Eicher Trucks & Buses, a business unit of VE Commercial Vehicles, has announced that it has now sold over 2,75,000 connected vehicles supported by industry first uptime centre and first-of-its-kind next-generation fleet management app ‘My Eicher’. The company claims it has served over 1,15,000 customers across India, connecting over 2,75,000 trucks and buses to Eicher’s Uptime Center. 

The CV maker says that with three key functions including enhanced fleet management support, superior uptime assistance, and smart fleet solutions, the MyEicher app acts as a centralised platform for services addressing customer needs through their vehicle ownership journey. The key services include in-depth fleet health assessment, efficient fuel management, comprehensive fleet insights, superior aftermarket services and systematic trip management services. 

It allows customers to live track their vehicles, tracing the past trips and geo fencing. Users can monitor their vehicle’s live location and track critical parameters such as the odometer, fuel levels, DEF, and fuel efficiency (FE). The app allows for the sharing of current and live locations of vehicles and provides a live vehicle cluster for real-time dashboard views. Users can also create custom Point-of-Interests (POI) and routes relevant to their business operations. After creating POIs and routes, customers receive automated reports and insights about their trips with fuel efficiency, vehicle utilisation and stoppage report. 

It also allows customers to effortlessly book service, report breakdowns (automatically fetching the location for connected vehicles) and stay informed about the real-time status of their vehicle repairs. 

Furthermore, to ensure excellent fleet health, Eicher’s Uptime Centre tracks all the connected vehicles 24x7 to monitor driving conditions and vehicle health. Through its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) powered predictive diagnostics service, Eicher experts can detect potential damage to the vehicle in its running conditions and alert customers through call and predictive uptime alerts via My Eicher App. Customers also receive information about the nature of the fault, recommended action (through videos & documents) and status of the support issue. They can view the live vehicle cluster in real time to track their vehicles' health and performance. 

The My Eicher app also provides monitoring and optimising fuel expenses by keeping a of all fuel refill and drain (pilferage) events (if any) and any other AdBlue fill events for their fleet. Customers can get the time, location and quantity of all fuel added or drained for better transparency and reduced manual dependency. 

In addition, it allows users to monitor more than 50 parameters across vehicle utilisation, fuel, safety and driving behaviour. It offers actionable insights through which customers can analyse and benchmark the performance of their vehicles as well as the drivers. The insights further help in generating custom reports, comparing vehicle performance, scheduling email deliveries, and setting alerts for fuel, uptime and driving behaviour.

For customers owning electric vehicles, the My Eicher app has charging management module which contains charging summary, charge and discharge graphs along with reports consisting of other parameters. The customers can also check CO2 emissions and equivalent diesel savings achieved by their EV vehicles. 

The app also provides users to exchange and buy used trucks via Eicher Sure as well as locating nearby touchpoints such as dealers and workshops among others. The Knowledge Center offers useful information regarding the vehicle and maintenance.

For aftermarket add-ons, customers can explore smart solutions such as vehicle immobilizer, AIS-140, school bus solution, GPS telematics for pre-BSVI vehicles, mining solutions and reefervan. The Marketplace also lets the customer utilise Eicher e-Shoppe for parts and accessories.

Ashok Leyland, the Indian flagship of the Hinduja Group and the country’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, has opened a new dealership for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in Siliguri, West Bengal. With this new facility, which happens to be the fifth LCV dealership in West Bengal, the company now has a robust LCV distribution network with more than 800 touchpoints.

Located at Eastern Bypass Road, SBM Warehouse, Eastern Bypass, Bhaktinagar, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, the new dealership will be managed by channel partner Happie Trucking. The main workshop facility (service and spares) is also strategically located at Debgram, Ware House, Thakur Nagar, New Jalpaiguri, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Equipped with advanced tools, quick service bays and sophisticated infrastructure, the facility is all set to ensure superior customer experience.

Viplav Shah, Head – LCV Business, Ashok Leyland, said, “We are excited to further strengthen our presence in this region. West Bengal and Eastern India, at large, have been a key market for us. We have always recognised the potential this region has, and we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in this geography. We have been working on creating a strong foothold in the region, and the new dealership in Siliguri will bolster our presence in this geography. The overwhelming success of our ‘DOST Range’ and now the ‘BADA DOST’ can be attributed to the robustness of our products and the extensive reach of our network. All our products have been receiving great responses from our customers, thanks to their best-in-class mileage and class-leading performance, backed by extensive sales and aftersales support. We are extremely proud that our track record of service retention levels is exemplary, with close to 70 percent of our customers returning to our dealer workshops even after the warranty period. We, as always, would remain committed to maintaining and even enhancing the level of customer service and satisfaction. This new dealership is being opened to further strengthen our reach, in line with our commitment.”

VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), recently hosted Jan Thesleff, the Ambassador of Sweden to India, at its manufacturing facilities in Pithampur. He was accompanied by Markus Lundgren, Counsellor and Head of Trade section, Embassy of Sweden and Sofia Hogman, Swedish Trade Commissioner, Business Sweden.

The CV maker states that its VE Powertrain plant is a successful symbol of India-Sweden collaboration. The facility leverages India’s skilled workforce and technical expertise while positioning VECV as a hub for development and manufacturing that meets global standards. Notably, VEPT has been producing Euro 6 (BS VI) compliant engines since 2013, supplying over 40 countries.

Jan Thesleff said, “Currently, more than 280 Swedish companies operate in India, contributing to sectors ranging from automobiles and communications to healthcare and defence, directly generating over 240,000 jobs. The Eicher-Volvo joint venture exemplifies the strategic benefits of this partnership by harnessing the strengths of Sweden and India and fostering mutual growth and technological advancement. I am thoroughly impressed by the advanced technology products and sustainable manufacturing processes I witnessed today at VECV. Their remarkable achievements epitomise the shared innovation, growth, and sustainable development that Sweden-India partnership continues to deliver for the benefit of both nations.”

Vinod Aggarwal, Managing Director & CEO, VECV, said, “We are honoured to welcome His Excellency Ambassador Jan Thesleff and the team from the Swedish Embassy to our Pithampur facility. Over the past 16 years, the VECV joint venture has not only driven the modernisation of India’s commercial vehicle sector but has also enabled Volvo Group to source world-class engines and components, made in India, for its global requirements. The success of this joint venture is rooted in the principles of trust, mutual respect, and win-win collaboration, combining Volvo Group's technology leadership with Eicher’s deep understanding of the Indian market. VECV looks forward to building on this success in the future”.

At present, the company sells CNG, LNG, electric and diesel trucks and buses in India under the Eicher and Volvo brands.

Manba Finance, a leading non-banking finance company (NBFC), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Piaggio Vehicles (PVPL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Piaggio Group, to provide tailored financing solutions to Piaggio three-wheeler customers.

As per the understanding, the partners are set to form a dedicated central coordination team to oversee the implementation. They will focus on key areas such as product structuring, interest rate optimisation, resource allocation, centralised communication, and training to ensure the efficient execution and monitoring of the tie-up.

The MoU was signed by Diego Graffi, CMD, Piaggio Vehicles and Monil Shah, CBO & Director, Manba Finance, in the presence of Amit Sagar, EVP of Sales and Retail Finance, and Nilesh Arya, Head of Retail Finance, Piaggio Vehicles.

The partners state that the collaboration comes as electric three-wheeler sales saw a record high of 65,700 units in October. With this electric three-wheelers are just 16,856 units away from surpassing the CY2023 total of 583,597 units.

“We are proud to collaborate with one of India’s leading three-wheeler manufacturers, a trusted brand among aspiring entrepreneurs across the country. This partnership strengthens our footprint in the three-wheeler segment while enabling us to provide seamless digital lending solutions to our customers," said Shah.

German automotive component supplier Mahle has bagged a new contract from MAN Truck & Bus to supply components for the hydrogen engine of its ‘MAN hTGX’ truck.

The hydrogen truck uses a direct-injection engine with 6 cylinders, 16.8-litre displacement, which produces 383 kW power. Mahle will supply the hydrogen power cell unit, consisting of piston, piston rings, piston pin and cylinder liner. It will also supply components to be used in the valve train.

Interestingly, MAN aims to build around 200 units of the hydrogen truck for selected markets from 2025.

Dr Roger Busch, member of the Mahle Management Committee and Head of Sales, said, “Mahle has successfully transferred its 100 years of expertise in engine components into the future. Our state-of-the-art pistons and other parts make the internal combustion engine fit for hydrogen and thus climate-neutral. Today, we are able to fulfil our customers’ expectations in terms of performance, efficiency and service life.”

The component supplier says it has successfully tested its engine components to meet the specific requirements of hydrogen operation.

The company claims that the Mahle hydrogen power cell unit, in particular the oil consumption of the motor and the so-called blow-by, i.e. the leakage of hydrogen gas into the crankcase, can be reduced to a minimum. This enables a robust and failure-free operation of the motor.

Mahle at present is working on around 30 hydrogen engine projects for customers in the on- and off-highway sector, with more series launches from its customers being planned in 2025.