Liugong India: Upgrading & Aligning Products for Indian Market

Chinese construction and mining equipment conglomerate, Liugong’s business expansion in the competitive Indian market is driven by its customer-centric approach and localized products and services. In an interaction with NBM&CW, Wu Song, MD, Liugong India, shares the company’s business strategy in light of the launch of new generation wheel loaders, excavators, compactors, and graders at their manufacturing facility in Pithampur.

“Our latest offering of 848H, 856 H-MAX, 838H-MAX wheel loaders, 4180D motor grader, 908E, 924E XD, 922E and 926E XD excavators, 611 soil compactor and 6210E tandem roller are designed and engineered to suit the Indian customers’ application requirements. In contrast to other Chinese companies, we have been able to achieve this through extensive engagement with customers and after studying their application needs,” informs Wu Song.

Citing an example of the company’s adaption to the changing customer needs with BS IV norms, he adds, “BS IV has been a critical technology disrupter for the Indian construction equipment market. However, Liugong that has its footprint across global markets, enriched by its technical know-how and expertise, has been working on the new emission norms for a long time. Getting the technology synergized to the new emission regulations in India was possible through our product knowledge, high-end integration with electronic engines, and services like oil filter change and equipment diagnosis.

According to Song, there is not much difference in the technology in the products offered by Chinese, Indian or other foreign competing brands. However, over and above the advanced technologies in Liugong products, the company has a strong customer-centric approach from presales to assisting customers in selecting the right product, up till the commissioning and servicing of their machines. “We have given some unique solutions to both big and medium contractors and first-time buyers and provided them support and services by our highly experienced marketing and technical teams.”

Liugong is integrating digitization and IoT in its products to enable higher availability. “Our new I-Link Telematics is a major enabler that ensures the machine’s optimum utilization and uptime. Though technology has increased the initial cost of the machines, we have been able to convince both our first-time and existing buyers that the initial higher costs will be compensated by higher productivity and performance of the machines.”

India is a key market for Liugong, hence, the company will continue to focus on bringing customer value, new product offerings, and services. To expand its business beyond sales of its excavators and to hedge the increasing competition, Liugong India is now offering refurbishment services for wheel loaders and road equipment. In fact, according to Song, Liugong is the first company to provide three years extended services for wheel loaders and motor graders. It also plans to export its products to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Africa, and the Middle East markets.