1. INTRODUCTION

The Indian heavy truck industry is experiencing some interesting developments. The very nature of the ubiquitous Indian heavy truck and the transporter is changing; the Indian heavy truck market is actually following the global pattern of changing its characteristics through various stages.

It is an interesting industry with its unique set of characteristics, consumer perceptions and market dynamics.

The majority of the demand side of the market (i.e. the national route transporters) is highly fragmented and unorganized; of course there are large organized transportation service providers (OSL, VRL, Transafe, Coastal etc.) who provide a complete logistical solution. Overall it is being observed that multi-axle trucks are turning out to be a popular choice among transporters in national routes or long haulage applications. Global giants like Volvo, MAN, Mercedes Benz, Scania –are making a bee line for the Indian market to grab a share in the growing Indian Commercial Vehicle market. The Indian Commercial Vehicle manufacturers have also taken up the initiative to pitch in competitive platforms with the help of strategic tie ups and knowledge partnerships (TATA – Cummins – Daewoo), (Ashok Leyland – Iveco – Hino), (Mahindra – Navistar), there are also some new players who have introduced innovative manufacturing approach e.g. AMW.

The market for multi axle vehicles is going through substantial development and this growth has been further aided by a focused development in upgrading the current national highway road networks and the completion of the golden quadrilateral road network. Substantial volumes of expenditure in the development of infrastructure have benefited the Commercial Vehicle industry. In this context it is important to study the strong increase in demand for high capacity Multi Axle Haulers and heavy duty mining and construction trucks to bring maximized profits and optimum utilization of capacity for the fleet operators.

This industry contributes towards the development of economy and also forms the pulse of an economy. Since there is a significant literature gap for scholarly studies conducted in this industry from the marketing perspective, it would be worthwhile to study this industry and product category.

In the light of the above developments reviewing existing literature was found to be of interest and relevance. The following is a concise review of publications and reports brought out by academicians, agencies (non-government, semi government and government) and corporate organizations.

2. INTEREST AREA:

The following aspects of the Indian trucking industry were found interesting and hence the researchers attempted to explore the following aspects that generally came up in a seminar with selected transport operators and representatives of truck manufacturers; the topics are reviewed through section 4 of this review paper.

1. Growth of Premium Multi Axle long distance haulers vis-à-vis road and infrastructural development.

2. Multi Axle Trucks and their inherent advantages (over two axle vehicles) in long haulage applications.

3. Brand image and any impact it has on purchase decision of Multi Axle Trucks.

4. The differences in the Business models of various Multi-axle Vehicle Manufacturers in India.

3. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH:

Style: Narrative review; selected studies are compared and summarized on the basis of the author’s experience, existing theories and models. Results are based on a qualitative rather than a quantitative level.

4. REVIEW:

4.1 – Growth of Premium Multi Axle long distance haulers vis-à-vis road and infrastructural development:

Road freight transportation is a significant contributor to the GDP of a country, in fact as pointed out by (Raghuram, 2015) as of 2012-13 the GDP share was 4.9% (in comparison Indian Railways’ contribution was 0.9%), also (Rambaskar, 2015)in their research paper mentions the importance of logistics sector and its contributions to the economic growth of India. The Indian transport industry consists of government policies, legal structure, economic situation, technology etc.(Dubey, 2015) discuss that the transport industry has such substantial contribution over the economies of developed markets and economies as well, the transport industry has also been found to be benefited by improvement of economic activity, a study conducted by (Hossein Rashidi, 2012)had found a positive relationship between growth in transportation productivity and economic indicators in selected metropolitan statistical areas of USA. It is also noteworthy that as found by(Bloemhof, 2011) that from an economic performance perspective, when compared to inland waterways and rail networks, heavy trucks in long haulage applications have been found to be a better transportation mode choice, in terms of flexibility and speed. Under Indian scenario a report by (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 2012) deals with containerization related issues like: policies and trends in containerization, container movement in India, way of transport and challenges etc. is found interesting. This report states that the advancement in overall trade environment and benefits in terms of modularization are happening due to adoption of containers for transport (hence popularizing the term “Trading in the Box”). Trade is being driven utilizing containers to transport goods between places through various modes of transportation, leading to the thriving of containerization. In this process, the primary players dealing with containers i.e. ports, railways, roads, warehouses, shipping and logistics companies are turning out to be the key contributors to the development of container trade and infrastructure. Container logistics thus includes supply, transportation, packaging, storage and security; together with visibility of container and its contents into a distribution system from source to user.

