Escorts JCB, the 40:60 joint venture between Escorts and JCB, the British earthmoving equipment manufacturing major, is planning to introduce JCB's entire product range in India, including tracked excavators and skid steer loaders.
Initially, the excavators and skid steer loaders would be imported, but senior company officials said the equipment would be manufactured locally at a later date. Escorts JCB currently has a manufacturing plant at Vallabhgarh near Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Bharat Chugh, general manager, Escorts JCB, said, "Over the next ten years, we expect the market for earthmoving equipment in the country to grow substantially. Therefore, we are now planning to introduce our entire product range here."
Escorts JCB, which has been in existence for over 20 years, is also planning to step up the marketing efforts for the articulated loading shovel, which it has only recently introduced.
Escorts JCB currently is the largest manufacturer of backhoe loaders in the domestic earthmoving equipment market, with about an 85 per cent marketshare.
A backhoe loader performs functions such as loading, grabbing, grading, digging, dozing and spreading at construction sites and plants.
In a bid to sidestep the impact of the sluggish demand due to low infrastructure and construction activity across India, Escorts JCB has unveiled an improved version of 3D, the company's backhoe loader at the same price (around Rs 16 lakh).
Chugh said the new 3D comes with stronger features, is 25 per cent more efficient and 15 per cent more fuel efficient than the earlier model. Although company officials hinted that the price could be raised when the market improves, its operating margins would be impacted in the interim.
The company had sold over 2,800 backhoe loaders in India last year. Although the slowdown in infrastructure development has affected the company's sales, officials are confident of equalling last year's sales.
