Hyundai’s reliable equipment combines safety, comfort, efficiency and durability to give complete control over the daily operations says Rajiv Chaturvedi, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, After Service and Parts at Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd.

How does the BSVI norms give impetus to efficiency? How has it impacted the cost of your excavators?
Hyundai is developing new concept excavators powered by BS IV engines. These series of excavators are developed with energy-efficient power train components and systems. You will get to see more use of advance technology on energy management. The challenge here is to contain the cost impact which I feel is the same scenario with most of the OEMs in varying degree of impact.

What are the specific factors which make your excavators efficient on uptime?
Hyundai’s range of construction excavators are packed with sheer power to perform even in the toughest jobs conditions effortlessly. This reliable equipment combines safety, comfort, efficiency and durability to give complete control over the daily operations.

Hyundai has an excellent reputation for after-sales readiness to support the working population and maximize uptime for its customers. Genuine parts are the small things that make our machines deliver big! Be it power, efficiency or durability.

Some of the unique features on durability are the use of forged ring body, heavy-duty casting on attachment structures, a higher specification of hydraulic components, attachment structure with large section area, thicker steel plates on the main frame, higher grades of electrical and mechatronic parts.

Hyundai product’s durability and reliability is excellent on structures and components. Our in-house design, manufacturing quality and processes ensure that every product meets desired performance standards. Hyundai’s proprietary product Hi-MATE, which helps to conveniently monitor the equipment round the clock, across locations, and at the click of your phone. It uses GPS to monitor all your equipment through a smart app, in real-time.

Further to all the above equipment uptime is also ensured through our wide all India network of 37 Dealership offices, six regional offices and over 250+ touch points across the country which offers our customers necessary alert and care by working 24 x7 for 365 days.

Hyundai Construction Equipment India’s customer support doesn’t just attend to customer needs, but also strengthens customer trust in the brand Hyundai, by ensuring best efficiency utilization of excavators and hence higher uptime and productivity.

How far hybrid excavators and backhoe loaders look attractive for Indian conditions?
While the concept of Hybrid excavator is new to CE industry it has already sunk in automobiles. For CE, it will take a while for this concept to be introduced in India in hydraulic excavators. Hybrid excavators would offer a lot of promise to Indian customers, who are burdened with rising fuel costs, which comprise appx 50-60 per cent of total operation cost of equipment for excavators and also the stringent environmental norms, which lead to faster technology obsolescence and impact cost for customers.

To develop and adopt such advanced and futuristic technology, the entire ecosystem in India needs to develop first. This is so because the investment in technology and related CAPEX will be quite high. Further on the demand side, the conventional configurations are quite popular due to low operating cost, easy serviceability and well-developed ecosystem all across the country. So all this brings in the challenge of scale – and how soon the Companies can develop and establish it, within a time frame and at a competitive price point.

Reducing CO2 emission and carbon credit is a major focus area for the government, so the government will implement higher emission norms in future for both on-road and off-road equipment.

At the OEM’s level, the focus on FDI, JV with foreign companies for the development of hybrid technology products is recommended, given the challenges facing us with respect to fuel cost, availability of natural resources and need for a green and clean environment for our future generations.

Tell us about the future plans for your range of excavator in terms of innovations.
Innovation for sustainable growth is the mission for Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd. At Hyundai, it’s a business that sees beyond and goes further, pioneering product and service innovations, which delights our customers

We are happy to introduce two global models in the fastest-growing 3Ton class mini excavator market- The Hyundai R30Z and R35Z-AK. These minis are fuel-efficient, versatile in multiple applications and high on performance. The initial customer feedback is excellent and this encourages us to explore more models in this mini segment.

Hyundai has introduced value-added innovations for all its construction and mining range of excavators. These design and technology innovations are based on the customer and operators’ VOC. Improvements on cabin interiors and ergonomics add to great operator satisfaction. Introduction of advanced fuel-saving systems makes the current series of excavators much more fuel-efficient and offer the lowest operating cost in its class.

Use of Hi-mate system for remote management of Hyundai excavators makes machine monitoring and fleet management extremely easy, ensuring higher uptime.

Hyundai has also collaborated with global technology partners for the development of electric excavators currently for the mini and small range. These excavators meet zero-emission and low noise requirements and are ideal for urban construction sites. These excavators are powered by Lithium Ion battery solution which is well integrated with the machine system.

We are also working on a next-generation pump control EPIC2 control system for enhancing overall machine performance and efficiency. These Innovations have given Hyundai an extra edge over its competitors and helped us maintain the leadership position within the CE Industry.

Apart from fuel efficiency, what are the other factors which make your excavators most preferred?
Over the years – Hyundai has gained the reputation of supplying machines with best in class reliability and durability. You can very well expect the same level of performance even after long usage of excavators in tough job conditions and in a variety of applications like a quarry, road work, earthwork, marble and granite etc. The fuel-efficient technology and advanced hydraulic system have ensured that Hyundai excavators are highly productive and fuel-efficient.

To add more, Hyundai machines ensure the lowest cost of operation and maintenance. Company has worked very closely with its customers and vendor partners in India and abroad, to ensure that parts prices are very competitive. We offer a variety of schemes, round the year, with attractive price discounts on bulk purchase of spare parts by our customers. These schemes ensure the lowest operating cost for our customers and make them more profitable.

Our buyback solutions for Hyundai and competition customers during the disposal stage gives them the opportunity to buy new excavators at very competitive interest rates. In order to ensure Life cycle support to our customers, the annual service/maintenance contracts and full maintenance contracts are very popular with infra and mining customers respectively.