Moving further into the Indian context it is suggested by (MORTH, 2011) that freight transportation trucks are important for the economy and it should be streamlined by minimizing various barriers and bring efficiency to road transport through various Acts, Taxation regimes, modernization drives, encouragement to multi-axle vehicles etc. According to this report, the Indian road transportation commands a higher share vis-à-vis other transport modes primarily due to easy accessibility, flexibility of operations, door-to-door service and reliability. The share of road transport to the national GDP stood at 4.7% in comparison to 1.0% share of the railways. On the issue of barriers to road transport and smooth flow of cargo the sub-group found that the primary reason for such barriers are checks conducted by a myriad of governmental agencies and numerous levies/taxes. The checks conducted by respective agencies at separate check points result into more than one detention; these detention(s) lead to loss of time, lower average speed, high fuel consumption and idling of vehicles, which leads to underutilization of transport capacity and adversely affecting the operational viability of the freight transport vehicles. This also imposes cascading economy-wide costs which are difficult to assess. The sub-group points out in the report that exposing road transportation to checks at inter-state check post puts a significant inequity onto it compared to freight/cargo transported by railways, aviation and inland water transport, which do not face such rigorous en-route checking. The system in vogue hinders rather than facilitates smooth flow of freight and passenger movement across the country and has thwarted the formation of single common market. In addition to these numerous central and state levies/taxes lead to cost and price escalation and erode competitiveness. This report by the sub-group also states that to modernize the road transport system and lower its carbon footprint, (a) electronic toll collection systems should be introduced; (b) fuel efficiency should be improved through emission norms, (c) truck terminals outside cities, (d) fleet modernization, (e) encouraging use of multi-axle vehicles etc.

(Singru, 2007)Studies the Indian road and rail transport systems and observes attributes and shortcomings of both. It also provides vision on way forward and remedial measures for certain inefficiencies. The report points out that in 1990’s road transportation had an estimated demand of 80% and witnessed an annual growth of approximately 12% a year in freight demand whereas the demand of rail transport grew at only 1.4% a year. To improve the efficiency and productivity of the Indian road network the report suggests a model of concession agreement to be developed for build-operate-transfer projects, the institutional capacity of the National Highway’s Authority of India should be enhanced to establish a multidisciplinary professional body with high quality financial management and contract management. Also, road safety and traffic management should be put under focus and dedicated organizations should look into this aspect. To graphically view the institutional arrangement in the central government for transport infrastructure delivery, Refer to exhibit 1.1

Refer to exhibit 1.2:

Also for the post GST era it is pertinent to know that (Frost and Sullivan, 2012) demonstrates how implementation of GST, favorable regulations, fuel efficient vehicles, and technological advancements could help integrate state economies and boost overall growth. The report mentions that India is catching up fast to global emission regulation trends and on the fiscal policy front is poised to implement goods and services tax (GST) soon; implementation of GST will pave the way for an efficient, single tax system for movement of goods across the country. It will eliminate multiple taxes and quotas at inter-state check points and will help to integrate state economies and boost overall growth. The entry of global commercial vehicle manufacturers will significantly raise the bar on technological innovations and push domestic manufacturers to refine their design and engineering. The studies by (Thukral, 2005) discuss the infrastructural, technological, legal, social issues in relation to the transport industry of India. The report also talks about the industry structure and the role of operators, intermediaries and clients in India.

Observations:

The review of the literatures as provided in section 4.1 demonstrates that there are gaps in the discussed studies as they do not cover the relationship between the sale volumes of multi-axle trucks in India and India’s industrial and infrastructural development.

4.2 – Multi Axle Vehicles and their inherent advantages (over two axle vehicles) in long haulage applications:

