Scania inaugurates its first Asian facility near Bangalore

scaniaSwedish heavy vehicle giant Scania on Tuesday inaugurated its first Asian manufacturing facility in Bangalore, India, where it plans to produce more than 3,500 trucks and buses annually.

Scania's Indian arm, Scania Commercial Vehicles India, said its new manufacturing facility at Narsapura near Bangalore will produce more than 2,500 heavy haulage trucks and as many as 1,000 buses.

Inaugurating the new facility, Scania's President & Chief Executive Martin Lundstedt said, "This is our largest industrial footprint in Asia so far."

Speaking to reporters at the occasion, Martin added that he expected India's truck and bus market to grow at compounded annual growth rate of around 20-25 per cent. He further expressed hope that India would soon emerge as a key export hub for Scania's trucks and buses.

The Indian subsidiary of Swedish manufacturer has plans to start with 18 per cent localization for trucks, which is expected to jump to 27 per cent in next few years. Buses will be 100 per cent locally produced by May 2014.

At present, the market for premium trucks of 31-50 tonne capacity, which starts at nearly Rs70 lakh, is around 1,000 units per month.