To introduce buses soon
Hino Motors of Japan has launched its range of trucks and tippers in the Indian market. In September 2008, the Japanese giant established a joint venture in India with Marubeni Corporation for selling Hino vehicles in the local market. Known as Hino Motors Sales India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSIN), with Hino Motors holding 65 per cent of the equity and Marubeni the balance 35 per cent, the company has made an initial investment of Rs. 20 crores.
Hino as a company is not new to India. Mr. Masakazu Ichikawa, Executive Vice-President and member of the Board of Hino Motors, said: “More than a decade ago Hino made its entry into India by providing its world renowned technology for manufacturing diesel engines to Ashok Leyland. I was personally involved and responsible for this project. I do believe that this technical transfer made a significant contribution to the Indian transport sector by ushering in fuel-efficient, environment-friendly and performance-oriented Hino Engine technology”.
He added: “We now begin a new phase of Hino in the rapidly expanding Indian commercial vehicle segment. We now bring to India globally acclaimed Hino commercial vehicles comprising a most modern range of trucks, tippers and buses which will once again contribute to bringing to the Indian transport sector the same levels of safety, performance and emission standards experienced in the developed economies. India assumes to be an important and strategic place in Hino Motors’ Global Policy. We look forward to continuing our contribution to India in a much more significant manner”.
Hino has currently launched the 500 series FM range for 6X4 tippers and the FL range for 6X2 haulage application. Presently the cabin and chassis are being imported from Thailand and assembled at its small facility at Bhiwandi in Thane district. Trucks are being imported in semi-knocked-down condition and assembled at this facility. Significant value addition by way of application bodies such as tippers, trucks, containerised vans, refrigerated trucks and buses are being done in India through identified body makers.
“Our initial activities in India include bringing cabin and chassis from Hino’s most modern plant in Thailand to India, making rear application bodies in India, fitment of items required in Indian law and delivering the vehicles to our customers through Hino dealers. Hino dealers are appointed at all strategic location in the country, and this network is continuously being expanded. All Hino dealers will have the contemporary service facilities, equipments and mobile service facilities which will offer total aftersales, parts and service support of global standard to Hino customers”, said Mr. Hiroshima Nakumara, Managing Director & CEO, Hindo Motors Sales India Private Ltd.
Hino Japan has appointed a Focused India Team in its organization. This team has started various feasibility studies. It will begin the work of making a blueprint for the India Project within the next few months. The Exact Time Target will be announced thereafter.
Mr. Nakumara said: “Initially, we have launched our 6x4 and 6x2 platforms in your market. These vehicle platforms come with the most modern engine, transmission and drive lines specially designed and manufactured to deliver best and long lasting performance. Applications like tippers and concrete mixers on our FM 6X4 vehicles and refrigerated trucks, container trucks and tankers, etc., on our FL 6X2 vehicles will deliver to our customers most efficient and environment-friendly performance”.
The company is also planning to launch a super luxury bus built in India on Hino’s top-of-the-line RM 1 E chassis platform.
Mr. Amol J. Sandil, Executive Vice President, Hino Motors Sales India Private Ltd., observed: “Though the global slowdown has affected the Indian CV market also, we consider India as a strategically important market for Hino. Though the volumes have shown deep correction in the past six months, we feel that the overall CV scene shows robust growth potential. However, we are planning to sell 700 vehicles by retail in FY 2009”.
HMSIN has established its sales and service outlets in Mumbai and Bhiwandi respectively. A central facility of parts warehouse, service and training centre, and Pan India Motor Pool is already in place. In phase 1, dealers have been appointed in the South and North, and in phase 2 dealers will be appointed in the West and East. The company is planning to have 10 dealers with 3S formalities by the end of 2009.
Mr. Sandil added: “We are carefully studying the service needs of our customers now and in future. We, in true Hino practice, will provide service and parts in the shortest possible time through 3S, 2S, 1S and Mobile Service Support. For tippers and other localized applications Hino dealers will offer at-site service facilities.”
