Terex Vectra plans slew of new products for India

Buoyed by increasing sales of its construction equipment made in India, Terex Vectra Equipment (the 50:50 joint venture between Terex and Vectra), is developing additional product lines that would include front-end loaders, excavators and compactors.

Terex Vectra which began its operations at Greater Noida in May 2004 has sold over 1,400 backhoes and captured six percent market share in the product segment. The TX 760 model has become the third largest selling backhoe loader within three years of its launch.

RAPID GROWTH

General manager, sales and marketing, Amit Sood told Autocar Professional that the Indian construction equipment market was growing rapidly. The global market is $100 billion of which India’s share was $2.5 billion last year but growing at 30 percent annually. The industry consists of material handling, mining and hauling equipment. Hauling equipment consist of a range of vehicles. Off highway haulage equipment includes dump trucks used in mining areas etc.

Construction equipment is classified into heavy and retail machines. The latter includes backhoe and other kinds of loaders. JCB leads the industry in backhoe loaders with a near 70 percent market share. In larger machines, there are many more players, a list that includes Caterpillar and Terex. Terex sells its dump trucks through Voltas and Bharat Earth Movers. The Tatas have Telcon, a joint venture company with Hitachi. Larsen & Toubro has a joint venture with Komatsu and is also into excavators.

According to Sood, Terex Vectra is developing additional product lines which include front-end loaders, excavators and compactors. It is now in the process of shortlisting products with the right size and capacity. “By 2010, we are looking at 6,000 units of backhoe loaders which will form a major share of our business. From the present No 3, we want to be No 2 in the next 2-3 years,” he said.

The backhoe loader is used for a variety of applications for any kind of earthwork or loading application. In the last five years, total sales of the product have grown 40 percent in India. Terex Vectra makes backhoe and skid steer loaders. In the second quarter of 2004, it developed the first indigenous backhoe loader. The first year saw 140 machines sold going up to 390 in the second year and projected to close at over 900 units in the third year. The skid steer loader can be fitted with over 40 optional attachments and used in loading, sweeping, excavating etc.

TECH FROM COVENTRY

Terex Vectra India gets technology inputs from Coventry, UK. “The backhoe loader we make here has over 75 percent local content. We have 33 dealers and 63 outlets. We may add six more next year,” Sood says. The company imports specific hydraulic parts for which technology is still limited to markets like Japan and Europe.

Terex Vectra does the fabrication and also makes the cabin while the engine is sourced from Kirloskar. The company exports products to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The Greater Noida plant can make 3,000 units annually on a single shift basis. Two new variants of the backhoe loader will debut in the next 12 months. The plant uses robotic welding of heavy parts for making backhoes. The company invested Rs 1.4 crore for these robots.

P THARYAN