To capture the growing small and medium enterprises engaged in intra-city distribution network, India’s fourth biggest commercial vehicles player Eicher Trucks and Buses has entered the sub 5-tonne category of commercial vehicles with the launch of Eicher Pro 1049.
The Eicher Pro 1049 weighs 4.9T and comes with a 10 feet cargo body. The truck comes in two variant BSIII and BS IV. BSIII comes at a price tag of Rs 7 lakh while BS IV will cost Rs 8 lakh, including VAT.
"The Light and Medium Duty Segment in the commercial vehicle industry, especially in the sub 5T category has great potential to grow as it addresses the critical last mile connectivity and distribution network in rural, semi-urban & urban areas. In 2015, market size of 3.5T- 5T LMD segment stands at 8080 units and the growth in this segment looks very promising," said Shyam Maller, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles.
The truck will face direct competition from the market leader Tata Ace and Mahindra Maxximo and Jeeto.
"2016 Q1 has been great for us. In LMD, Eicher Trucks & Buses commanded 33.8 per cent market share and grew by 31.7 per cent outpacing industry growth of 25.5 per cent. The Eicher Pro1049 marks our entry into the critical sub 5T segment and we plan to leverage this opportunity significantly and enhance Eicher’s market share in the LMD(Light and Medium Duty) segment," said Mallar.
The sub 5 Ton GVW category tractors are in the within intra city distribution such as such as food & vegetables, milk, egg, poultry, water bottle & LPG cylinder distribution, ecommerce and grocery.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld