Mahindra to service 'Golden Quadrilateral' highways

Mahindra Truck & Bus Division (MTBD) intends to set up its service support centres along India's "Golden Quadrilateral" of highways within the next 18 to 24 months to cover around 6,000 to 6,500 kms of roads in maintenance of its HCV and LCV vehicles, according to Rajan Wadhera, President and Chief Executive, Truck and Powertrain Division. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

"We are suffering from lack of Service Touchpoints today and we are therefore trying to be disruptive in this regard for meeting the needs of our customers in the long and short-term orientation, while aiming at doubling our market share to 10% in next 3 years," Wadhera said while launching the 'first-of-a-kind' service support in the Indian trucking industry.

This new launch featured MTBV setting up 27 service points – including 13 mobile workshops –with a service centre at every 60 kms assuring service within two hours along the 1,500-kms-long Mumbai-Delhi highway corridor, Nalin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division and Managing Director, Mahindra Truck and Bus Limited, said while pointing out that the Delhi-Mumbai stretch accounts for about 30% to 35% of trucking traffic in the country. From March 1, Mahindra will also make 150 fast-moving, essential maintenance spares available 24/7 at its MPARTS PLAZAS, he said while pointing out that the company would pay Rs 500/- for extra hour of delay in servicing breakdowns if it was not completed within 2 hours.

The company has more than 25,000 HCV trucks and over 150,000 LCV vehicles on the roads. We have taken partners in jointly investing in the Bombay-Delhi Service Corridor. Our focus is on vehicles with cabins to provide the highest degree of comfort to drivers – even to the extent of our vehicles having 10-bar braking where the normal is 8-bar braking," he noted.

He said with very strict safety and emission norms coming in from the Government, quality control would tell in the long run as such work could not be entrusted to roadside vehicle bodybuilders. "The future is witnessing average speeds, tonnage of HCV and LCV vehicles going up and such engine horsepower will require new 'active/passive' technology that copes with also fuel efficiency and emission norms ," he said.