehicular operations. The increasing penetration of affordable smart mobile devices is also helping in increasing telematics' reach as the service providers are integrating the offering on mobile platforms for providing information and data on the move. Increase in awareness and expansive use of electronics and on-board computers, coupled with increasing fuel prices and thin profit margins in the transportation industry are compelling OEMs and fleet operators to gain competitive advantage by using telematics. Vehicle tracking, route calculation, checking on fuel pilferage, and other telematics offerings and safety issues are driving demand for telematics and is pushing the industry towards efficiency, safety, and transparency. <br /><br />We at Eicher, have already introduced Eicher Live in our HD range of trucks and tippers as well as buses. Eicher Live is an advanced fleet management system and is a 'Live Hub' of real-time communication and actions by customers, dealers and Eicher. It allows the management of truck fleets by monitoring their movement, fuel consumption and maintenance needs. The system throws up fault indicators to the driver in the form of visual signals, messages and alarms and helps deliver superior uptime. Further, the uptime management feature enables service teams to proactively schedule and plan for the repairs and maintenance activities on the vehicle. In this <br />way, the truck spends more time generating revenues, thus maximising truck utilisation. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are your expectations about the tipper market in the short to medium term?</span><br />The CV industry is on a roll with an excellent growth over the last few months, being at a record level in past month. 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. With the ongoing push for infrastructure development, there are numerous projects which are currently underway in sectors such as roads, railways, airport and irrigation across the country with further more in pipeline.<br /><br />Excellent progress has been witnessed in infrastructure especially in road construction. There is major impetus being put on infrastructure development as Government of India strives to achieve its ambitions related to economic output, efficiencies in transportation, low cost housing, smart cities project and power generation. This has been very favourable for the construction and mining industry which has now been growing at a very rapid rate contributing almost 25 per cent of the entire HD industry. In the coming years, we expect good growth in HD segment driven by new policies and regulations like GST implementation, scrapping policy, e-commerce growth, smart cities mission, port and road connectivity, Power for All campaign, achieving one billion tonne coal production by 2020 etc. These factors will drive growth in HD segment. <br /><br />Tipper market too will play a significant role in overall HD segment, fuelled by infrastructure projects. The new fiscal year has started on a positive note. The Eicher Pro Series has received a staggering response since its inception into the mining business. We are now also looking at diversifying our business into a larger mining and construction portfolio with our new range of tippers and heavy duty trucks.<br />