MAN Trucks Plans To Make India Global Sourcing And Export Hub: Joerg Mommertz

The Pune-based MAN Trucks India Pvt. Ltd. is a fully owned subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus AG, Germany. The products manufactured in its plant at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, include tippers for off-road and construction, haulage for regular and over dimensional cargo, and special application trucks and bulkers. The product range for India is developed at the R&D centre in Pune. In a recent interaction, the Chairman and Managing Director of MAN Trucks India, Joerg Mommertz shared the company’s future plans with Bhargav TS. 

- Bhargav TS

Q: What is the response to your products from the Indian market and your future prospects?

Mommertz: We are looking at India as a dynamic market. It is very much sustainable. We see huge potential with the Make in India programme. Of late, maybe because of the new reforms, it is going through a volatile phase. But it will make a come-back very soon. We should never consider the short-term slackness, as the market promises long term green shoots. GST will have very good influence on the truck market and the upcoming vehicles will have better engine performance due to other regulations. Russia was even worse than this, but we managed to come up.

Q: You might have learnt many things from the Russian market. How do you intent to implement them in India?

Mommertz: We have a flexible product line and sales and after-sales service will be given utmost importance. Though the market is dull now, the customers will maintain the existing fleet and they will look forward mainly for after sales service. We should be very quick to respond when the market recovers. For that we should have efficient supplier management skills.

Q: You have a flexible product line. How many products do you have now, and how many are in the pipeline for launch?

Mommertz: We have more than 125 variants as of now covering all the market segments. We still want to penetrate into the mining and heavy duty trucks.

Q: What kind of mining and deep mining products are you looking at?

Mommertz: It is too early to disclose. We are studying the market and making assessments as it is difficult to change once the product is designed.

Q: What is your current level of localisation, your supplier strength and export plan from India?