Truck maker Asia Motor Works (AMW) has shelved its earlier plan to foray into the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, and has decided to focus primarily on its strength, the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) segment.
"We have shelved the plan to foray into the LCV segment as the market is crowded with many players in the segment. We have instead decided to focus on our core strength, the HCV segment," said A Rama Subramanian, President, AMW. He added that the company, however, is mulling the idea of coming up with trucks in the 9-12 tonne range.
"The 9-12 tonne range has potential to grow. We are working on our strategy for the segment, and would take a call by the end of this fiscal. However, we will not enter the segment during 2013-14," he explained.
AMW has recently rolled out haulage trucks in the range of 25 to 31 tonne and has started selling in five to six states. "We are making 100-200 haulage trucks per month, we plan to roll out the vehicles across the country by the next quarter," Subramanian said. The haulage trucks segment, however, has seen a 20-22 per cent drop during 2012-13, however, it still continues to be a large segment, he said. The segment size is estimated to be around 150,000 trucks per annum.
AMW, which has sold around 10,000 trucks last year, mainly operates in the off-the-highway trucks segment, vehicles that are used in the construction equipment, mining, road construction industries.
"While the off-the-highway trucking segment had grown by nearly 42 per cent last year, this year it is down by 35 per cent. However, with focus on infrastructure development, as road-building, coal mining activities pick up, the segment is expected to do well," Subramanian explained.
The company at present has an installed capacity of 50,000 vehicles per annum.
As for its new range of haulage trucks, apart from domestic sales, AMW plans to export these trucks to countries in Africa and West Asia apart from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries by the end of 2013.
AMW enjoys a market share of 5 per cent in the overall trucking segment in the country, and around 25 per cent market share in the off-the-highway segment. Punjab is its biggest market followed by Gujarat, where it enjoys a 25 per cent market share.
