We offer products with low TCO which increases customer profit.

- V. G. Sakthikumar

Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India

How is the current demand-supply scenario of excavators?

Demand for hydraulic excavators has remained consistently high in the domestic market during the last decade. It grew steadily from 16,488 units in 2016 to peak at 25,474 units in 2018 before dropping to 16,382 units in 2020.

The active population of hydraulic excavators is estimated at 162,061 units at the end of 2020. Sales of excavators are expected to reach 22,000 units in 2021 due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and an increase in economic activities. Furthermore, against a backdrop of an increase in infrastructure development activities, demand for hydraulic excavators is predicted to grow in the long term and is forecast to reach 32,000 units by 2025.

How is technology evolving in excavators in terms of: productivity, fuel efficiency & operational efficiency?

We, at Schwing Stetter India, always believe in delivering the latest product to our customers. Our excavators on offer are built on global platform, equipped with world-class renowned components makes products of technological advance. Apart from this, our excavators are telematics enabled which provide freedom to customers to monitor machine from anywhere. With our telematics, customers get higher security, optimum operational efficiency, easier &precise fleet monitoring which increases machine productivity, reduced costs and improved fleet utilisation. Hence, our excavator is more productive, fuel efficient and operational efficient.

How is the rental demand currently?

Rental plays a key role in excavator segment. There are two different segments of customers in excavator products. The hirers, who offer rental solution to third-party and such segment customers generally look for economical segment machines and they focus more on fuel economy, less maintenance cost and high return on investments. The second segment is owner operators who buy machine for their own usage and their priority is high efficiency, reliable and strong machine which works continuous without downtime. Such customers are looking for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This helps them to calculate the viability of product. The best thing is that we are offering such products coming with low TCO which increases customer profit. Currently rental/hirer segment is growing and we are anticipating the momentum will continue till the next 1-2 years.   

What are the key challenges in terms of input cost, technology adoption and customer buying trends?

There are some challenges in term of input cost since steel price went up which impacts directly on total manufacturing cost hence costing impacted. Since we are using global platform to develop our product, our technology adoption cost is manageable, which is why we are committed to offer technologically advanced products to our customers. Customer buying trend is slightly inclined to eco segment machines to keep low investment. 

What is your outlook on the excavator market in India? What are your future plans for excavators?

In the coming years, the majority of growth in the construction industry is likely to come from three main segments - the urban sector, rural sector and the transportation sector. This indicates a robust growth of the equipment sector of India in the near future. With the emphasis on indigenization, the businesses can fulfil domestic requirements with tailored and cost-effective options. This will be a great help for the suppliers to improve margins and costs. Better awareness of the benefits of using qualified manpower, training programs and dedicated grants, scholarships for manpower training can be a boon for the industry. Also, the buyback plans and used-equipment exchanges can help strengthen the market for the sales of used machinery. India is a developing nation that has huge potential in infrastructure creation, especially in mining industry. The current government knows that infrastructure & mining is key economic driver and is currently enjoying an intense government focus that should spur on demand for construction equipment throughout the country. Since India is a major producer of minerals and ores, amongst top five iron ore producers in the world, both the government and the private sector participate in its mining. The mining sector is closely linked to infrastructure development, which in turn has a major influence on the overall economy and prosperity of the country. Therefore, in the long term, coal, steel and cement sectors should see positive trends. So we are very optimistic mainly on medium & large tonnage excavators since those products are prime movers here.

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