We want to make sure that every customer who interacts with us experiences the ease of business and finds the right solution for his requirement.

Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President and Head of Volvo CE India

Volvo CE is celebrating its 20th anniversary in India. How do you look at this journey?
20 years ago, there were very few players in the Indian market and Volvo was a new entrant. Since then, Volvo CE has evolved and today we consider India a home market. We have a factory which produces 70 per cent of what we sell in India today. Our entire team is local, we have acquired road equipment division of Ingersol Rand which had a long legacy in India. Going forward, we wish to focus on increasing our customer base across all segments.

Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Industry 4.0 are the new buzzwords for manufacturing industry. How do you foresee their impact on the construction equipment domain?

New age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, IoT and Industry 4.0 will impact every industry whether it is construction equipment or automobile. Machine control systems with Artificial Intelligence, connected enterprise, solutions based on data captured from equipment into a data server and then analysing those data to understand machine performance will have a significant impact on industries across the spectrum. However, the critical aspect will be to see how these developments make sense for end users by adding value for him. In that respect, construction equipment industry is yet to reach its optimum point; some major disruptions are yet to happen.

We launched our telematic solutions long ago that facilitates real time machine performance monitoring. This has been well-accepted by the high-end end users in mining industry. But I think the retail users will need a much simpler value added telematic solution which can solve their problems.

Could you tell us more about the newly launched excavator?

The new EC200D excavator has been specifically designed for general construction work. Featuring Volvo’s famed fuel efficiency, the new machine also has a bucket breakout force of 123 kN and an arm tear-out force of 96 kN, which helps it deliver high job site productivity and fast cycle times.

What do you wish to achieve by launching EC200D?

The EC200D excavator has been launched in India to increase our customer base. Today EC210D is a high performance and high-end machine which is used by customers mainly in the quarry segment who can extract value out of it. EC200D makes us accessible to a wider customer base because the price-point is more economical.

We will also reach out to those customers who are doing earthwork and who consider Volvo as not a viable investment for them. We are going to make our product viable to them. Direct contractors will be our primary target. Hirers and rental players will also find attractive value proposition in EC200D.

Are you going to produce it locally?

In the first year, we will be importing this equipment from our Korea plant. By the end 2018, we will start manufacturing EC200D in our state-of-the-art plant in Bangalore. At present we manufacture two excavators i.e. EC210D and EC300D in this facility.

What is your target for 2018?

We will project 2018 as the year of retail excellence because we intend to reach every customer possible with the message that Volvo is within their reach both in terms of affordability and usability. We want to make sure that every customer who interacts with us experiences the ease of business and finds the right solution for his requirement. We have a wide range of products – starting from entry level products like EC200D excavator to high-end EC950E. Volvo will be a well-considered brand by every buyer across the industry.