The Hindu Business Line : L&T ties up with Scania of Sweden for tippers

New entry Tippers to be imported in CBU condition
Pact will complement L&T's range of hydraulic excavators
Multi-axle trucks form 20 pc of commercial vehicles market

Mumbai , Sept 11

After Volvo of Sweden and Daimler-Benz and MANN of Germany, comes Scania from Sweden to run on Indian roads.

L&T has entered into a distribution tie-up with the Swedish heavy vehicle maker to sell its range of multi-axle trucks in India.

These heavy-duty tippers, in the 300-500 hp range and with a payload capacity of 19-30 tonnes, will cater to the construction and mining sectors.

Officials, who did not disclose the price, said that the vehicle would be priced competitively.

As a price indicator, the Daimler Benz Actros tipper model is available at Rs 55 lakh (on road) in the country.

The commercial vehicle will be imported in CBU (completely built unit) condition and be tested for road-worthiness at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) shortly.

The company is focusing on tippers; it has no plans to introduce Scania's range of buses or other heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the short term, said Mr J.P. Nayak, President of L&T.

In an international release, Mr Leif Östling, President and CEO of Scania, said: "We are now taking an important step into the Indian market and we look forward to growing and extending our business together with L&T."

Introduction of these tippers will complement L&T's range of hydraulic excavators to offer an end-to-end solution in the mining industry. The sales team of L&T will look after Komatsu and Scania.

Currently, the niche but growing multi-axle truck segment forms 20 per cent of the total commercial vehicles market.

Volvo, with 66 per cent, dominates the market while Tata holds 30 per cent. A total of 2,500-3,000 units are sold on a monthly basis. Analysts believe that it may not be entirely helpful for a global commercial vehicle major like Scania to join hands with a niche player like L&T catering to a specific industry segment.

A commercial tie-up with players like Eicher Motors would have made it a promising venture since the Swedish major is one of the late entrants.

Eicher's existing presence in the commercial vehicles business with a proven product portfolio and after-sales network would have complemented Scania's entry into the sector and defined their presence with a larger product portfolio rather than tippers only.

On the BSE, the L&T scrip closed at Rs 2,462.10 on Monday, a drop of 3.76 per cent from its previous close.