(Lumsden, 2004)In his research for European markets, promote the increasing load capacity of trucks by making trucks longer and heavier. They compare development of GDP and heavy truck sale along with the impact of increase in truck sizes. It is argued that in European conditions, bigger and longer trucks would imply lesser number of trucks and safer roads. (Knight, 2010) In their ongoing study for The European Commission, are exploring socio-economic effects and technical details on adapting to the rules regarding weights and dimensions of heavy trucks on the European markets. Under the economic aspect, it was found that exhaustive researches needed to be carried out to capture the shift to larger vehicles that is taking place in the European road transport (freight) sector. It may also be noted here that the study by (Jaržemskiene, 2007) has focused on researches made on the intermodal transport and the paper pays attention on classification of scientific issues regarding intermodality; the paper concludes that the domains of container terminals and railway scheduling areas are well covered in intermodal researches but intermodal transportation of trailers and swap bodies organized by SME companies, intermodal operators and forwarders lack in terms of scientific attention.(Holguin-Veras, 2005) Has also put up a comprehensive analysis of the trip chain behavior of commercial vehicles (in the Denver, Colorado region). This was done on the basis of data collected from Denver Regional Council of Governments. Trip chain behavior was characterized by number of, length, conditional probability of trip purpose; whereas the trip purposes were grouped as freight transportation, transport of people, service calls etc. commercial vehicles were grouped as pickup vans, single-unit truck, combination truck etc. The conditional probabilities were analyzed for number of stops made; although most vehicles were found to make one trip in a day, one in four commercial vehicles made more than one trip chains per day. The analyses also indicated that the average number of stops made per trip chain decreased with the number of trip chains. About 35% of the trip chains involved two stops, although some trip chains had more than 12 stops. The main trip purpose for all commercial vehicles was freight transportation. This study apparently represented the first comprehensive attempt reported in the literature to analyze the observed patterns of commercial vehicle trip chain behavior.

(Londoño-Kent, 2009)went on to compare issues and emerging trends in road – freight transport industries by describing market structures, effect of regulations and competitive nature of road freight transport. The paper also examines the good/bad practices of the transport industry; it was found that as industrialization increases trip lengths increase, medium rigid trucks (typical two axle trucks) lose out to larger trucks that could be the typical multi – axle trucks that carry freight in between large warehouses/hubs. As a result, the small delivery vans have also become very popular which redistribute from hubs to the smaller last mile nodes. This phenomenon is a common trend in numerous developing countries including India; the study also found that less than twenty percent of the average trips went empty.

Moving on to the Indian perspective, the (AITD; CIRT, 2000)exhaustively studies the issues relevant to the present study – like ownership pattern, fare and freight rate system, financing, technological up gradation, legal axle loads, overloading problems and aspects/benefits of promoting multi axle trucks. It was also found that although the MVI Act has empowered state governments to fix freight rates and the regional transport authority (RTA) has the right to grant public carrier permit and can also make provisions that goods be carried at specified rates, in reality this completely open to market. Since, the industry primarily consist of small truck operators (Study found that almost seventy-seven percent of fleet owners have a fleet size of less than ten trucks) and rates are not fixed by governmental bodies, freight booking agents and brokers play an important role in determining freight rates. On the financing aspects, NBFCs play a key role in truck financing (sixty four percent) as against banks (twenty three percent), it may also be noted here, that although the default rates are high in cases of banks; the NBFC’s record of execution in loan recovery is better. The NBFCs finance new trucks as well as old trucks and cover the cost of the truck chassis and the cost of truck body – building instead of financing the new truck chassis only, as generally done by the banks. Under the safety aspects, it was found that accidents that involve trucks generally lead to high degrees of fatality. Thus, it is required that special focus is put on making trucks significantly safer. Another aspect that is dealt with in detail is the problem of overloading on trucks. It was observed that multi – axle trucks can effectively help to control this problem. The report actually suggests that GVW weight limit of forty tonnes should be raised to forty-nine tonnes for a six – axle truck that has one steering axle, one tandem axle and triple – axle configuration. (Velmathi and Ganesan, 2011) Point out the state of credit management in the Indian commercial vehicle industry, the objectives of this study was to understand the debtor’s position and credit policy of some selected commercial vehicle manufacturers. The study examines the efficiency of credit management of these selected manufacturers and tries to examine the efficiency of credit management and offer suggestions and recommendations for debtor management.

Study conducted by (RITES Ltd., 2014) on transportation solutions across various modes of transportations, cover the cost related aspects of all (rail, road, ship and air) modes of transport including road transport. Exhaustive data on operational, financial and economic costs of operations was collected from twenty regions covering a preselected group of commodities (commodity group I, II and III). The cost structure of two – axle, three – axle and four/five – axle trucks were listed under various road and terrain conditions.