Hino Motors of Japan has launched its range of trucks and tippers in the Indian market. In September 2008, the Japanese giant established a joint venture in India with Marubeni Corporation for selling Hino vehicles in the local market. Known as Hino Motors Sales India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSIN), with Hino Motors holding 65 per cent of the equity and Marubeni the balance 35 per cent, the company has made an initial investment of Rs. 20 crores.Hino as a company is not new to India. Mr. Masakazu Ichikawa, Executive Vice-President and member of the Board of Hino Motors, said: “More than a decade ago Hino made its entry into India by providing its world renowned technology for manufacturing diesel engines to Ashok Leyland. I was personally involved and responsible for this project. I do believe that this technical transfer made a significant contribution to the Indian transport sector by ushering in fuel-efficient, environment-friendly and performance-oriented Hino Engine technology”.
He added: “We now begin a new phase of Hino in the rapidly expanding Indian commercial vehicle segment. We now bring to India globally acclaimed Hino commercial vehicles comprising a most modern range of trucks, tippers and buses which will once again contribute to bringing to the Indian transport sector the same levels of safety, performance and emission standards experienced in the developed economies. India assumes to be an important and strategic place in Hino Motors’ Global Policy. We look forward to continuing our contribution to India in a much more significant manner”.Hino has currently launched the 500 series FM range for 6X4 tippers and the FL range for 6X2 haulage application. Presently the cabin and chassis are being imported from Thailand and assembled at its small facility at Bhiwandi in Thane district. Trucks are being imported in semi-knocked-down condition and assembled at this facility. Significant value addition by way of application bodies such as tippers, trucks, containerised vans, refrigerated trucks and buses are being done in India through identified body makers.
“Our initial activities in India include bringing cabin and chassis from Hino’s most modern plant in Thailand to India, making rear application bodies in India, fitment of items required in Indian law and delivering the vehicles to our customers through Hino dealers. Hino dealers are appointed at all strategic location in the country, and this network is continuously being expanded. All Hino dealers will have the contemporary service facilities, equipments and mobile service facilities which will offer total aftersales, parts and service support of global standard to Hino customers”, said Mr. Hiroshima Nakumara, Managing Director & CEO, Hindo Motors Sales India Private Ltd.Hino Japan has appointed a Focused India Team in its organization. This team has started various feasibility studies. It will begin the work of making a blueprint for the India Project within the next few months. The Exact Time Target will be announced thereafter.
Mr. Nakumara said: “Initially, we have launched our 6x4 and 6x2 platforms in your market. These vehicle platforms come with the most modern engine, transmission and drive lines specially designed and manufactured to deliver best and long lasting performance. Applications like tippers and concrete mixers on our FM 6X4 vehicles and refrigerated trucks, container trucks and tankers, etc., on our FL 6X2 vehicles will deliver to our customers most efficient and environment-friendly performance”.
The company is also planning to launch a super luxury bus built in India on Hino’s top-of-the-line RM 1 E chassis platform.
Mr. Amol J. Sandil, Executive Vice President, Hino Motors Sales India Private Ltd., observed: “Though the global slowdown has affected the Indian CV market also, we consider India as a strategically important market for Hino. Though the volumes have shown deep correction in the past six months, we feel that the overall CV scene shows robust growth potential. However, we are planning to sell 700 vehicles by retail in FY 2009”.HMSIN has established its sales and service outlets in Mumbai and Bhiwandi respectively. A central facility of parts warehouse, service and training centre, and Pan India Motor Pool is already in place. In phase 1, dealers have been appointed in the South and North, and in phase 2 dealers will be appointed in the West and East. The company is planning to have 10 dealers with 3S formalities by the end of 2009.
