By IANS,
Kolkata : Heavy commercial vehicles manufacturer Volvo India decided to focus on rental business and used equipment sales to tide over the present economic downturn, a top official said here Thursday.
“We have launched the rental business early this year and are also focusing on used equipment business,” Volvo India managing director Mrityunjaya Singh told reporters.
He added that Volvo India has seen three recessions – in 1997, 2002 and the present one.
“This time we have witnessed that the basic fundamental requirement for equipment has not declined yet. However, we feel that there is an opportunity for rented business as well as the used equipment segment,” Singh said.
At present, Volvo India has about 11 dealers and three of them have started Volvo rental. Rest of the dealers will take up rental business soon. They are also being trained to assess used equipment, he said.
“In these kind of troubled times, customers may resort to rentals of equipment, he might also want to sell off old equipment. We are preparing ourselves to cater to these kinds of demand,” he said.
India’s rent market is a highly fractured market, said Singh, adding: “We find tremendous potential in this segment as it is very large in size and value. However, there are no estimates on the volume of business for the segment.”