As first reported in Autocar Professional’s June 1, 2011 issue, Scania Commercial Vehicles India is to invest Rs1.50 billion in the coming year to set up a plant in Narasapura Industrial Area, Bangalore.
This plant will serve as a Complete Knock Down assembly unit for truck and bus chassis during Phase 1 of operations. Bus body building of city buses and coaches and service workshops for trucks and buses will also be part of this facility at a later point of time. Scania will employ upto 800 people in this facility over the next five years. The first truck from Scania will roll out in 2013.
Scania envisages around 2,000 heavy haulage trucks and 1,000 inter-city buses and coaches to be rolled out from this plant within five years. Besides these vehicles, Scania is also preparing to sell engines to its OEM customers.
According to Henrik Fagrenius, managing director, Scania, “This investment furthers Scania’s committed to the Indian market and this is the right moment for us. With the commercial vehicles segment likely to register a higher volume growth of 8-10 percent this year, the outlook for the industry is very promising.”
Scania foresees a number of benefits with establishing the new plant.
Fagrenius adds, “This unit will enable us to shorten our lead times and enhance service levels to our customers. This will also go a long way in sourcing of components locally from India.”