VECV inaugurates first Euro 6 compliant engine plant in India

As India’s passenger car sector continues to face turmoil in the face of economic adversity and unfavourable market conditions, the commercial vehicle space, spearheaded by some key players like the Volvo Eicher joint-venture are gearing up for a very promising future, both for themselves and the rapidly expanding industry at large.

Having put the right systems and processes in place through the course of their now five year long partnership, the inauguration of their state-of-the art Euro VI compliant power train facility has only strengthened their joint vision and at the same time laid strong foundations for achieving their individual targets as ambitious commercial vehicle manufacturers.

This new plant nestled in the heart of Pitampur, Madhya Pradesh is home turf for Eicher Motors and this coupled with Volvo’s expertise in the technology department has resulted in the creation of a engine manufacturing plant that is nothing short of international standards. 

Inaugurated by the none other than the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with Industry Minister Shri Kailash Vijayavargiya, this Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicle (VECV) engine plant has been set up at with an initial capacity of 25,000 units per annum in Phase 1 at an investment of Rs 375 crores. The capacity is expected to scale up, albeit in a step by step manner to as much as 100,000 units per annum depending on the demand from customers. 

Now, while India maybe more than just a few years away from hitting the Euro VI mark, it is only a matter of time before we completely embrace the Euro IV standard for our trucks and buses. And, so it is important to note here the fact that this new engine plant at Pitampur will supply Euro 6-compliant diesel base engines to the Volvo Group in Venissieux (France), and the very same platform will be adapted to Euro 3 and 4 engine (BS3/BS4) technologies to meet the VECV requirements in Asia.

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Commenting on the mutual benefits for both parties through their hefty investment in this top class engine facility, Bertil Thoren, representing Volvo Group on VECV Board of Directors and who was present on the occasion said “The global manufacturing hub at VECV is truly a win-win situation for both Volvo group and VECV. While on one hand it will help Volvo Group reduce costs by sourcing engines from this plant, on the other hand, it will help VECV to source best in class Euro III and Euro IV engines based on latest Euro VI Volvo Group technology.”

Also present at the inauguration, Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO, Eicher Motors said, “This is a moment of great pride for all of us. It puts us in an extremely advantageous position vis-a vis competition on engine technology. VECV will be manufacturing Euro VI compliant base engines for meeting automotive requirements of medium duty engines of Volvo Group globally”.

A low cost, no compromise formula

Being based on the Volvo Group’s global manufacturing systems and processes, the medium duty base engine manufacturing facility has passed the most stringent global quality norms, and is well equipped to produce Euro VI engines. Additionally this is the first plant which has the most flexible final engine assembly line using automatic guided vehicles and smart cell technology.

Since the same engines are being adopted for Euro III and Euro IV for Indian customers, there will be massive long term benefits and more importantly savings when you consider the higher levels of efficiency and lower maintenance costs for freight operators.

Where the efficiency of these engines are concerned, it can be said that they are absolutely zero defect engines to begin with. Secondly, when it comes to cost targets provided to Eicher by Volvo, these targets are sacrosanct and if Volvo is to continue sourcing these engines from VECV they are certainly going to look at making the most of manufacturing cost benefits. The R&D team here in India has incidentally taken completely charge of adopting Volvo’s Euro VI engines for Euro III and Euro IV applications.

The need of the hour and an eye for the future

Currently Eicher is producing diesel engines in the range of 81 to 157PS. These engines are also being upgraded. Thus VECV will have the largest range of engines along with Volvo technology engines for use in its products.

The 50:50 JV will continue its well planned expansion with further investment of another Rs 1,200 crore in 2013 and 2014 to meet the requirement of ongoing projects like its engine plant, bus body plant, new products etc and also for capacity expansion beyond the 5,500 units/month mark in order to prepare for a projected requirement of the CV market in year 2015.

VECV will begin rolling out newer products across their CV range from 2013 end. They are also using relevant technology from Volvo for these products in the areas of cabin as well as the engine.