The working paper (Kumar, 2014) suggests that in India, cost of transportation is relatively high and road transport (freight) accounts for the majority of freight flows. The primarily small fleet dominated trucking industry (more than 75% of trucking firms have less than five trucks) is prone to long driving hours, overloading, unauthorized modifications to illegally increase payload capacity, cost of detention at inter – sate check points. The cost of these various inefficiencies of the trucking industry is ultimately borne by society in the form of high rates of fatal accidents, damage to road infrastructure, high levels of pollution etc. The paper also supports the usage of multi – axle trucks as they bring down the cost of production significantly. The report also states that the efficiencies in trucking should be derived from minimization of empty backhauls and reducing search cost for back hauls and enabling real – time information on freight availability to truckers and end – customers so that transparency ensures optimum freight rates.

(Marketing and Development Research Associates, 2007) throws light on the issue of corruption and highlight the impact of bribery at toll plazas, check points, state borders etc. on turnaround time of trucks. The report points out that around one crore people are associated with the truck operations business in India and the industry literally carries the economy of the country. However it is not the most efficient by global standards. In India a truck plying with freight between states covers on an average approximately 280 – 340 km each day, these figures are much higher in developed countries; which translates into more days on road for the truck. A primary reason for delay is detention at interstate check points, which also are points where bribery is not uncommon. The bribe is mostly paid at check point, toll plazas, state borders or during en route stoppages by one or other agencies on pretext of checking documents. The study found out that truckers pay bribe at every stage of their operations which starts with getting registration and fitness certificates, and for issuance/renewal of interstate and national permits. However, due to the unorganized nature of the trucking operations industry (86% consist of small entrepreneurs), assessment of the extent of corruption is a complex and challenging task. It was found out that the primary reasons for paying bribe while on road were “plying overloaded trucks, traffic violations, parking at no-parking places or entering no- entry zone, and in the payment of toll and other taxes like octroi, sales tax etc. Lack of proper documents or alcohol abuse by truck drivers are the other reasons for paying bribe”. The most common reason for paying bribes while truck is in its journey are “plying overloaded trucks, traffic violations, parking at no-parking places or entering no- entry zone, and in the payment of toll and other taxes like octroi, sales tax etc. lack of proper documents or alcohol abuse by truck drivers”. Transparency International estimates that with almost thirty-six thousand trucks operating around the country, the bribe amount floating around in the trucking operations to the tune of Rs. 22,200 crore a year after adjusting for the inter and intra state operations. This study also claims that delays due to forced stoppages by authorities are costing the national economy to the extent of Rs. 1130.47 crore per year. If trucks are linked to an information system and operational aspects be automated, the trucking industry could be rationalized. To this effect, (Regan, 1995) has shown that betterment in terms of communications, automatic vehicle location and utilizing geographic information system technologies have benefited commercial vehicle operations. The study shows that real time information can potentially save through simple route diversion strategies and highlights the need for such an approach for improved truck operations decisions.

(McKinsey and Company, 2010) points out that it is imperative for India to develop its logistics network efficiencies; it is shown that on considering the purchasing power parity (PPP) the road costs in India are thirty percent higher – which essentially hampers the economic growth of India. The report also suggests that poor logistics infrastructure costs the Indian economy almost 4.3 % of its GDP every year, alarmingly two – thirds of this figure is hidden (generally not regarded as logistics cost), this includes theft and damage, higher inventory holding costs, ‘facilitation and transaction’ costs etc. The report recommends ensuring setting up of common standards that help intermodal transferability and inter-operability, adopting a national level electronic tolling mechanism, setting dedicated coastal and rail freight corridors and improving the existing national expressways and add new expressways in high – traffic routes.

The study on competitive nature of the transport industry by (Sriraman S. V., 2006) in the Mumbai Metropolitan region through analysis and market surveys of freight rates, operating costs, industry structure. The paper also studies the effects of policy and regulatory regimes on competitiveness of the trucking industry. The paper states that although road goods transport industry is dominated by unorganized small operators it is notable that middle men play crucial role in price fixation as well as allocation of quantum of movement. The freight rates and operating costs had been analyzed to understand that profitability of truck operations had been adversely hit due to increase in average operating cost (mostly fuel) and falling flat freight rates. Through various simulation exercises it was understood that the operations would be profitable at a much higher levels of movement; it turned out that only with a certain level of overloading, the operations turn profitable. The report says that since road goods transport industry dominates the economy it is important the truckers have similar rights to travel interstate with minimum delay, legal and administrative reforms are required in this aspect for India to function as a single market.

