I recently saw a video on Youtube where as part of a military exercise in Russia, a Kamaz truck is dropped from mid-air from an air craft with some parachutes attached. The truck lands on the ground with a huge impact, and believe me, except for the engine cover, which was slightly bent due to the impact, the truck was ready to be driven away. It just goes to show how rugged, tough and reliable Kamaz trucks are.
Russian Truck major Kamaz is known for its rock solid and high performance trucks. No wonder it is the most preferred choice for defence applications, worldover. This DNA of Kamaz trucks is maintained across all its products, be it tippers, haulage trucks, tractor-trailers and buses. Till date, Kamaz has sold close to two million trucks and buses worldwide making it the 7th largest manufacturer in the world. To improve on this position the company has made an entry into the Indian commercial vehicle market in a joint venture with the Vectra Group.
Kamaz Vectra Motors Ltd. (KVML), a 51:49 JV between Kamaz Inc. and the Vectra Group, has established a manufacturing facility at Hosur, near Bangalore, for tippers and heavy trucks. KVML has made an initial investment of $16 million with a capacity to manufacture 12,000 trucks and tippers per annum.
In a way, Kamaz in Russia is like the Tata Group in India. Although held by the government, Kamaz is a conglomerate of 211 companies in its hold manufacturing everything from steel to engines to components to fully built vehicles. It has independent joint ventures with Cummins for engines, ZF for transmissions, Knorr-Bremse for braking systems and many other global companies for components and aggregates. No wonder, Daimler acquired 12 per cent stake in Kamaz, few years back.
Kamaz has prepared a long-term strategy for entry into the Indian market. To start with, KVML has launched 6540 tipper model which is one of the most successful models of Kamaz worldwide with more 100,000 units of these tippers functioning in various parts of the world. The 6540 is a 31-tonner tipper built on a multi-axle chassis of 8X4 configuration with 260 hp engine. By the end of the current fiscal, KVML plans to launch three more products in the Indian market – the current 8X4 model with a longer wheel base for tipping and haulage purpose; a 6X4 Tractor-Trailer model and a 4X2 Tractor-Trailer for haulage purpose.
“Our plan is to stay focused on the medium and heavy duty applications and offer differentiated products from those available in the market today”, says Mr. Denis E. Trifonoff, Chief Executive Officer, KVML.Currently all major aggregates are being imported from the Kamaz facility in Russia, including engines, gear box, axles, braking systems and cabs. The level of indigenisation is currently around 20 per cent, which includes tyres, wheel rims, batteries and few more electrical components. The tipper bodies are being sourced locally from Hyva and JCBL. Progressively, KVML is planning to indigenise most of aggregates. “From June this year, gear boxes and steering systems will be supplied by ZF in India and braking systems by Wabco-TVS. Our goal is to manufacture a 100% Indian truck by 2012”, adds Mr. Trifonoff.
Globally, Kamaz has identified two strategic markets to fuel future growth, China and India. Mr. Trifonoff says, “We realised that we must be in the Indian market and in the fastest possible time. Also we decided that, in India, we cannot offer a mass market trucks and compete with the domestic players. Hence we identified the heavy duty truck segment. The future belongs to multi axle trucks and we want to establish ourselves as an important player in this segment”.
Currently KVML is identifying potential customers and selling its trucks directly to them. By the end of this fiscal year, the company is planning to establish a full-fledged dealer and service network. “Our target is to establish a strong presence in the Indian market with a 10% marketshare in the medium and heavy duty trucks by 2012. For the current year 2010-11, we hope to sell 1,000 units in the domestic market and 300 for exports”.
The Kamaz 6540 is ideally suited for use in construction of roads & bridges, irrigation canals and infrastructure projects that demand continues and tough duty cycles. The truck is not really intended for deep mining applications, says Mr. Trifonoff. KVML sold the initial lot of 5 trucks in February and the company has bagged fresh orders for 200 trucks. The product has been priced quite competitively at Rs. 32 lakhs including taxes and duties.
Engines
KVML is currently offering two variants, one which comes with Euro 2, 260 hp engine and the other is Euro 3,280 hp engine. Both are Kamaz engines, which are trustworthy, proven engine, performing in hot and tough environment, says Mr. Trifonoff. The company is also offering the customers the option of a Cummins engine (Kamaz has a tie-up with Cummins for manufacturing engines in Russia). Kamaz manufactures its own engines with power rating of 260 hp and above. In the new truck models which the company plans to launch, it will offer 260 hp or 280 hp and upwards.
KVML offers 9-speed ZF manual transmission on the 6540 model. Kamaz has a joint venture with ZF in Russia for manufacturing transmissions. The company also offers Allison automotive transmission as optional in certain models based on the customer preference. Currently transmissions are being imported but from June, ZF is expected to start supplies locally. The trucks come fitted with Kamaz axles for now but the company is talking to Meritor in India for supply of axles locally.Mr. Trifonoff says: “We are working on a completely new model, which is a 49 tonner 8X4 tipper. This will be completely designed and developed in India using Indian suppliers and slated for launch by 2012. It is a completely new model designed and made in India. Our aim is to offer European technology products at Asian prices”.
Strategic tie-up with BEML
In order to capture the growing markets in Defence, Para-military and Police Forces as also in Mining, BEML & KVML have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for mutual business co-operation and development.
By this strategic alliance, BEML and KVML will develop and supply 4x4 Stallion Type of Vehicles for on-road application besides both companies will also work together in developing products for mining applications.
Globally Kamaz has huge experience in manufacturing trucks for military and defence applications. The product range includes Kamaz 4350 (4x4), Kamaz 5350 (6x6), Kamaz 6350 (8x8), with varying load capacities.Kamaz has very strong presence in the bus segment too. In fact, a couple of years back, Kamaz had showcased its low floor city bus at the Auto Expo in Delhi making its intentions clear that the company is interested in the Indian bus market as well. The company wants to offer CNG technology particularly for city bus application like Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi. We are ready with our buses and will start participating in tenders soon”, adds Mr. Trifonoff.
Exports
Just like every other Global manufacturer, Kamaz also plans to make India as a hub for exports to neighbouring countries. The company wants export trucks, particularly for countries which have right-hand drive like Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Africa and many other markets. “Our plan is generate 30% of our sales from exports”, says Mr. Trifonoff.
Besides Russia, Kamaz has assembly facilities in 9 other countries including Vietnam in which it has a 70 per cent marketshare in the tipper segment. The company enjoys strong position in Middle-East and Africa.
