Volvo India planning to make India an export base

18 June 2007

Mumbai: Heavy vehicle manufacturer Volvo is planning to export its products to more countries such as China and Indonesia as is operations in India slowly turns profitable.

The Indian operations of Volvo is regarded as a centre of excellence and the company is now planning to export vehicles to countries such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Algeria and Myanmar. It already exports trucks to South Korea and some of neighbouring countries, Volvo India managing director Eric Leblanc said while addressing the India Innovation Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Volvo also sources components worth $100 million from India for its global operations, Mr Leblanc said. He said even though Volvo''s trucks are priced at least three times higher than those sold by competitors in India , the truck maker has been able to sell enough trucks to make it a profitable venture in the country.

He said Volvo trucks consume 50 per cent less fuel and also operators need to buy less number of trucks to manage their operations. Volvo wanted the customers to understand that its trucks were more profitable to run than the others, he said.

Volvo, meanwhile, has put together a fleet management service for the customers to maximise the benefits to them. The company also so far trained 14,000 drivers under an ongoing five-day training programme.

He said the higher cost of its buses are offset by increased revenues because of higher occupancy rates. A survey conducted by the company found out that the passengers were willing to pay higher fares if the buses were more efficient, he pointed out.