India offers great business opportunities with its aspiring and young population, its rich cultural heritage, diversity and its rapidly growing middle segment. All these aspects were dynamically explored and highlighted during the recent event-filled India Unlimited week in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. India Unlimited was organized by the Indian Embassy to Sweden with Scania as a primary sponsor. Scania thereby manifests its firm commitment to India, having since last year established a production unit for buses and trucks near Bangalore. This is Scania’s first industrial investment in Asia.
Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director at Scania India said: “We have established long and lasting operations in India because of the market potential and size.” “With a market for buses and heavy trucks as large as the European, we are convinced that India will grow to be one of our largest markets.”
New niche
Scania’s strategy is to establish a new niche in the market for premium buses and trucks by launching the concept of total operating expenditure, measured in tonne per kilometer, cost per cubic meter and passenger kilometer. “We’re not in India to compete with the domestic brands but to launch superior trucks and buses in terms of performance, which provide operators better overall economy,” he said.
In starting production India, the truck manufacturer has the aim to the greatest extent source components from local manufacturers, without jeopardizing its leading quality. To that end, Scania is already forging contacts with highly skilled suppliers. “The supplier base is both efficient and competitive and has rapidly matched our international quality standards. For a latecomer to the Indian market, that has been a positive surprise.”
Scania recognizes that there are a host of challenges, which need to be overcome to accelerate economic growth. Yet, the hundreds of participants in India Unlimited agreed that the opportunities are boundless.