Till a decade ago, heavy commercial vehicles in India were synonymous with the two big daddies, Tata and Ashok Leyland. But with a booming economy and an ever-expanding road network, foreign players (MAN, Volvo) as well as other Indian giants (AMW, Eicher) are pitching in to grab a piece of the market.

After Swedish giant Volvo tested waters in India in 1998, German truck major Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG, or better known as MAN, is now making its foray in the country. In collaboration with Force, it has set up a plant at Pithampur in Maharshtra for manufacturing 16-tonne flat-bed trucks and 40-49 tonne tractor trailers. While MAN has a commanding presence in the 40- and 49-tonne category, it will now focus on the 16- and 25-tonne by gaining a strong foothold in the former.

The MAN products for the Indian market include 16- and 25-tonne 180 HP flat-bed trucks, 25-tonne 280 HP tippers, concrete-mixers and haulers, and 40- and 49-tonne 280 HP tractor trailers for long-distance haulage. The tippers come for around Rs 26 lakh, while the tractors cost between Rs 17.7 lakh and Rs 29.9 lakh. With full body, they cost between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 44 lakh.

While MAN admits that the prices are steep, it says the quality is better than most. (It was after all at the MAN factory at Augsburg that Rudolf Diesel invented the world’s first diesel engine.) The engines will be mass-produced in India for the domestic as well as export market. This will cut down on costs, as the company won’t have to import Completely Built Units (CBU) or even Knocked Down Units (KDU) from MAN plants abroad. German engineers from MAN would also train their Indian counterparts in all aspects related to the engine.

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