AMW Motors to introduce new Italian-designed cabin in its trucks

The Bhuj-based AMW Motors, which manufactures medium and heavy commercial vehicles, is to introduce an all-new cabin in its trucks later this year. It is understood that AMW had roped in global engineering firm Magna Steyr and renowned Italian design house Stile Bertone for the design and development of the new cabin, which is aimed at delivering better ergonomics and fatigue-free driving.

These cabins, manufactured with tooling made in Taiwan, will be available in different versions and designed for both left-hand drive and right-hand drive markets. This indigenous and modern cabin will replace the current cabin which the company produces in China.

According to A Ramasubramanian, president, AMW Motors, the company's trucks have always had the best cabin in the Indian CV industry and “it was the first CV maker in India to introduce air-conditioning, hydraulic tilt and a fully built cabin. 100 percent of our vehicles had this cabin.”

Meanwhile, AMW has strengthened its products in the M&HCV haulage segment with the 3116 and 3118 and 25T haulage trucks which help deliver improved total cost of ownership, better fuel efficiency and lower maintenance cost. However, the haulage segment has been badly hit by discounts and AMW claims it stays away from discounting.  

Ramasubramanian says, “The growth has come in the tractor-trailer and haulage segment, which are market sentiment-driven and there is also fleet replacement underway. There is no growth or a slight de-growth in the past few months in the construction and mining segment, especially in tippers. We haven’t seen a revival in that area.”

To further strengthen its product range in the haulage segment, the company is mulling the idea of introducing 16T haulage soon though the company has 16T tippers. Similarly of late, the 37T haulage truck market has been gaining popularity among fleet operators and AMW is keen to enter this segment. At present, it is piloting some products which will take around 3-6 months for launch. AMW’s product stable currently spans from 16 tonners through to 49-tonne tractor-trailers.

The past few years have seen a few foreign OEMs enter the M&HCV market in India but AMW believes that these new rivals are still finding their feet in the segment. 

In 2014-15, AMW had a 1.54% market share in the domestic goods carrier M&HCV market. However, the company is confident that it has the right products in its portfolio to gain market share. “Our strategy is very simple: we want to expand in the haulage market and strengthen our position in our existing segments. Any which way, we have to sell more trucks,” Ramasubramanian signs off.