THE CHOICES here

The trucks and technology in the offering to the Indian truck driver



A commercial vehicle is a type of motor vehicle that may be used for transporting goods or passengers.

A truck (American English) or lorry (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks/lorries vary greatly in size, power and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile. Commercial trucks/lorries can be very large and powerful, and may be configured to mount specialized equipment, such as in the case of fire trucks and concrete mixers and suction excavators. Modern trucks are powered by either gasoline or Diesel engines, with the latter dominant in commercial applications.

Trucks are generally classified into the following segments


Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) : Trucks with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of less than 9 tonnes. Eg. Tata 407, TATA 909. The importance of a light commercial vehicle is obvious especially in a newly industrialized economy with large regions to cater where such vehicles play a niche role in transporting goods from one place to another throughout the country. 
In the Indian automobile context, light commercial vehicles have assumed a great degree of significance with the national economy poised for a greater leap forward. No wonder, all the leading automobile manufacturers are having their operations in the field of LCVs. Eicher 10.60 and Eicher 10.70 are the other popular LCVs that are visible on Indian roads.


Intermediate Commercial Vehicles (ICVs) : Trucks with a GVW of between 9 and 14 tonnes. Eg. TATA 1109, Eicher 11.10


Medium Commercial Vehicles (MCVs) : Trucks with a GVW of between 15 and 20 tonnes, generally with 2 axles. Eg. TATA 1613, Eicher 20.16, Ashok Leyland Ecomet 1612


Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCVs) : Trucks with a GVW of more than 20 tonnes. The number of axles are three or more. They include tractor trailers and Over Dimension Cargo pullers. Eg. TATA 2515, Eicher 30.25, Ashok Leyland Comet. Their popularity in the Indian context has significantly increased after the ban on overloading.

The major commercial vehicle manufacturers in the Indian market are :

TATA Motors : Tata Trucks are amongst the most sought-after heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) in India. Products of Tata Motors Limited – the largest automobile companies in India with a consolidated revenues of Rs. 70,938,85 crores (in 2008-09), Tata Trucks not only outplayed its competitors by its qualities, but also by its services. It’s also the leading player in the list of TNS TruckTrak 2006 Customer Satisfaction Study in Trucks.Tata Motors is the fourth largest truck manufacturers in the world. Established in 1945, it first rolled out its vehicle in 1954. Since then, more than 4 million Tata vehicles run on the Indian roads. It has its manufacturing units located in various locations across the country including Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Pune, Dharwad, and Lucknow. Another plant is coming up at 

Sanand in Gujarat.

Tata Trucks have created a niche in the truck industry worldwide. Tata Trucks also lead in the key medium and heavy truck category with an index of 90 in the segment of Tractor-Trailer. 

Ashok Leyland : Ashok Leyland is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. Founded in 1948, the company is one of India’s leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as well as emergency and military vehicles. Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and marine applications. It sells about 60,000 vehicles and about 7,000 engines annually. It is the second largest commercial vehicle company in India in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment with a market share of 28% (2007-08). With passenger transportation options ranging from 19 seaters to 80 seaters, Ashok Leyland is a market leader in the bus segment.The company claims to carry over 60 million passengers a day, more people than the entire Indian rail network. In the trucks segment Ashok Leyland primarily concentrates on the 16 ton to 25 ton range of trucks. However Ashok Leyland has presence in the entire truck range starting from 7.5 tons to 49 tons. The joint venture announced with Nissan Motors of Japan would improve its presence in the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment (<7.5 tons).

Eicher Motors Limited  : Eicher Group is a conglomerate of the firms Eicher Goodearth Ltd., Eicher Ltd., Eicher Motors Ltd., Eicher International Ltd., and ECS Ltd., based in New Delhi, India. Eicher Motors was founded in 1982 to manufacture a range of reliable, fuel-efficient commercial vehicles of contemporary technology. As a significant player of the Indian automobile industry, it is involved in the design, manufacture and marketing of commercial vehicles, motorcycles (Royal
Enfield), components as well as providing engineering solutions. As of 1 July 2009 renamed Volvo Eicher Commercial vehicle Ltd. It is a joint venture with AB Volvo. 

Swaraj Mazda : Swaraj Mazda Limited is promoted by Punjab Tractors Limited with a technical collaboration with Mazda Motor Corporation. The company was established in the year 1983 and started production in 1985. In 1992, the company has supplied 500 trucks to the defence. The company launched its new truck model – Swaraj Mazda Premium. Over the years it has built up a wide product portfolio covering regular as well as niche segment needs. Swaraj Mazda Vehicle population today stands over 1,15,000. The company introduced indigenously developed bus in 1987. They manufactures Light Commercial Vehicles like Ambulance, Police personnel carriers, Trucks, Buses, water tankers and special vehicles.

