Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has been expanded to increase the scope of its Bus project. Under the expanded scheme, within 90 days, approx. 15000 buses will be bought with a subsidy of Rs 4000 crore from the central government.
The following cities will benefit from this scheme -
Delhi - 1500
Mumbai - 1050
Kolkata - 1200
Bangalore - 700
Chennai - 800
These buses will replace existing buses of State Transport Corporations (STCs). At the last count there were about 32,000 over aged buses being used by STCs. The plan is to replace these and others total amounting to approx. 40,000 buses to be replaced in the current year.
Many tenders will start opening soon. Hence the year seems to be an exciting one for bus body builders as well as OEMs. In particluar Ashok Leyland may take a sigh of relief. They traditionally have been good in government business and this JNNURM scheme may give them a much needed boost after a terrible last year.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Ashok Leyland develops 6 cylinder Hythane Engine
AL (Ashok Leyland) announced recently that it has developed a 6 cylinder Hythane (20% Hydrogen + Natural Gas) engine in collaboration with Eden Energy of Australia. The Engine 6-litre, 92 kW BS-4 engine will be used for CNG Buses in India.
Ashok Leyland is a pioneer in the CNG Bus category in India. It's success story started with introduction of a CNG bus in Mumbai in 1997. Since then over 5500 AL CNG buses ply in various Indian metros.
We wish them all the luck with these engines.
Ashok Leyland is a pioneer in the CNG Bus category in India. It's success story started with introduction of a CNG bus in Mumbai in 1997. Since then over 5500 AL CNG buses ply in various Indian metros.
We wish them all the luck with these engines.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tata Motors Sales Figures
Yesterday I had posted AL (Ashok Leyland) sales for the year 2008-09 and we saw that it was a y-o-y decline of about 35% hitting AL badly. TML (Tata Motors Ltd.) CV figures for domestic sales are shown below. They have registered a decline of 15% y-o-y which is much better than AL. More so because AL has traditionally done much better in recession than TML.
AL has done better during recessions because of its pro goverment sales strategy. AL has also piped TML when it came to selling to Municipalities, Defence etc. - all government agencies or bodies.
Since TML has done much better than AL this time around, it clearly means that there has been a shift in sales strategy from TML. There has been a clear focus on sales to government through aggressive bidding on tenders.
It will also be interesting to see how much has TML been able to penetrate the south India market, which traditionally has been a strong foothold of AL. Vice versa it will also be interesting to note AL sales in north and east India which traditionally have been TML markets.
But whatever may be the numbers, it is clear that AL's sales strategy has not worked this time around or TML was better prepared with a strategy to uproot AL from its traditional strongholds. Going forward it become increasingly important for AL to review and revise its sales strategy because though they may not agree, but they have got it wrong somewhere.
| | March 2009 | Feb 2009 | March 2008 | 2008-09 | 2007-08 |
| Domestic M&HCV | 12333 | 8809 | 20555 | 113674 | 166430 |
| Domestic LCV | 16673 | 14583 | 14438 | 151338 | 146930 |
| Total Domestic CV | 29006 | 23392 | 35993 | 265012 | 313360 |
AL has done better during recessions because of its pro goverment sales strategy. AL has also piped TML when it came to selling to Municipalities, Defence etc. - all government agencies or bodies.
Since TML has done much better than AL this time around, it clearly means that there has been a shift in sales strategy from TML. There has been a clear focus on sales to government through aggressive bidding on tenders.
It will also be interesting to see how much has TML been able to penetrate the south India market, which traditionally has been a strong foothold of AL. Vice versa it will also be interesting to note AL sales in north and east India which traditionally have been TML markets.
But whatever may be the numbers, it is clear that AL's sales strategy has not worked this time around or TML was better prepared with a strategy to uproot AL from its traditional strongholds. Going forward it become increasingly important for AL to review and revise its sales strategy because though they may not agree, but they have got it wrong somewhere.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Ashok Leyland posts poor results
Ashok Leyland has posted sales numbers for the past year. The year seems to have been particulary bad for them. Here are the numbers:
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DTNA gets on with Innovation!
Daimler Trucks North America have developed new Innovation Truck which not only highlights its existing technologies but also introduces new cutting edge advancements reports Freightliner Trucks.
