October 8, 2018, New Delhi
Commemorating the completion of 10 successful years of partnership between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has announced the plan to set up a new production facility for trucks at Bhopal with investment of Rs 400 crores. The Madhya Pradesh Government has allotted land for the new plant and work to set up this plant is expected to start soon.
The plant, which will have an initial capacity of 40,000 trucks, is expected to go on stream in the next 18 months. Currently, VECV’s Pithampur (near Indore) plant has the capacity to manufacture 90,000 trucks.
With a strong foundation built on mutual trust, respect and win-win approach, the joint venture has grown from strength to strength over the years to put VECV in a very good position with a yearly average growth of over 18 per cent in last ten years with turnover of Rs 10,200 crores in 2017-18.
The entire Board of Directors of AB Volvo was present on the occasion to celebrate the highly successful joint venture in India.
Speaking on the occasion, Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO, Volvo Group, said, “It is a proud moment for us as we celebrate an extremely successful partnership with Eicher Motors. Together we have created many industry-leading benchmarks to drive modernisation in the last 10 years. India is a home base for Volvo Group, with a presence of over 2 decades across our various business lines and we reiterate our strong commitment to the future of the country and VE Commercial Vehicles.”
Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO, Eicher Motors Ltd, commented, “The partnership with Volvo has been extremely fruitful for VECV that is reflected in its strong performance in the last decade. VECV is today a full range player in 4 to 55 Ton GVW market. Not only VECV has benefited from this partnership, at the same time, we have been able to contribute to the cost-reduction opportunities for the Volvo Group through supply of cost-effective engines from India. As we move into the next decade, we reiterate our strong commitment to this partnership.”
Hakan Karlsson, President Volvo Group Trucks Asia & JVs and Chairman, VECV, added, “With the announcement of setting up of a new plant at an investment of Rs 400 crores, we have full confidence in the growth potential in the Indian market and with technologically superior products, VECV is in an advantageous position to fully leverage the opportunities in the market. The visit by the Board of Directors of AB Volvo reflects the strong commitment of Volvo Group to this partnership and we are looking forward to further develop the partnership to lead the rapid transformation in the industry.”
VECV is today an exclusive manufacturing hub for the medium-duty Euro VI engines for the Volvo Group and is a fine example of the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India. These engines, manufactured at the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pithampur, are being exported to Europe and Asia to take care of the needs of the Volvo Group.
The JV between Volvo Group and Eicher has been successfully driving modernization in commercial transportation in India and the developing world. In line with this vision, VECV successfully developed and launched technologically advanced Eicher Pro series of trucks & buses by incorporating a lot of Volvo Group Technology. Based on this, VECV is all set to participate in huge growth opportunities in the Indian economy as well as the commercial vehicle industry in both trucks and buses.
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