Russia's largest truck maker Kamaz is vying for a place in the Indian market with locally assembled trucks. Kamaz Inc. the holding company of Kamaz trucks and UK-based Vectra Group, which has presence in Indian manufacturing and engineering space, entered a joint venture in 2009 to assemble and sell Kamaz branded trucks in India.
Kamaz-Vectra Motor Ltd. had announced that the trucks would be made at its facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. However, the JV encountered several setbacks which delayed the market launch.
Last week IAB reader Arvinth spotted the Kamaz 6540 Tipper undergoing tests in Hosur town which suggests that the Russian truck maker's plans are back on track.
The 6540 Tipper is powered either by a 245 hp or 282 hp diesel engine, mated to a 9- or 10-speed manual gearbox. The vehicle has a GVW rating of 31 Tonnes.
In an interesting recent development, Kamaz has seemingly entered into an association with Omax Autos, an Indian Tier-I auto component major for the assembly of its trucks. Through a press release issued earlier this year, Omax Autos Ltd. announced that it has ventured into a complete truck assembly operations for a renowned global OEM client with an initial order of 20 trucks.
However, the company stopped short of naming its OEM client but had furnished an image of a truck (with blurred badges) which, upon research, was found to be a Kamaz model.
Going by the readiness of the test mule, we expect Kamaz to start its Indian operations this year or next year. The Russian CV maker would be eying the mid-premium medium and heavy-duty truck segment which is gradually gaining acceptance in the country. BharatBenz and Eicher Pro line of trucks are the intended competitors.
