Sany India, on completing its 20th anniversary in the country, has launched 22 new construction equipment products in India during the EXCON 2022. The highlight of all these launches is the engine compatibility with biodiesel. The company claims to have worked with different engine makers to enable all the recently launched products to be compatible with biodiesel.
Deepak Garg, Managing Director, South Asia, Sany, told media at EXCON 2022, 'With the steep hike in diesel prices, the demand for cheaper biofuel and base oil is rising. Biodiesel can replace fossil fuel as a 'clean energy source.' Secondly, the Government of India notified that unblended biodiesel shall attract an additional surcharge of INR2 per litre from October 1, 2022. Keeping in view the above developments, Sany has worked with different engine manufacturers on biodiesel and now we declare that the machines are capable of B-V biodiesel.'
The new range of products launched by Sany at EXCON 2022 includes STC200 CEV IV Truck Crane, SCC2000A Crawler Crane, SCC450A-6 Crawler Crane, SCC600TB Crawler Crane, SRC400C CEV-IV ready Rough Terrain Crane, SR65 Piling Rig, SR125 Piling Rig, SY225C-10HD GENe Series Excavator, SKT105S mining truck and other construction equipment.
Supporting Dealers
In an exclusive conversation with Mobility Outlook, Dheeraj Panda, COO, Sany India, said that the company paid salaries to individuals employed at its dealerships for three months. The same was done to ensure that Sany's India dealership channel stayed afloat during challenging times the country faced due to CoronaVirus forced lockdowns. The company also made some changes in its operations to cut down costs.
'We spoke to our dealers and employees directly or indirectly on the payrolls of Sany India about the difficulties they were facing during the peak of Corona and decided to pay salaries for a majority of our dealer channel for a quarter. We also managed the cash flow of our dealers by giving them credit during the peak period,' shared Panda.
He added, 'Today we have close to 47 dealers in India. We paid the majority of their salaries because we believe that investing in people is the best investment. Today we have been able to retain most of these people as our partners.'
As per Panda, the market level has started to rise back to the level it was in 2019. He believes that the infrastructure market will see a sustainable demand in the next two to three years. Infrastructure projects announced by the Government, as per Panda, will push the market towards growth. The Government of India, for the record, has announced infrastructure projects over INR 102 lakh crore. According to Panda, metros, road projects, mining and demand for energy are the top projects driving the market.
'I think we are entering a phase of sustainable demand for the next few years. There might be a marginal dip in the market around the upcoming general elections in 2024, but otherwise, the market will remain healthy. The number of projects getting announced, and the ones that have already been announced, are playing a big role in bringing the market back to normalcy,' he said.
Aiming To Maintain Leadership
Not wanting to reveal its projected revenue figures for the ongoing year, the company claimed that it has been the market leader in cranes and piling rigs and number two in excavators. Panda explained that Sany's target would be to maintain this lead in the country. A close look at the product launches shows that the company has indeed launched five new crane models and six new excavator models. It looks as if the company wants to take on the competition in the excavator market.
'We are trying to maintain the same stature in the current year. Sany India is targeting to maintain its market leadership of 60% in cranes and truck range. We are also aiming to maintain a market share of 55% and more in the rigs vertical. In excavators, we had jumped from number four to number two position in 2021. We will make all the efforts to jump to number one,' averred Panda.
In order to capture a bigger market in the rig segment, Sany India has also introduced products in the smaller rig vertical. The two products that the company has introduced in the rig vertical are SR65 Piling Rig and SR125 Piling Rig. It also has plans to go full throttle in the attachments/implements market.
'This year we will be concentrating a lot on the attachments market. Though we had entered the segment last year itself, in 2022, you will see a lot of announcements being made by Sany on the attachments front. The goal is to be in the top three if not the number one in the attachment industry,' shared Panda.
Impact Of BS Migration
Panda argued that the next BS emission norm, slated to come into effect in April 2024, will not significantly impact the market as all the OEMs have got ample time to carry out research for the same. The end-consumer might feel a hiccup as per him, but the same will not be a big one as the time provided by the Government for the migration is good enough.
'I do not see any significant change in terms of the demand. The input cost will definitely go up. The industry needs to start preparing the end-consumers for the new BS norms now. It has to be similar to what has been done by the passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle industry,' explained Panda.
Sany India views the electrification of the CE segment as an essential update to the industry and has started testing electric technologies for excavators in its manufacturing plants.
'We will introduce electric excavators probably by the end of this year or beginning of the next year. Sany has started work on remote controlled excavators, electric trucks, electric forklifts and lots of other exciting technologies,' concluded Panda.