Volvo Trucks has identified large irrigation projects, road construction works and quarrying as segments for which it will roll out products, according to a top official.
“We are now looking [to] go beyond coal mining... seeded more than 200 trucks...” said B. Dinakar, senior vice-president-sales, marketing and aftermarket of VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. (a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors). At present, Volvo Trucks also cater to the ODC (over dimensional cargo) segment. Elaborating, Mr. Dinakar said the existing trucks were used for the ‘seeding.’ “We will also bring [in] suitable trucks which will be more useful, suitable to these particular things,” he told the media here on Monday in an interaction about Volvo’s India Fuelwatch Challenge.
“The seeding began in end-2016 with about 20 trucks and involved 120 vehicles last year. This year, 200 trucks are to be used,” he said, adding some of the new products would be unveiled this year.
To be niche player
The decision is in line with Volvo Trucks’ focus on being a niche player. “We would like to sell Volvo where it is more suitable, rather than selling wherever it is possible,” he added.
To a query on manufacturing capacity, he said the company imported vehicles in CKD and then assembled them at the Hoskote factory in Karnataka, with some localisation. The firm set up the factory in 1998 and had since sold 13,000 units.
