Our aspiration is to expand market share, not defend: Dheeraj Hinduja

Not at all. Strategically, we don’t change too much. But, operationally, there are changes that we are doing. Whether it is regulatory or economic changes that may come in, that is not going to alter or affect the performance of AL. I told myself when I took the responsibility that there will be smooth functioning. By the way, we are progressing on the CEO search plan.

Our board is very much involved in the process. But, we don’t want to rush it as we have a good team already in place. They are running things very well and are reporting to me. We want to ensure that whatever transition happens, it is done smoothly. From that perspective, we are looking at candidates externally, while we looked internally too. The board will take a final decision on this.

Firstly, to ensure the stability of the organisation and then the smooth delivery of BS-VI products and modular platform. I also want to make sure a successful introduction of the Phoenix project (new LCV products) and stronger push into international markets where we have already set up bases.

These will be core things that I will be looking at. But more than that, structural changes within the organisation that are important for us will also be done.

The main change that people need to be aware of is to manage the engine itself and its serviceability.

Because, the complexities that electronics brings with it in BS-VI era are not simple. If one tries to fix a repair at a local mechanic shop, it will be a disaster for the truck. This is where our digital initiative comes in and we have been working for the past two years.

Using our service mandi initiative (a mobile app for locating the nearest local mechanic to avail services for breakdown and repairs), we have tried to bring mechanics across the country on one platform. At the same time, we started training not only our sales and service teams on this but also numerous mechanics across the country. Due to the complexity involved, the training needs to be a continuous process and we are focusing on it.

In Ahmedabad, we won the first electric bus tender. Our vehicles have already started operating in that city and we will be delivering all vehicles in the next few weeks.

Having seen the operational aspects of it, we are now looking at other States. But unlike other OEMs we won’t go very aggressive. Because there is a learning curve. The conditions in India — heat and monsoon — are different from the UK where we have electric vehicles with our company Optare. Indian market requires some deeper focus in order to ensure the safety of the product. However, we are not shying away from the electric focus, but the only objective is we don’t want to be selling at losses.

We will not bid at prices that are not viable.

Our partner Sun Mobility came up with the swappable battery model for electric vehicles, while we were working on fast charge model. We got convinced that Sun’s swappable system would be a cheaper solution when they demonstrated to us. Rather than owning a battery, electric buses could get their battery swapped at an outlet. Of course, it doesn’t work for every other requirement. In some cases, fast charge model is suitable.

In Ahmedabad project, about 18 buses will be working on swappable model, while the rest will work on a fast charge model supported by charging stations.

I don’t think BS-VI will impact our marketshare. Actually, our aspiration is to grow market share, not defend. We have clearly laid out a strategic plan on the steps needed to achieve this.

We have opportunities to grow our share in the coming years. There are some segments in which we are not strong. Also, in many parts of the country, we have to increase our distribution and service network. These ramp-ups will help us grow the share.

On the financial side, we will maintain a double digit operating margin. This will be done even during challenging days with cost-cutting measures.

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