Observations:

The review of the literatures as provided in section 4.2 demonstrates that there are gaps in the discussed studies as they do not cover all the aspects (operational efficiency, financial advantage) of inherent efficiency of multi-axle trucks over the two-axle trucks in the Indian transport industry. Especially financial operational cost benefits across various types of road and terrain, freight types etc. has not been compared (across various GVW or truck varieties in terms of number of axles) alongside the attitude of the drivers towards safety in the reviewed literature.

4.3 – Brand image and any impact it has on purchase decision of Multi Axle Trucks:

Brand and its powers have been a potent differentiator for any manufacturer (or service provider), branding is endowing of products and services with the power of a brand (Kotler, Keller, Koshy, and Jha, 2009). It has also been stated that the concept of brand is no less important in B2B setup as it is in B2C setup, but still although numerous studies have been conducted on business models of B2C branding, few comprehensive B2B models for branding exist. It has been also said that although very exhaustive, the Keller model has some limitations when applied to B2B scenarios(Kuhn, Alpert, and Pope, 2008).

As per available literature, the overland road logistics business which comes under the B2B segment also shows importance of brand related aspects. The exploratory study of (Marquardt, Golicic, and Davis, 2011) on the branding of B2B services - in the logistics industry and tries to understand the importance of differentiated value propositions associated with various brands in this industry. It is also noteworthy here that (Modin and Åkerstedt, 2009) found – once a traditional hauler grows on to build its own terminals and distribution systems (which Volvo AB found to be a growing trend through internal studies on its customer behavior in Nordic Europe) their focus on truck as an asset for the organization reduces.

As truck manufacturers are concerned and focused on understanding the perceptions of their customer’s (transporters/haulers) perceptions of their brand and how could a truck manufacturer improve its operations and product quality in a competitive global environment. There exists in literature numerous studies which deal with these issues, (Krig and Stenström, 2001) studied the buying behavior and supplier selection criterions to better understand the purchasing pattern of two Swedish heavy truck manufacturers. These upstream activities are important to a truck manufacturer, as quality and price of inbound inventory helps a particular manufacturer to produce products consistent with the ‘promised product quality’ and ‘expected price point’. A similar study was conducted on the business model and buying approach of an unnamed Swedish heavy truck manufacturer in India by (Bankvall, 2014)with a special emphasis on Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP). They discussed and established the importance of a Brand and its impact on image building and subsequent procurement of materials to build a product in convergence to the business model and marketing approach.

(O'Cass and Weerawardena, 2006) Assert that when organizations operate in a competitive environment, they tend to improve their market focused learning qualities and end up marketing their products in a better way, which ultimately leads to a higher brand performance. It is also important for organizations to identify the ‘Key Performance Indicators’ while staying connected to their mission and vision statements, as found by (Yurtkulu and Rezanejad, 2012) this helps heavy truck manufacturers to drive up their brand values.

Observations:

The review of the literatures as provided in section 4.3 demonstrates that there are gaps in the discussed studies as they do not cover the specific aspects of branding of multi-axle trucks in India. The brand related literature even if it focuses on automotive sector, concentrates on B2C markets, although (Kuhn, Alpert, and Pope, 2008)had refined the Keller’s CBBE model, but a CBBE model specifically developed for the trucking industry has not been found.

4.4 – The differences in the Business models of various Multi-axle Vehicle Manufacturers in India.

In literature the term business model has often been used with varied implications and at times with diverse perspectives. It has been observed by (Zott, Raphael, and Massa, 2011)that in spite of enormously large academic activity on ‘business model’ there is hardly any consensus on a common and widely accepted definition on the aforementioned topic. But the authors still broadly identify a commonality on e-business models, business models as activity system and as cost/revenue architecture. Given this backdrop of hugely diverse take on business model, it was found by (Schafer, Smith, and Linder, The power of business models., 2005)that although there is hardly any commonality among the plethora of ‘business model’, at least twelve definitions for the term ‘business model’ coined between 1998 to 2002, but none of these definitions seem to have been fully acknowledged by the business community completely. However the authors concluded that broad areas like: strategic choices, creating value, capturing value and value network to be relevant and significant in terms of previous and contemporary researches in this regard.

Besides, the consideration for business model various researchers like (Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, 2010)also lay down a relationship between strategy and business models, they claim that the process of designing business models is more of an art and it is necessary that an integrated framework separates the domains of strategy, business models and tactics.

