October 16, 2008

MAN Force sees Jharkhand as a good market for its trucks

FE reported that MAN Force Trucks Private Limited, which recently appointed Narbheram Motors as its authorized dealer for Jharkhand and Bihar, sees a good future for its heavy commercial vehicles in Jharkhand. MAN Force, which is currently manufacturing heavy commercial vehicles of 25 tonne to 50 tonne carrying capacity, has recently introduced its 25 tonne truck that was yet to hit Jharkhand roads even though a small number has already been sold in West Bengal.

Mr Jay Parekh MD of Narbheram Motors said that "The entire segment of heavy commercial vehicles owners is moving to heavier commercial vehicles by way of replacing their old fleet. I see a good future for the MAN trucks in the Jharkhand mining sector in the coming years, particularly once the state had unveiled its rehabilitation and resettlement policy."

He added that likewise, fleet owners were also increasing their profitability by replacing their old fleet in the mining area by higher capacity heavy commercial vehicles. Here, two MAN tractor models, the 49-tonne CLA 49.280 and 40-tonne CLA 40.280, were making a good impact. The tractor models were being used for applications ranging from long haul carrying of perishable goods in reefers and containers and short or medium haul of raw materials such as coal, iron ore, aggregates, loose cement and limestone.

According to Mr Parekh, Narbheram Motors intends to sell around 500 MAN Force vehicles during 2008-09. Priced at INR 2.85 million for the 14 cubic meter Rock body model and INR 2.67 million for the 16 cubic meter box body model, the tippers are being used mainly in carrying out mining operations in Jharkhand. He said that "The payload capacity of the MAN tippers being higher than other models available in that price range, profitability for the fleet owners has gone up."

MAN Force, that had produced around 5,000 heavy commercial vehicles in 2006-07, is likely to end the current year by producing around 24,000 vehicles, of which half of them will have been exported by it. The heavy commercial vehicles manufacturer exported its first consignment of around 2,500-3,000 vehicles around three months to Bangladesh, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and to other ASEAN countries.