L&T to stop Scania parts import from Belgium

Bangalore, November 8, 2012: Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is likely to stop importing automotive components directly from Swedish commercial vehicle giant Scania as the latter has set up its full-fledged Central Parts Centre (CPC) in India.

L &T is selling Scania vehicles, which are being imported as Completely Build Units (CBUs), designed for the mining and construction industry in India since 2007. To service the vehicles in the country, L&T has been directly importing parts from Scania’s central warehouse in Belgium.

Talking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of Scania’s on-road trucks launch event in Bangalore on November 7, Suresh Ekambaram, director – aftersales, Scania Commercial Vehicles India, said: “The company’s CPC established near Bangalore is fully operational since October 23 and it will supply parts to L &T in India. L&T will stop importing parts from Belgium in a couple of weeks.”

He said the company will directly import parts from its parent warehouse in Belgium and stock parts at its CPC for the vehicles sold through L&T, and also the newly launched on-road heavy duty trucks which will be directly sold by Scania in India through its dealership network.

L&T stocks the imported components at its warehouse in Nagpur to distribute them across the country to service Scania vehicles. So far Scania has sold around 900 trucks through L&T in India.

Scania’s central warehouse in Belgium was inaugurated in 1993 and since 2007 has served as the parts distribution hub for the company’s 1,000 or so European dealerships and to the regional warehouses that supply Scania dealerships in the rest of the world.

JAISHANKAR JAYARAMIAH