Two important perspectives have been discussed by (Kortmann and Piller, 2016) as they study business models of various manufacturing companies. Besides vertically integrating the entire product life cycle, traditionally separated tasks are being reallocated horizontal stakeholders, as due to ease of information sharing integration with external partner entities in new product development has become a norm. Organizations now pay increasing attention to not just value creation but also on value capture. While discussing impact of business model on PLM (Ogewell, 2015)mentions the conflict in degree of customization that is preventing a seamless integration and acceptance of a common product design platform for all truck brand of the Volkswagen Group.

The study conducted by (Hedman and Kalling, 2003)concludes that an effective information system has a positive effect on business model development in an e business environment. The authors also stress upon the relevance of quantitative study and recognition of key variables in this regard.

Also, (Malone, et al., 2006)while discussing business model by ‘creators’ or manufacturers have resolved that while classifying financial performance of a business model ‘market value and growth’, ‘profitability’ and ‘operating efficiency’ should be focused upon.

(Becker and Diez, 2011)Say that although emerging markets like Russia, India and China are all growing, there are key differences among them. They provide an overview in terms of competitive environment, market characteristics and market development of the BRIC countries. The market characteristics in terms of customer requirements would be shaped by stricter emission norms which will lead to increase in technological sophistication; in spite of traditionally being a low cost market, total cost of ownership is also a growing area of focus among a large chunk of customers. The report also points out that poor road conditions are still prevalent which necessitates robust trucks (which may be technically unsophisticated) to be offered to the market. The Indian market is turning increasingly attractive for the global manufacturers due to constantly declining regulation but on the other hand globalization activities of the Indian manufacturers have not been their strength which to a large extent is because of the fast growing local markets. Refer to exhibit 1.5

(Chaklader, 2010)Highlight the growing degree of interest in the business fraternity to improve the sustainability of operations; which often turns out to be a balance between short term goals (of turnover and profits) with long term goals in social and environmental performance. The authors try to use the 'balanced score card' (BSC) - Kaplan and Norton, (1996) which is a strategy-centered performance measurement tool that enables firms to align their operations to business strategy. Though the conventional balance focuses on the financial, customer, internal process and learning and innovation; it excludes two important long term aspects: environmental and social. The authors try to address this lacuna by covering the environmental and social aspects to evolve a relevant strategy at Tata Motors Ltd. through a case study.

(Rishi, 2009)Look into some decisive actions taken by manufacturers in the areas of: globalization, brand development, technology integration, partnerships and workforce transformation. So that organizations stay relevant to ever changing client requirements. The analysis found that the dilemma regarding globalization that numerous manufacturers face could be resolved by decisively charting a path toward global integration or regional specialization. Another challenge of brand redefinition requires substantial moves to realize and respond to the needs of the future. Changeover of a brand towards services and solutions through technological innovation and a strong ecosystem of partners may create short term organizational discomfort but it should be a priority to ensure long term success. Amid massive industry wide changes only strong leadership would ensure a transformation in culture and workforce through all levels of a progressive truck enterprise by 2020.

(Dressler, 2009)Aimed to examine erstwhile current changes in the truck industry landscape and explored the factors influencing them and tries to determine where the industry would be in 2020. The study found that local sourcing with global coordination, multi-regional platform within one segment, strong cross OEM cooperation are very important for globalization in long term perspective.

The study found that OEMs which look forward to globalization can essentially choose between three strategies: (a) enter the emerging market in the higher budget (or lower premium) segment, adapting premium products to the local market requirements; (b) enter the emerging market in the low-cost (or lower budget) segment by means of partnering with local OEMs for engineering, sourcing, and production or sales; (c) enter the emerging market in the low-cost (or lower budget) segment, meeting current market requirements only and following it up by exporting the low-cost truck or a second brand to other emerging markets.

The study also points out the most powerful tools to facilitate the truck OEMs globalization efforts as: (a) platform architectures – a one truck concept valid for numerous markets with minor changes, part sharing and platform sharing; (b) networks – decentralized/local purchasing for less critical low value parts from regional suppliers, critical or strategic parts delivered by suppliers with worldwide reach to ensure strong global coordination for exploitation of all market benefits; (c) organization – collaboration between OEMs, integrating engineering, purchasing and other key functions should be fully integrated across the world.

