[DukeNukem]

Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania made its first major move to establish itself in the Indian market, with the ground breaking ceremony of their manufacturing facility in Narasapura, Bangalore.

The new facility will produce trucks, buses and engines and is expected to boost the company’s fledgling business in India. It will also allow Scania to bring in more varieties of models and reduce the delivery time for customers.

Scania aims to manufacture and sell 2,000 heavy trucks and 1,000 intercity buses annually, within the next five years, according to Henrik Fagrenius (MD Scania India).

The plant will be a completely-knocked-down (CKD) assembly unit for truck and bus chassis. Bodybuilding of city buses and coaches is also planned. The 35 acre plant is expected to roll out its first product by early 2013.

This development comes as positive news for the state, as the company is set to invest Rs. 250 crore in the facility. They are also expected to hire over 800 people in the next five years.

Although the Volkswagen Group-owned Scania launched its Indian arm last year, it has been present in India since 2007 through their partner Larsen & Toubro (L&T). L&T has established Scania’s vehicles in the domestic mining industry.

Market status

Domestic commercial vehicle sales increased by 18.20% in 2011-12 with over 8 lakh units sold. This number is expected to double up in the next five years, and the prospect of such growth has also seen international players like Daimler and Volvo enter the Indian market. However, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland continue to dominate with a combined market share of about 85%.

MD Henrik Fagrenius inaugurating the facility area...


Scania trucks spotted by BHPians tushky and BunnyPunia...

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by DukeNukem

...Scania aims to manufacture and sell 2,000 heavy trucks and 1,000 intercity buses annually, within the next five years, according to Henrik Fagrenius (MD Scania India)....

Scania is doing good wrt deep mining trucks and Volvo is getting beating from both Scania and Mercedes.
But in Intercity coaches which I assume in the range of Scania Touring, Volvo have already out phased Mercedes. There are no major repeat purchase from Private or STU's. The product also stands the same way. Though Mercedes is working on newer product features for their coaches, no idea about the reception.
With this white space, Scania may have a better entry which should be used effectively by them.
But a TIV of around max 750 what is the pie to shared among this niche players?

[Ahmed]

Good to see an increase in competition in this segment as well. Welcome Scania ! I have seen these CVs in Saudi Arabia and yes they are impressive.

Good to see that transport sector in India will have more options to choose from.

If I could get my hands on that 45 piece toolkit that they have in Accessories - I am going to be a happy DIY'er !

[GTO]

Scania has launched a new range of on-road trucks for trial runs in India.

The Scania truck models - the R 500 6x4, the G 460 6x4, the P 410 6x2 and the P 360 4x2 – are being made available to customers in the Indian on-road haulage segment. They will cater to segments such as long haul container handling, steel, chemical, special bulk transportation and Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC) transportation.

The Scania R 500 6x4 is a heavy-duty puller and is powered by a 500 horsepower V8 engine. With the automated gear changing system Scania Opticruise, this will be the first of its kind in the Indian market to carry the super Over Dimensional Cargo.

The Scania G 460 6x4 heavy duty puller powered by a 460 hp engine is also equipped with the Scania Opticruise. The Scania P 410 6x2 prime mover, a multi-task master, has a 410 hp engine and a liftable tag axle. The Scania P 360 4x2 prime mover powered by a 360 hp engine has rear air suspension.

[binaiks]

From a source:

Scania will hand over their buses for trials with some private operators in January 2014 (or earlier). One of the operators is the biggest kerala based intercity bus operator - Kallada.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by binaiks

From a source:

Scania will hand over their buses for trials with some private operators in January 2014 (or earlier). One of the operators is the biggest kerala based intercity bus operator - Kallada.

Binaiks, can you also leak the information on what bus it is? Is it by any chance the new Scania "Touring" or some older version?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

Binaiks, can you also leak the information on what bus it is? Is it by any chance the new Scania "Touring" or some older version?

Sadly, my source did not mention that. Another friend once said that Scania is bringing their top end offering to India - so that has to be the "Touring", 13.7M coach with a 410hp engine!

[Ashley2]

Good to see the progress in the Kallada. First time they have caught the eyes of manufacturer.This should be because of their recent addition of number of Multi axles. Normally Neeta, Sharma, KPN are the preferred in the respective regions by the OEM's, as they give a fairly better picture about the operation, and they do inspire many other operators.

[D33-PAC]

Will they make Indian versions too or are these to compete only with the crem de la crem of the segment, like Volvo?

[greatmana2000]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Scania is doing good wrt deep mining trucks and Volvo is getting beating from both Scania and Mercedes.
But in Intercity coaches which I assume in the range of Scania Touring, Volvo have already out phased Mercedes. There are no major repeat purchase from Private or STU's. The product also stands the same way. Though Mercedes is working on newer product features for their coaches, no idea about the reception.
With this white space, Scania may have a better entry which should be used effectively by them.
But a TIV of around max 750 what is the pie to sharded among this niche players?

Don't you think it is the right time for the launch of Setra rather than offer Mercedes or atleast rebadge the kass vehicles and sell them at a premium over the Mercedes. Whoever launches should try to find some good seats manufacturer and not offer those Harita seats.