VECV investing USD53m in new 40,000 capacity truck plant

The all-new plant is scheduled for completion within the next 18 months with an initial capacity of 40,000 trucks, in addition to the capacity of 90,000 truck.

Pithampur / Bhopal - Commercial vehicle manufacturer, VE Commercial Vehicles Limited (VECV) of Pithampur, - the commercial vehicle manufacturing joint venture and subsidiary of Sweden’s Volvo AB and Eicher Motors Ltd of Gurugram, India of Pithampur – has announced plans to set up a new greenfield production facility at Bhopal with an investment totalling USD53.33m.

The Madhya Pradesh government has allotted land for the new plant and work is set to start of the construction of this plant soon. The all-new plant is scheduled for completion within the next 18 months with an initial capacity of 40,000 trucks, in addition to the capacity of 90,000 trucks at Pithampur, near Indore. The Pithampur plant also has engine production capacity of 90000 units, which it says its scalable to 100,000 units.

Siddhartha Lal, managing director and chief executive officer, Eicher Motors Ltd, said: “The partnership with Volvo has been extremely fruitful for VECV that is reflected in its strong performance in the last decade. VECV is today a full range player in 4- to 55-ton GVW market. Not only has VECV benefited from this partnership, but at the same time we have been able to contribute to the cost reduction opportunities of the Volvo Group through supply of cost effective engines from India. As we move into the next decade, we reiterate our strong commitment to this partnership.”

Håkan Karlsson, president, Volvo Group Trucks Asia and chairman, VECV Ltd added: “With the announcement of setting up of a new plant at an investment of Rs 400 crore, we have full confidence in the growth potential in the Indian market and with technologically superior products, VECV is in an advantageous position to fully leverage the opportunities in the market. The visit 8^th of August 2018 by the board of directors of AB Volvo reflects the strong commitment of Volvo Group to this partnership and we are looking forward to further develop the partnership to lead the rapid transformation in the industry.”