On the Agri Machinery sector
While the last couple of years have been subdued for the overall Indian market, Nanda says that this has been - strangely enough - the most exciting in terms of the tractors that Escorts' engineers have brought to the market.
"Escorts' inherent ability to listen to our customers has been an anchor guiding us ahead. This is our most valuable business driver that allows us to gain traction in driving product value, market value, brand value and ultimately, shareholder value. I am very proud of our passion to improve our products by embracing a clear strategy to introduce innovative, features-rich and technology-led products. Our mission of enhancing agri-mechanisation and offering safe and cost-effective haulage operations across our product range has stood us in good stead."
Escorts launched the Farmtrac 6050 4x4 Heritage Series this year. This has been a major hit because a significant chunk of the international market runs on 4x4 tractors and this is indicative of the kind of potential that exists for these products in India. "Along with that, we also launched Escorts' Powertrac haulage tractors, India's first AntiLift Tractor (ALT) series, which were positioned around the core benefit of ‘Driver safety, owner savings'. These along with other launches, have seen us doing well despite the subdued conditions across India."
European market: About two years back, Escorts had announced plans to create a new 80 HP in European tractor market (at the AGRITECHNICA 2013 show) with the aim of grabbing 10 percent share of the European market. How successful has Escorts been in achieving the set target? The confident smile returns: "We are well on track to achieve 10 percent market share by 2020 as that is the target we had set ourselves when we launched the 80 HP Farmtrac Tractor in Europe. The tractor has proved itself in a tough market and we have launched it in other parts of the world including South Africa. The USP of the product range is that it comes with world-class components at a competitive price. It is all produced in Poland by our 100 percent subsidiary. The tractors leverage our experience in agriculture mechanisation to produce tractors with value-proposition of fuel efficiency, warranty and cost-effectiveness."
Product Innovation: Exports form a big piece of Escorts growth strategy in the agri sector. So what is happening on that front? And where do product innovation and R&D figure in this picture? Nanda answers: "As I said earlier, Escorts has an ambitious global program and by the end of this decade, we will attempt to achieve a substantial share of our top line through retail and institutional presence in international markets. This may also include M&As in the future. In the last year, Escorts saw a substantial growth in volumes, demonstrating our product acceptance." Escorts has expanded into new markets and has identified key high potential markets including those of Africa, Europe and the US. These markets present significant scope for growth with regards to being large markets with relatively lower competitive intensity.
Nanda says that Product Innovation and R&D figure very large in Escorts' approach to the market. He believes in listening very closely to what the market says and in particular what his users say. As a result of that, he is proud of Escorts' ability to take on the challenges that its customer throws at the Company. Any example?
"Yes. In the past year, one example of this was our launching the Anti Lift Tractor. A two wheel drive tractor carrying heavy loads, beyond certain limits can cause it to lift from the front. This is very unsafe for the driver and can cause accidents and deaths. So the inspiration of designing an anti-lift tractor is to provide products which are innovative, safe and do not risk the operator's life. We have always taken pride in being aware and flexible to the market's and the consumer's needs."
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