MAN Force Trucks : MAN FORCE TRUCKS Pvt. Ltd. is a 50:50 Joint Venture between MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG of Germany and FORCE Motors Ltd. India. Force Mo

tors has played a pioneering role in the development of light commercial vehicle transport in India, with iconic vehicle brands like Tempo, Metador, Trax and the Traveller.

Combining MAN’s proven leading edge technology with FORCE Motors 50 years experience in the Indian Commercial Vehicle Industry; these Trucks are made for the Indian conditions and market, using the Top Technology from MAN.

With an installed capacity of 24,000 trucks per annum at its ‘state of the art’ plant at Pithampur, near Indore (MP), half the production is earmarked for exports through the global MAN Sales Organization.
The range of products manufactured includes Mining & Construction Tippers, Haulage Tractors and Multi Axle Trucks, from 16t GVW to 49t GCW.

Mahindra Navistar :  Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd is a 51:49 Joint Venture between Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) and Navistar Inc. USA. Mahindra Navistar will manufacture the entire spectrum of commercial vehicles ranging from 3.5 – 49 tons GVW/GCW. These products are developed to suit Indian conditions and will set new levels of reliability, efficiency and customer experience unseen & unheard of in the commercial vehicle industry. Huge investments are being made in product development and in setting up of a Greenfield manufacturing facility at Chakan near Pune.

Volvo India :  Volvo is one of the leading heavy commercial vehicles manufacturer in the world. The trucks of Volvo are sold in more than 130 countries. Volvo Truck Corporation is the third largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in the world. Apart from trucks, the company makes city buses, intercity buses and coaches.Their  products are present at the heavy duty end of the Indian market namely in the heavy tipper , tractor trailer  and over dimension cargo segment . They have been market leaders in this segment since the launch in 1998.

Asia Motor Works (AMW) : AMW specialises in design and manufacture of high tonnage vehicles on a hybrid platform. AMW has entered into collaborative partnerships with pioneering aggregate suppliers like Cummins, ZF, Valeo and Meritor, and has produced India’s first global truck series: 4923 TR and 2523 TP. After extensive research, AMW has sourced these components and amalgamated them with its top-of-the-line product development and design skills. AMW then employs a stringent testing and quality control process, to deliver to its customers, vehicles that can withstand the diverse and often demanding operating conditions.AMW has a state-of-the-art fully integrated manufacturing facility spread over 8, 50, 000 sq mts. in Bhuj. The facility houses advanced production units built in collaboration with world leaders like Schuler. The sprawling facility comprises an advanced Assembly plant, Steel Stamping Press, Chassis Rolling plant, Fabrication unit, Paint Shop, Crash Barrier manufacturing unit and Wheel Rim manufacturing unit.Highly customer focused, AMW is in the process of rolling out a vast and dependable, nationwide sales service and spares network, comprising 

30 Main Dealers and 450 sub dealers. These centres cover most of the major highways like the Golden Quadrilateral, North-South Corridor & East-West Corridor

Mercedes Benz : DaimlerChrysler has launched the Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks in the Indian market. This would mark their entry into the competitive commercial vehicles market in India. These trucks are designed to cater to the high-tonnage special applications market. Daimler Chrylser has launched two variants: the Actros 4040K and the Actros 4840K.These trucks feature state-of-the-art technology, robust build quality and the Mercedes-Benz standards of vehicle engineering and safety.They are available as a completely built imported chassis and feature a 12-liter engine with delivery output of about 400-horse power at an rpm as low as 1800. This kind of engine capacities makes these trucks the most powerful products available in the Indian market.

TATRA : Tatra, a name that reflects strength, durability, ruggedness and raw power pioneered automobiles by manufacturing cars, trucks, ships and aircrafts. 

In India, Tatra has a major presence with more than 7000 Vehicles being used by various customers including the Indian Government. Tatra Vectra Motors Limited was established in June 1998 as a manufacturing base in India.

The truck portfolio in India includes high  tonnage tippers and tractor trailers.