(Dangayach, 2001)Discuss the findings of their extensive survey of selected Indian automotive companies. Although the companies were diverse in terms of their sales volume, product range and geographic location, they also shared some common traits like use of advanced manufacturing technologies and other improvement aspects. The manufacturing strategy processes were analyzed and it was found that their competitive strength was sustained through quality, innovation and delivery. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization; so effectively the approach practiced by each company was different. But it was found that the process of manufacturing strategy was in line with corporate strategy. Using cluster analysis the companies were classified in four strategic groups, wherein they were termed as reactive enterprise, neutral enterprise, active enterprise and proactive enterprises in terms of their manufacturing strategy. After extensive and rigorous discussions with managers, the study also determines the competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors. Based on some strategic manufacturing issues, a manufacturing competence index was worked out and a framework for manufacturing strategy was proposed.

(Narayanan, 1998)Published a discussion paper series at the UN University (Institute for New Technologies); #9703; he tries to analyze the effect of the policy of deregulation in India during mid-1980s on various aspects like technology acquisition and competitiveness in the automobile industry of India during 1980s. The various econometric analyses have shown that even under constraints like capacity licensing, the development of competitive skills crucially depended upon the ability to build specific technological competitive advantages. It was found that when new firms depend on intra-firm transfer of technology and promote in-house R and rD efforts, it was also found that under a liberal scenario capability of vertical integration drives competitiveness of organizations.

(Thompson P. W., 1995) State that – “New paradigms of work organization espousing a radical break in production systems assert a natural identity between advanced manufacturing and utilization of skilled labor.” The authors of this study entered into a comparative project on the commercial vehicle industry in Sweden, Austria and the UK. The authors try to identify common tendencies in advanced manufacturing (growth in cognitive and extra-functional abilities in context to a team. The study focuses on various routes to the creation of skilled labor with an emphasis on skill formation; things done by firms in labor processes and things done by the state in education and training.

Observations:

The review of the literatures as provided in section 4.4 demonstrates that there are gaps in the discussed studies as they do not cover the aspects of business model from the supply side as well as from the demand side of the concept of business models.it would be curious to understand the value expectations of the demand side and the general value delivery approach of the supply side.

5 CONCLUSION:

Throughout the review it was found that the four areas of interestas put up in section 2, has numerous academic researches, professional researches and governmental studies. But, the same research documents/reports also have research gaps as put up in the ‘observations’ sub – section of sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4. These research gaps could be further deliberated upon and researched in greater detail to establish the following research hypotheses:

1. Growth of Premium Multi Axle long distance haulers is not related to road and infrastructural development (Derived from research area: Growth of Premium Multi Axle long distance haulers vis-à-vis road and infrastructural development)

2. Multi Axle Vehicles do not have inherent advantages (over two axle vehicles) in long haulage routes(Derived from research area: Multi Axle Trucks and their inherent advantages (over two axle vehicles) in long haulage applications)

3. Brand image has no impact on purchase decision (Derived from research area: Brand image and any impact it has on purchase decision of Multi Axle Trucks.)

4. Business models of the top three Multi-axle Vehicle Manufacturers in India are not different from each other (Derived from research area: The differences in the Business models of various Multi-axle Vehicle Manufacturers in India.)

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Received on 06.09.2017 Modified on 15.10.2017

Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(1):660-672.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00103.8

	Production		Domestic Sales
Commercial freight vehicles	2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1. Maximum mass upto 3.5 tonnes	238,563	319,266	212,943	271,937
2. Maximum mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 5 tonnes	8,778	11,949	7,288	10,772
3. Maximum mass exceeding 5 tonnes but not exceeding 7.5 tonnes	35,336	38,970	33,133	33,431
4. Maximum mass exceeding 7.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12 tonnes	44,201	49,616	43,679	55,330
5. Maximum mass exceeding 12 but not exceeding 16.2 tonnes	56,148	77,344	48,605	61,478
6. Maximum mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes but not exceeding 25 tonnes	79,785	88,503	76,556	85,389
7. Maximum mass exceeding 25 tonnes	18,294	63,895	14,348	44,046
8. Maximum mass exceeding 16.2 tonnes but not exceeding 26.4 tonnes	0	0	0	0
9. Maximum mass exceeding 26.4 tonnes but not exceeding 35.2 tonnes	2,651	4,458	8,923	12,818
10. Mass exceeding 35.2 tonnes	3,043	6,174	9,750	16,174
Total commercial freight vehicles (1 to 10)	486,799	660,175	455,225	591,375