READY FOR THE GROWTH CYCLE

Cummins has invested heavily in India to build scale and capacity. So, it is ready for the next growth cycle, says Ashwath Ram, Managing Director- Cummins India and Tata Cummins Pvt. Ltd., Vice President- India Area Business Organization, Cummins

- Niranjan Mudholkar

You’ve taken charge as the MD of Cummins recently. How’s been the journey so far and how do you want to take it head?

At the time I have taken over, we have already started to see that the cycle of the business is trending downwards. This business that we are in, is a cyclical business. We see the cycles vary in the different market segments, but it’s a highly cyclical business. And we have a few years up and then a few years down, so we are used to dealing with cycles. Cummins actually has been very successful in dealing with these cycles. As a matter of fact, we have used every downcycle to become stronger, to gain market share and to come out of it better than earlier cycle. And this is true, not only of Cummins in India but of Cummins around the world.

So, we are working on doing what is right for the business in terms of getting better at cost management and introducing the right products. In fact, we are getting ready for some very significant product launches.

Also, we have a very strong balance sheet. For decades, we have been investing money in India. If you see the kinds of investments that we have made in the last ten years, it’s over a billion dollars into capability and capacity in India. And we are going to use the downturn to optimise those investments, and then capitalise by getting the products out before time and better than what we think competition is capable of. And we will use that opportunity to gain market share and be and be even stronger than before.

We also have this shift from BSIV to BXVI happening in the automotive industry. How has that impacted Cummins?