Pushed by the pandemic, the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) sector has got a taste of digitalisation in ways that were not even envisaged in the pre-pandemic days.

While truck OEMs have been embracing digital technologies for services and other things, the lockdown challenges have expedited digitisation across many levels.

“Interestingly, what has changed is the way we keep in touch with the customer, while there is no replacement for meeting and understanding their requirements on the grounds they operate in. The on-ground sales team now finds digital ways to stay in touch with them,” said Satyakam Arya, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).

VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) rapidly went into the zoom training mode for dealer technicians and sales executives. “It was a great opportunity on how we were able to keep their teams engaged in the lockdown by imparting them technical and selling skills,” said a senior official of the company.

From May, the focus on engaging with customers started for VECV. The company has been reaching out to prospective customers over phone, WhatsApp and Zoom calls. While the Internet and digital buying literacy were good among the fleet owners, it was the retail /rural customers who had to be engaged on WhatsApp.

From WhatsApp and other digital media engagement initially, the stage has moved to virtual launches, product demos as well as zoom calls — for specific segments.

Ashok Leyland’s Avtr

In this Ashok Leyland has led the way and did the first big virtual launch by unveiling its new modular truck platform — Avtr — recently.

“Digital has definitely come into play in the CV industry. Our modularity concept actually promotes the ease of use of digital technologies. Will it be as much as it is in consumer goods or passenger cars? Perhaps not in the initial period. But, we are going to ensure that we are available digitally for customers,” said Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO of Ashok Leyland.

With the companies engaging customers digitally, will online sales of trucks start soon? The VECV official said booking of trucks online is in the early stages though there have been some early successes in certain pockets.

But, DICV’s Arya said the company saw more of traction on the customer service side, for example, for parts booking and appointments at the dealerships. “Trucks are not off-the-shelve products, many customers require lot of customisation depending on the application,” he added.

Paritosh Gupta, Analyst, Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle Forecasting, IHS Markit, said it will be a long and tenuous road which will include educating the users of the benefits of digitalisation before we can look at digitalised sales gaining momentum.

However, with the advent of online platforms such as TrucksDekho, which gives comprehensive information about trucks and different truck brands, tools for comparison etc, prospective buyers could do some online search for trucks like buyers in the car and two-wheeler segments. Till recently, there was no digital platform to find detailed information about a truck and its application areas.

With new online platforms creating value addition and lockdown related challenges preventing face to face contacts in sales and marketing, digital platforms are likely to gain more attention in the CV industry in the coming months.

 

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