AMW - The New Approach to Heavy Commercial Vehicle Industry

Abstract

AMW was awarded the CV manufacturer of the year by NDTV Car & Bike awards for the year 2008, beating the heavy weights of the industry like Volvo, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher Motors etc. AMW is located in Bhuj, Gujarat. The main differentiating factor about AMW is its manufacturing process rather shop-assemble-rollout model. The basic aim is to simply zero in on the top manufacturers of engines, gearboxes, axles, clutch, cabins and other components and mount them together on a chassis and roll out a globally competitive truck from the factory that is precisely what Thirty One year old Mr. Anirudh Bhuwalka, promoter and director, Asia Motor Works Limited (AMW) is doing at his Bhuj plant. Sourcing mission-critical components - engines from Cummins, clutch from Valeo, axles from Arvin Meritor, gearbox from ZF, cabin from FAW, China - he rolls out trucks with carrying capacities ranging between 25 tons to 49 tons with a localization level of around 95 per cent. The company's tag line says “AMW-The global truck” While the concept of shop-assemble-and rollout trucks may not be new to the Americans, it is certainly new in India. At a time when the Indian truck makers have their own facilities for critical (engine and gearbox) and non-critical components, AMW's shop and assemble concept for trucks had few takers initially. It was no mean task for Mr. Bhuwalka and his team to make the concept a reality. This project aims at bringing out the advantages of such a unique business model and its inherent benefits; it would also try to bring out a broad based relationship between GDP and demand for trucks along with sector wise GDP growth. The general trend and business situation of the commercial vehicle market would also be an important consideration for such a study.