The other players with minor stakes in the scene are:

`HINO

Renault Trucks

KAMAZ

Sub 4 tonnes GVW

Vehicles in this segment

- Mahindra Gio

- Bajaj GC 1000 (Rs 133000)

- Piaggio Ape  (Rs 135000)

-Piaggio Ape Truk (Rs 230000)

-  Mahindra Maximo

- Tata Ace (Rs 266000)

- Mahindra Pik-Up  (Rs  470000)

- Tata 207 DI EX (Rs 451000)

LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

(LCVS) 4-9 TONNES GVW 

Vehicles in this segment

- Mahindra Cabking  (Rs 554000)

- Tata 407 (SFC/LPT) (Rs  570000)

- Tata 709 (SFC/LPT) (Rs  660000)

- Eicher 10.59 (Rs 524000)

- Eicher 10.95 (Rs  740000)

- Ashok Leyland Ecomet 912 (Rs   780000)

INTERMEDIATE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES(ICV) 11-15 TONNES GVW

Vehicles in this segment

- Tata 1112 EX (Rs 761000)

- Ashok Leyland Ecomet 1112 (Rs 822000)

- Eicher 11.10 (Rs 722000WW

MEDIUM COMMERCIAL VEHICLES(MCV) 18-20 TONNES GVW

Vehicles in this segment

- Eicher  15.16 (Rs 999000)

- Eicher  20.16 Jumbo (Rs 1029000)

- Tata 1613 (all variants of SE & LPT series) ( Rs 990000) 

-T ata 1613 EX

- Ashok Leyland 1612 H (Rs  888000)

- Ashok Leyland Ecomet 1613 (Rs 1069000)

HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLES(HCV) 25 TONNES 3 AXLE RIGIDS

Vehicles in this segment

- Eicher 30.25 FE Galaxy (Rs 1220000)-- Eicher 30.25 FE XL (Rs 1226000)

- Tata 2515 TC (Rs 1168000)

- Tata 2516 EX (Rs 1207000)

- Ashok Leyland Taurus 2214/2515 (Rs 1167000)

- Ashok Leyland Ecomet 2516 (Rs 1198000)

- MAN Force CLA 25.180 

- Mahindra Navistar  MN25

TIPPERS 15-25 TONNES GVW 2&3 AXLE RIGIDS

Vehicles in this segment

- Eicher  Terra16 HD (Rs  1179000)

- Tata LPK 709/909 EX 

- Tata  SK/LPK 1613 (Rs 1224000)

- Tata LPK 2516 TC (Rs 1900000)

- Tata LPK 2518 TC EX Super Turbo 

- Ashok Leyland Ecomet 1613 Tipper (Rs 1215000)

- Ashok Leyland Taurus 2516 Tipper (Rs 1780000)

- Mahindra Navistar MN25 Tipper

- MAN Force CLA 16.180 

25 TONNES AND ABOVE GVW 3&4 AXLE RIGIDS 

Vehicles in this segment

- Tata Novus 2530 Tipper (Rs 

- MAN Force CLA 25.180

- AMW 2518/2523 (Rs 2610000)

- Ashok Leyland 3118 Tipper 

- Volvo FM9 6x4

- Volvo FM400 8x4

- Tatra Hemang / T815

- Mercedes Benz Actros

- Scania P380 (sold through L&T)

HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLES(HCV) 32 TONNES GVW AXLE RIGIDS

Vehicles in this segment

- Tata 3118 EX

- Eicher 35.31 Hercules

- Ashok Leyland 3121

- Mahindra Navistar MN31

- AMW 3118HL 

TRACTOR TRAILERS 35-40 TONNES GVW 4/6 AXLES

Vehicles in this segment

- Eicher 40.40 Mega (Rs  1447000)

- Tata LPS 3516/4018 (Rs  1393000)

- MAN Force CLA 40.180 (Rs 1812000)

- Ashok Leyland 3516 (Rs 1257000)

- Ashok Leyland 4018/4020 (Rs 1400000)

- Mahindra Navistar  MN40

- AMW  4018/4023 TR (Rs 1741000)

TRACTOR TRAILERS 49 TONNES GVW 5/6 AXLES

Vehicles in this segment

- Tata 4923 EX (Rs 2153000)

- Tata Novus 4930 (Rs 3378000)

- MAN Force CLA 49.280 (Rs 2952000)

- Ashok Leyland 4921(Rs 1986000)

- AMW 4923 TR (Rs 2332000)

- Volvo FM9 

HEAVY DUTY PULLERS FOR OVER DIMENSION CARGO(ODC) UPTO 200 TONNES GVW

Vehicles in this segment

- Volvo FM12

- Volvo FH12

- Ashok Leyland Hippo

- AMW 4930 TR