Mahindra EarthMaster is a truly personalized machine with new age digital cluster.

Manish Arora
Business Head,
Mahindra Construction Equipment.

Mahindra Construction Equipment has always strived for providing the best to its customers.

Backed by the engineering capabilities, manufacturing strength, distribution reach and after sales service, the Mahindra EarthMaster is available in the market in 6 different variants namely VX, SX, SX 4WD 6 in1 bucket, SXL and SX90. “We came up with the backhoe loaders after four years of research and over 20,000 hours of machine testing. This resulted in better technology and design enhancements,” says Manish Arora, Business Head, Mahindra Construction Equipment. Excerpts from the interview

Backhoe loader is one of the most crowded and competitive segment. How has Mahindra been able to create a USP for itself?

At Mahindra, we believe in providing value to customers right from product development by utilizing the best technology. Mahindra EarthMaster is a truly personalized machine with new age digital cluster that helps the operator to identify and trouble shoot problems by reading messages and hearing warnings in 6 different languages. With best-in-class fuel efficiency, lower lubricant refilling requirement and extended service intervals, our machines provide saving to customer. Also, our customers are also entitled for one year unlimited hours of warranty. Moreover, Mahindra also has tie ups with various banks to allow customers to easily finance the machine at low down payment. With all these and much more, we have been able to create and provide unique proposition for our target audience.

How are you able to ensure a lower total cost of ownership to the price sensitive Indian customer?

Mahindra Construction Equipment has always strived for providing the best to its customers. It is for the same reason that we came up with the backhoe loaders after four years of research and over 20,000 hours of machine testing. This resulted in better technology and design enhancements enabling our equipment to lower lubricant refilling requirement with extended service intervals, thus reducing the overall maintenance cost and improving total cost of ownership. Moreover, our indigenously developed and proven Mahindra DITEC engine offers best-in-class fuel efficiency which implies saving of 10 per cent in standard evacuation cycle to the customer. We have also been able to identify segments which do not need standard features of backhoe and offer variant which is value for money them.

What are the various variants in the backhoe portfolio?

Backed by the engineering capabilities, manufacturing strength, distribution reach and after sales service, the Mahindra EarthMaster is available in the market in 6 different variants namely VX, SX, SX 4WD 6 in1 bucket, SXL and SX90.

Do you export these machines to the other parts of the world?

Being part of Mahindra group, we harness the synergy within the group to cater to global market needs. We have a comprehensive plan to target selected geographies of the world which have synergy with us. Mahindra Construction Equipment is already present in SAARC nations as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. In fact, in Nepal we have over 10% market share. Also, we would soon look forward to expand our presence in other geographies of Africa, Asia and Middle East in near future.

Is Mahindra CE planning any more innovations and launches in the near future?

Innovation is order of the day and we believe to provide the products and services which help the industry to rise. In fact, when we entered the construction equipment industry with our backhoe loader – Mahindra EarthMaster, it had many first. We were the leader to provide telematics for remote care and joystick for ease of operation in the traditional backhoe loader segment. Continuous improvement drives us forward and we believe in providing solution which make real difference to our end customer. As a serious player in the construction equipment industry, you should expect to hear about our new innovations and products soon.

Explain the latest vehicle system adopted in the company’s specialized backhoe loaders?

With launch of new telematics system, DigiSense by Mahindra group, our equipment would soon be loaded with advanced technology to track performance on real-time. We are also carrying out various technological enhancements through improvisations in few key aggregates to enhance fuel efficiency and increase the productivity of our machines thus helping them deliver even higher output. With better technology and design enhancements, our equipment would be able to lower lubricant refilling requirement with extended service intervals, thus reducing the overall maintenance cost and improving total cost of ownership.

How do you see the growth pattern for the construction equipment sector in the near future?

The Planning Commission estimates total infrastructure spending to be about 10 per cent of GDP during the current Five Year Plan, up from 7.6 per cent during the previous plan. Investment in infrastructure and road building sector with projects like Bharat Mala are the main growth drivers for the construction equipment industry. With these investments set to go up, demand for construction equipment is expected to rise and the equipment sales are estimated to expand at a CAGR of 6.2 per cent. Being recent entrant into the industry, we intend to capitalize on this growth by providing superior products that offer customer good profitability over the life cycle.

What do you think the policy changes needed to achieve the government’s plan to fruition?

There is no doubt that India has an impending need of building the infrastructure to nurture its economic growth. I believe that through various measures undertaken for the growth of infrastructure and real estate in Union Budget, the government has done its best to infuse confidence in the industry. Whilst intentions have been in place, execution would be the key going forward. Moreover, push for improvement in infrastructure including outlay for roads, railways and development of smaller airports to improve connectivity, increase in real estate activities, favourable land acquisition policies and fast clearance of pending projects are some of the other measures that can be further taken by the government to provide a boost to the economy of the country and turn these plans into reality.

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