Volvo India expects 25% growth this year, says MD

Automobile manufacturer Volvo India is expecting its market in India to grow at around 25% this year, compared to the last year. The company said it has seen growth in 2015, after three years, and is looking to continue to grow in the near future.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of IQ Anniversary 2016 and National Business Excellence Conclave 2016, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Institute of Quality, Kamal Bali, managing director, Volvo India, said: "We are very glad that last year was a great year for the company, for the entire Volvo group globally as well as in India. We had a record performance. In the last five years, last year was our best year. In India also, we grew by close to 20-25%. This year, first quarter during January-March we are 20-25% more than last year."

The company will be growing 25% compared to last year. He said there is pent up demand because from 2011 to 2014, the market has dropped significantly.

This year will continue to be a good year for the company, on the back of replacement of ageing fleet, pent up demand, tremendous amount of projects which are being executed by the government in roads and highways, mining. The massive urbanisation will also, in the future, be a demand driver, he said.

"This year we should cross the 2011 kind of growth, at the rate at which we are growing, in commercial vehicles. Going forward, I personally believe that we should be growing anywhere between 11 to 14 percentage points CAGR over the next three years, on the back of economic growth of 8%," he added.

Volvo's heavy commercial vehicles saw a growth of 30%, buses grew by 10-12%, construction equipment growth varied from 30-50%, depending on the product.

The company invested around Rs 300 crore into expansion in two years and doubled its capacity in trucks, buses and construction equipment in Karnataka. The capacity utilisation is 60% at present and the enhanced capacity is expected to serve its purpose for the next three years, he added. The Volvo Financial Services business, which was launched in October last year to finance Volvo and Eicher trucks, buses and construction equipment, has a good order book, he added. However, he refused to share any India specific numbers on sales.

The company also has its R&D operations in India, which is working with the global R&D team to develop new products and designs for the company. It currently has around 1000 engineers, 1500 IT engineers and around 400 members in accounting operations, he added. He said that the R&D team is working on various projects including telematics and designing of trucks. The company, globally, is developing driver-less trucks for which it would need regulations in place to operate. It is also ready to comply with the Euro 6 regulations, he added.