Mr. Sandil added: “We are carefully studying the service needs of our customers now and in future. We, in true Hino practice, will provide service and parts in the shortest possible time through 3S, 2S, 1S and Mobile Service Support. For tippers and other localized applications Hino dealers will offer at-site service facilities.”
Currently the high-end tipper market in India is dominated by Volvo, Mercedes and Scania. In the mass market segment there are Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, VECV, AMW and MAN. Hino is positioning its products in the top end of the market which is driven more by product performance. The company is mainly targeting fleet-owners engaged in construction, mining, vehicle parts and supermarket chain.
In his new role, Bowes is responsible for managing all aspects of the company’s business in off-highway, military, construction, bus & coach, fire & emergency, and other industrial applications. Additionally, he will have responsibility for the company’s business in Asia Pacific, including all on- and off-highway activities. He is located in Shanghai and will continue to report directly to Reinhardt.
Previously, Bowes held the position of Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, for ArvinMeritor. In this position, he was responsible for the company’s on- and off-highway commercial vehicle activities in the region.
Jerry Kapoor, Managing Director, Modine India, observed: “Modine clearly understands Daimler India’s quality expectations and our commitment to execute this important program. Thermal management technology of this type fits into Modine’s Commercial Vehicle focus and that is exactly why we developed our business in India – to serve global customers wherever they are located while meeting the needs of emerging markets.”
He stated: “On the one hand, we were able to transfer our decades of experience as a component supplier to the complete cooling system. On the other hand, the markets have clearly realized our focus on this new area of research, and that this makes us a competent partner for these technologies.”
TVS Logistics Services Ltd. (TVS LSL), part of the $5 billion TVS Group, has set an ambitious target of Rs. 2,000 crores in turnover by 2012. The company is looking at both organic and inorganic ways to double its existing turnover in the next couple of years. Amongst its many JVs and acquisitions, the recently acquired Multipart Holdings of the UK is expected to significantly expand the company’s footprint in Europe.
The Directors of Multipart are very excited about the growth prospects under TVS which provides Multipart opportunities to expand in the UK and Europe, provide access to low-cost country sourcing and also to reverse Multipart’s IT skills into TVS, creating an excellent partnership for both Multipart and TVS.
JK Tyre manufactures the entire range of tyres for all categories of four-wheelers, including off the road (OTR) tyres and has three leading tyre brands – JK Tyre, Vikrant and Tornel. Vikrant is the largest manufacturing facility in Mysore, both in terms of turnover and the number of employees. In 1996, Vikrant Tyre produced 100 tonnes per day with a turnover of Rs. 350 crores. Today, the plants located in Mysore are producing nearly three times the tonnage per day, which will grow further from March 2010.
The Michelin Group and the Tamil Nadu Government have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Michelin’s tyre manufacturing plant 50 km north of Chennai at Thervoy Kandigai in Thiruvallur district. With a committed investment of Rs. 4,000 crores, the plant will cover an area of 290 acres and will absorb 1,500 workers locally.
At the signing ceremony, Mr. Prashant Prabhu, President, Michelin Africa-India-Middle East, said: “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Tamil Nadu Government for offering Michelin a gateway to this State and providing the project with the necessary infrastructure to commence operations here. It is also an honor for Michelin to be able to contribute towards the economic development of the State. With the accelerating development of road and highways infrastructure and the number of ongoing road development projects, India is on course to offer customers the opportunity to extract the full value from radial tyres”.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Philippe Neyrat, Commercial Director, Michelin India, said: “We are committed to strengthening our presence in India and growing our business. The announcement of this plant is a major step towards achieving that objective as it augments our capability to cater to our customers with our world-class, best-engineered quality products. An increase in the focus of the Government to build better roads to support the challenges of mobility of people and goods in India will result in an ever-increasing demand for radial truck/bus tyres”.
The Mahindra Gio is being manufactured at the company’s Haridwar plant and launched in a phased manner. It will be available initially in the west, north and select eastern States and shortly thereafter in the rest of the country.
