The last two years have been quite tough for the Indian commercial vehicle (CV) industry. Yet, Vinod Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd (VECV), a 50:50 joint venture between Eicher Motors and Volvo Group, says, these two years have actually been quite exciting for his company. Coming from a person known for his no-nonsense approach to things, you know that the statement holds solid ground. These two years, VECV has actually been working on plan to completely change Indian truck manufacturing and in the process challenge the duopoly in the CV market.

But first things first. Any good business plan requires the fundamentals to be strong. Obviously, VECV isn't immune to the market conditions. So how has the company managed to implement a robust strategy based on complete overhauling of the existing system during a slowdown? Aggarwal smiles, he is ready with the answer. "If you look at our financial performance, we are doing relatively much better than rest of the industry. Although our sales (40,550 units) for Eicher Trucks and Buses (ETB) have declined by about 16 percent in 2013 we have outperformed the industry, which saw a sharp de-growth of 25 percent.

We have not only gained market share but have also been earning operating profits even in the downturn scenario. So, we have been in a good position to successfully implement our business strategies on the ground as we continue to improve our performance vis-à-vis the market conditions." (Of course, he doesn't forget to mention that Volvo Trucks, although small in volumes, has grown by 22 percent selling 700 units in 2013).

The plan has seen fruition in the form of launching of what VECV calls the Pro Series, a completely new range of trucks and buses in the 5 to 49 ton segment. Now it's the turn of Philippe Divry, Senior Vice President, Trucks Joint Venture India, Volvo Group, to get into the conversation. "Actually, you have to go back more than two years to understand the genesis of this launch.