VE Commercial Vehicles to set up plant in Bhopal

VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), an equal joint venture between Eicher Motors and the Volvo Group, will invest in a new plant in Bhopal at a time when European rivals Man Trucks and Scania have exited India's competitive freight-carrier industry. The company is building a new 40,000-unit truck capacity with an initial investment of Rs 400 crore ($54.8 million). The plant is aimed at enhancing VECV's market share in the heavy-duty truck segment. Martin Lundstedt, the global CEO of the Volvo Group said: “We have built a strong foundation in India and we want to do things consistently instead of looking at quick fixes or running behind volumes. “India is among five major home markets for Volvo, which not only serves as a key market but a base for development and export of vehicles.” At 70,000 units per year, the Indian manufacturing base accounts for almost one-third of total global volumes of the Volvo Group that sold more than 200,000 units in 2017. Siddhartha Lal, MD of Eicher Motors, said the company's aim is to grow faster than the market and drive the country toward modern “value trucks” against the legacy trucks. Lal said, “We are patient, we know our time will come. We are a company that likes to keep chipping away. Consistency is what we believe in.”