The Innovation Truck has made a made a big leap in the aerodynamics of the body. With advance features like rear wheel fairings, roof deflector, front air splitter and use of cameras instead of side mirrors, the airflow is reduced to lower the drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Apart from improvements in aerodynamics of the Truck, use of RunSmart Predictive Cruise also provides significant fuel savings. This system looks up to 1 mile in advance from the truck location and anticipates road gradient using GPS and 3d digital map technology to alter the speed according to the terrain ahead thus achieving maximum fuel efficiency.
Daimler Truck in India has established a JV with the Hero Group. In the initial phases, the JV will produce lCV, MCV, HCV for the Indian mass market. Going forward the JV will produce Trucks for export markets.
Daimler Trucks is a division of Daimler AG and the world's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Its owns world's five leading truck brands - Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Mitsubishi Fuso.
The Innovation Truck has made a made a big leap in the aerodynamics of the body. With advance features like rear wheel fairings, roof deflector, front air splitter and use of cameras instead of side mirrors, the airflow is reduced to lower the drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Apart from improvements in aerodynamics of the Truck, use of RunSmart Predictive Cruise also provides significant fuel savings. This system looks up to 1 mile in advance from the truck location and anticipates road gradient using GPS and 3d digital map technology to alter the speed according to the terrain ahead thus achieving maximum fuel efficiency.
Daimler Truck in India has established a JV with the Hero Group. In the initial phases, the JV will produce lCV, MCV, HCV for the Indian mass market. Going forward the JV will produce Trucks for export markets.
Daimler Trucks is a division of Daimler AG and the world's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Its owns world's five leading truck brands - Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Mitsubishi Fuso.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
ACGL investing in Buses Big Time!
ACGL, in which TATA Motors have vested interests is increasing its annual capacity to 10,000 bus bodies by 2012. ACGL has two plants in Goa which already have a combined capacity to make 5000 bus bodies per annum.
Buses in India are primarily a government business with major consumption with the vaious municipalities. The government tender is generally contested by the OEM’s and big bus body builders and then based on who’s got the order, their vendors get to make the bodies. ACGL being the largest vendor of bus bodies for TATA Motors gets a fairly large size of this market.
Strategic Positioning with TATA Motors
As expected, ACGL and TATA Motors it seems are working hand in glove on buses. The expansion for ACGL is aimed at serving the 9 tonne plus segment. To create this capacity, ACGL will shift its sheet metal division from its second Goa plant to Dharwad. In this way, TATA Motors plant at Dharwad which will produce sub 9 tonne buses will be served by ACGL’s sheet metal division as well as ACGL gets land and building for its expansion plans.
2007-08 Turnover for ACGL:
Rs 250 Crore - Bus Division
Rs. 80 Crore - Sheet Metal Division
Buses in India are primarily a government business with major consumption with the vaious municipalities. The government tender is generally contested by the OEM’s and big bus body builders and then based on who’s got the order, their vendors get to make the bodies. ACGL being the largest vendor of bus bodies for TATA Motors gets a fairly large size of this market.
Strategic Positioning with TATA Motors
As expected, ACGL and TATA Motors it seems are working hand in glove on buses. The expansion for ACGL is aimed at serving the 9 tonne plus segment. To create this capacity, ACGL will shift its sheet metal division from its second Goa plant to Dharwad. In this way, TATA Motors plant at Dharwad which will produce sub 9 tonne buses will be served by ACGL’s sheet metal division as well as ACGL gets land and building for its expansion plans.
2007-08 Turnover for ACGL:
Rs 250 Crore - Bus Division
Rs. 80 Crore - Sheet Metal Division
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Kailash Vahan Rolfo Joint Venture
Kailash Vahan has also signed JV agreement with Rolfo S.p.A. of Italy to manufacture car transport solutions in India.
With the explosion in growth of passenger vehicles in India, there is a need for better technology solutions to transport cars from OEM plants to various dealers across India. The current solutions are simple trailers carrying 8-10 cars on a 22 mt length. Incidentally, in India double decked tractor trailer lengths are permitted upto 22 mt and rigid trailer lengths are permitted upto 12 mt. Hence these trailers can carry small cars upto 10 in numbers and others upto 6-8 in numbers depending upon the size of the car.
Just to give you an indication, here's the length of smallest cars in India:
But with the advent of Tata Nano, the game is set to change again. The world's cheapest car will want a cheap and efficient transport solution and it will be a big number game. The Tata's would want to carry atleast 12-14 Nano's per trip to cut the costs. Hence a more complex Hydraulic system based solution will be required, which uses the space of the trailer efficiently and packs in more cars per trip.
