Ashok Leyland launches all-new Captain HCV, plans 18-strong series

Despite the overall commercial vehicle (CV) industry experiencing a sharp decline of 18.38 percent in the April-December 2013 period, manufacturers like Ashok Leyland continue to space out new products at regular intervals to give a leg up to sales.

Following close on the heels of the September 2013 launch of its Avia-based Boss intermediate CV, Ashok Leyland rolled out its next-generation Captain HCV pitted in the 16T GVW-49T GTW range on January 6. This HCV segment is estimated to be worth around 300,000 units.

Graduating from the U-Truck launched around four years ago, the Captain series will encompass tippers, tractors and haulage trucks. This product series will be powered by in-line H-Series and Neptune common-rail fuel injection system (CRS) engines developing 160-360 hp.

The plan is to launch 18 variants of this next-generation series during 2014 with two more Captain tippers to be launched at Auto Expo 2014 in February. The first to roll out has been the Captain 2523 Tipper with its H-Series CRS engine mated to a nine-speed gearbox. Tippers in 16T, 25T and 31T will be on offer for surface transportation and deep mining. 

Like the Boss, the Captain HCV will be manufactured at the company’s Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand. The HCV has heavy duty aggregates and a customised powertrain
and will be priced between Rs 22-35 lakh.

The Captain series’ USP, according to company officials, is higher fuel efficiency, increased vehicle uptime and faster turnaround reducing vehicle operating costs. The vehicle has an electric and electronic architecture with self-diagnostic capability. This, the company says will address the growing demand for higher efficiency trucks in the country.

The Captain HCV, which is targeted at fleet operators, has undergone rigorous testing over several parameters as well as rollover crash tests and also delivers lower noise, vibration and harshness levels.

Good ergonomics and driver comfort are among the Captain’s highlights which include easy-to-reach controls, a mechanically suspended driver seat with multi-level adjustments, tiltable and telescopic steering column, air-conditioning and a music system.

The Captain is fitted with a new cab that has been engineered at the company’s R&D centre in Chennai. “As against adapting an existing design, we have designed and developed a new cabin family in-house that is specifically suited to customer needs,” said Vinod K Dasari, managing director, at the launch in New Delhi.

The cab will be available in 10 variants across economy, standard and deluxe segments in three functional configurations (day cab, sleeper cab and a high-roof cab), depending on the application.

The Captain project (codename N-Truck) was six years in the making with about 1,000 engineers working on it in various phases. Cabin development, which has a long lead time, was the first to get started.

“We have addressed three key areas – driver comfort, reliability and performance and will compete with the HCVs from Tata Motors and
VE Commercial Vehicles’ upcoming vehicles,” said Dr Venkat Srinivas, special director (Project Development), Ashok Leyland.

Benchmarked to global norms

The Captain project was benchmarked against global standards for which company officials met global vehicle manufacturers in Europe. The aim was to make the Captain a competitive product not only in India but against high-quality global competition as the HCV is slated for export to select markets. 

Improvements have been made on the engine, gearbox, propellor shafts and aggregates while the Captain’s cabin was designed for specific aerodynamic requirements.

According to A Karthick, head (NGC Program), Platform Director Buses, while the U-Truck’s cabin had an evolutionary design, the Captain’s cab involved raising the bar further. “The cabin was developed from scratch. While it was designed and styled at Torino Design in Turin, Italy, it was engineered in India by Ashok Leyland engineers. After the design came to India, we took it to customers and as per  their requirements made changes in styling and engineering.” Torino Design was contracted for styling the cab, which is to be used across the 18-strong Captain series.

Ashok Leyland is setting up cab repair facilities across many dealerships and offering a three-year full vehicle warranty and a four-year warranty for the driveline on the product. The company says its network of 475 full service outlets and availability of genuine Leyparts will ensure complete service support while the overall aftermarket service package and time-bound accident repair assurance will add further value to the customers’ business.

Sales tippers

Rajive Saharia, head – trucks, said the Captain will find a niche application in mining, stone quarrying, coal and iron ore applications. The initial sales target is 40 units a month but as the industry recovers slowly, he is bullish of chalking higher numbers. “We also have a smaller tipper delivering 180 hp that will go on sale in February. That will get us a couple of 100 units per month. Another big 31T tipper, which will go on sale in February-March, will add another 40-50 units per month. So, we expect sales of 300 units per month from these three tippers.”

The existing ban on mining in the country has adversely impacted the entire industry but is limited in scope, felt Saharia. “There is still some stone quarrying that goes on, there is still captive iron ore mining prevalent, coal is still being extracted but in a limited way.”

The boss is right

Meanwhile, the Boss truck has received a favourable response in the four southern states where it has been launched, according to Ashok Leyland. The marketing strategy for the ICV is to take one market at a time, penetrate it completely and then move to the next market, rather than spread itself across the country simultaneously. “Sequentially, we started with Tamil Nadu. Now we are getting into Maharashtra. Later this month, we will do Punjab. Within three months, we plan to ramp up the Boss across the country. Whenever we have launched new models, we have almost doubled our numbers,” revealed Saharia. At present, the sales target for the Boss is 150 units a month; following its countrywide launch, the target will rise up to 1,000 units per month.

The reason for this optimism is not misplaced. Despite the overall CV market taking a beating, the ICV market has faced the least decline. With the enforcement of the GST regime and a more hub-and-spoke distribution system in place, Ashok Leyland expects this segment to grow really big.

Meanwhile, the company is not phasing out the Ecomet range where the Boss was launched. It continues to target specific applications of parcel and courier services and heavy duty tipping for small tippers in sand areas which the Boss does not address. The recently launched new 14T Ecomet is in a whole new territory by itself, say company officials.  

The Captain HCV is to be showcased at the Auto Expo next month, along with a gaggle of other products including the Boss. The company is hopeful of tiding over the slowdown with its new product strategy.