The Kailash Rolfo JV will try and produce a solution using Italian technology but fit for Indian conditions. Customers will want extra cars without increasing the cost of the trailer. It will be a very difficult job for the engineers and designers of Kailash Rolfo to match customer expectations on both the fronts - 'cars per trip' and 'price'. They will have to find a solution mid-way.
With the explosion in growth of passenger vehicles in India, there is a need for better technology solutions to transport cars from OEM plants to various dealers across India. The current solutions are simple trailers carrying 8-10 cars on a 22 mt length. Incidentally, in India double decked tractor trailer lengths are permitted upto 22 mt and rigid trailer lengths are permitted upto 12 mt. Hence these trailers can carry small cars upto 10 in numbers and others upto 6-8 in numbers depending upon the size of the car.
Just to give you an indication, here's the length of smallest cars in India:
| Specs | Hyundai Santro Xing GL | Maruti Suzuki Alto LX - BS III | Tata Indica V2 DLE-BS III | Chevrolet Spark 1.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Length (mm) | 3565 | 3495 | 3675 | 3495 |
But with the advent of Tata Nano, the game is set to change again. The world's cheapest car will want a cheap and efficient transport solution and it will be a big number game. The Tata's would want to carry atleast 12-14 Nano's per trip to cut the costs. Hence a more complex Hydraulic system based solution will be required, which uses the space of the trailer efficiently and packs in more cars per trip.
The Kailash Rolfo JV will try and produce a solution using Italian technology but fit for Indian conditions. Customers will want extra cars without increasing the cost of the trailer. It will be a very difficult job for the engineers and designers of Kailash Rolfo to match customer expectations on both the fronts - 'cars per trip' and 'price'. They will have to find a solution mid-way.
Kailash Vahan ShinMaywa sign JV
Kailash Vahan is one of India's largest truck and bus body builder having facilities in Pune and Bangalore. Our customers include Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher among others. Kailash Vahan specializes in Tipper bodies, Cargo or Load bodies, Waste management solutions like Garbage Compactors, Bins, Garbage Tippers etc.
ShinMaywa is Japan's largest truck body builder. They also have interests in Industrial Machinery, Aircraft etc.
The Joint Venture will primarily serve interests of Japanese truck manufacturers in India like Hino, Isuzu, Nissan. The JV will make tippers to start with and then as the relationship strengthens and demand of other specialized truck body increases, the JV may also enter other segments in the truck body building industry.
From a strategic perspective the JV will serve interests of both Kailash and ShinMaywa well and it will be in the interest of both the companies to take the JV a long way and pool their energies and resources to make it a success.
As the body building industry gets more organized and with more foreign OEMs entering India, it is inevitable that technology and quality will become important factors to both - the OEMs and the end Customer. From Kailash's perspective, this JV can help them with ShinMaywa's technology (e.g. Tentsuki hydraulics) and to improve their production processes (do things the Japanese way).
From ShinMaywa's perspective, they have a very experienced Indian partner who knows industry practices in India, who knows the customers and has a well established presence pan India. They will also have a ready manufacturing base to start serving Japanese OEMs from day one without even having a factory. This is also very important considering the downturn we are in! The JV can be started at a very low cost and pass the benefit to the customer.
ShinMaywa is Japan's largest truck body builder. They also have interests in Industrial Machinery, Aircraft etc.
The Joint Venture will primarily serve interests of Japanese truck manufacturers in India like Hino, Isuzu, Nissan. The JV will make tippers to start with and then as the relationship strengthens and demand of other specialized truck body increases, the JV may also enter other segments in the truck body building industry.
From a strategic perspective the JV will serve interests of both Kailash and ShinMaywa well and it will be in the interest of both the companies to take the JV a long way and pool their energies and resources to make it a success.
As the body building industry gets more organized and with more foreign OEMs entering India, it is inevitable that technology and quality will become important factors to both - the OEMs and the end Customer. From Kailash's perspective, this JV can help them with ShinMaywa's technology (e.g. Tentsuki hydraulics) and to improve their production processes (do things the Japanese way).
From ShinMaywa's perspective, they have a very experienced Indian partner who knows industry practices in India, who knows the customers and has a well established presence pan India. They will also have a ready manufacturing base to start serving Japanese OEMs from day one without even having a factory. This is also very important considering the downturn we are in! The JV can be started at a very low cost and pass the benefit to the customer.
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