Ajay Devgn and BLAZO, a fiery combination transforming the Indian trucking Industry

On the 4^th of Feb, 2016, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division (MTBD) launched the awe-inspiring heavy commercial trucks under the brand name 'BLAZO'. While its new superior mPOWER FuelSmart technology, a topic of thesis in itself. BLAZO also boasts of a dashing new dapper look, the turquoise blue colour variant topping the list.  

The Mahindra BLAZO Series

The ‘BLAZO’ series includes haulage, tractor trailer and tipper and is geared with the FuelSmart innovation. The highlight of ‘FuelSmart technology' is the introduction of the CRDe motor combined with the all new Multi-drive mode which is  generally found in passenger cars which assists them to drive into the city, off-roads and makes it easier to maneuver and speed up on the highway. BLAZO too has incorporated similar technology, taking into consideration driver, fleet owner and vehicle’s need.

Given the uber rugged yet suave personality that the brand radiates, BLAZO has picked the dashing, macho, and the very eminent Bollywood star, Ajay Devgn to be the brand ambassador of the all new Blazo campaign. Here is the Official Launch Video of BLAZO starring Ajay Devgn.

FuelSmart - an automotive technology

Mahindra presents FuelSmart technology, first of its kind in Indian transport. To give the users the most important features that they could ask for in a truck that is mileage and power. Hence, Mahindra created FuelSmart technology.

FuelSmart technology harnesses the benefits of the CRDe engine that in turn provides better mileage at the touch of a switch. The FuelSmart technology comes in three modes – Turbo, Heavy and Light which of course can be changed by the driver as per street conditions. A driver can now easily turn on Heavy mode when carrying full loads and switch to Light when returning back unloaded. He can also use Turbo mode when transporting heavier loads based on his application, over steep inclines. Each mode provides maximum efficiency for optimal performance.

Mahindra BLAZO guarantee

On this one-stop solution Mr. Rajan Wadhera, President & Chief Executive - Truck & Power Train & Head – Mahindra Research Valley, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said, “In commercial vehicles there is a challenge to provide a single solution of engine and vehicle power-terrain configuration to multiple applications and variants. The FuelSmart Technology with its multi-mode switch technology will help drivers into choosing correct mode based on load and road condition, thereby leading to high efficiency”.

The confidence and sincerity that the brand exudes converges into a strong guarantee that the new BLAZO series offers. Mahindra Truck & Bus Division affirms that if the new series of truck do not provide better fuel efficiency than the old existing trucks then the owner can return the truck back. This stance itself explains BLAZO is par excellence.

The super-macho Mahindra BLAZO is ready to hit the road with its mantra – To do more and be more!

Mahindra launches new HCV truck series, BLAZO with FuelSmart technology, Mileage and Service Guarantee.

Mahindra Truck and Bus Division (MTBD), a part of the USD 16.9 billion Mahindra Group, on Thursday, 4th February, 2016, announced the launch of its new heavy commercial truck series under the brand name ‘BLAZO’. The range comes with a first-of-its-kind FuelSmart Technology. 

Adhering to the philosophy of Made in India, Made for India', the New Mahindra BLAZO has been engineered for Indian requirements. With 16,500 trucks on road, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division is in the process of addressing every segment of the commercial vehicle market; from 3.5 tonne GVW to 49 tonne GVW, with variants that meet the varying needs of passenger transport, cargo and specialised load applications. 

The BLAZO range covers the entire gamut of Heavy Commercial Vehicles with a range of Haulage, Tractor Trailers and Tippers. It comes with a revolutionary FuelSmart technology that brings together the innovative CRDe engine coupled with Multi drive mode feature with three modes – Turbo, Heavy and Light. This can be switched by the driver to optimise mileage and power as per the load and road conditions.

The Mahindra Truck and Bus Division has shown great confidence in the BLAZO by giving not one, but two guarantees for its truck drivers. The company gives a guarantee that the BLAZO series will offer better fuel efficiency than the existing trucks of customers or else they can actually return their truck! In addition, MTBD is further guaranteeing uptime on its breakdown service by getting the truck back on road in 48 hours or the Company will pay the customer Rs. 1000/- per day!

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director & President, Automotive & Farm Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said, “Our truck and bus business has been growing steadily and is taking full advantage of the buoyancy in the HCV segment. We are confident that new BLAZO HCV range will further enhance our position in the market by significantly improving the customer value proposition”. 

 Mr. Nalin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. further added, “Besides bringing in the new technology, we have even refreshed the looks of the new series and are introducing the new turquoise blue colour variant. Also, given the sincere confidence that the brand exudes, we have chosen the suave, dashing, macho, popular and renowned Bollywood actor, Ajay Devgn to be the face of our new campaign featuring the Product and Service Guarantees”.  

On providing single solution for multiple applications, Mr. Rajan Wadhera, President & Chief Executive - Truck & Power Train, & Head – Mahindra Research Valley, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said, “At the core of the Mileage guarantee that we are offering for the BLAZO series of trucks is the FUELSMART Technology of our mPOWER CRDE engine.  In commercial vehicles there is a challenge to provide a single solution of engine and vehicle power-train configuration to multiple applications and variants. The FUELSMART Technology with its multi-mode switches, will help drivers into choosing correct mode based on load and road conditions, thereby leading to efficiencies”.

As a part of its aggressive marketing plans, the company has also rapidly expanded its after sales service and spares network, firming up its multi-lingual helpline, NOW. Mahindra Truck and Bus also offers 5 Years or 5 Lac Km transferable Warranty on commercial units, which is an industry first and a cost effective AMC. 

Check out the new Mahindra BLAZO TVC starring Padma Shri Ajay Devgn : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PccOSTr-qvA

Balasore witnesses the latest Outperformers League

Balasore, Orissa witnessed the latest Outperformers League, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. – Truck and Bus Division’s hallmark event for the transporting community. The event, which was held at Hotel NOCCI residency in Balasore on the 14th of November, 2015 focused on the MLO (Market Load Operators) segment.

Like any other of the OPLs, the Balasore edition too proved to be an outright success. Attended by over 180 fleet owners, financiers and body builders, the platform was utilized by everyone to learn, meet and interact with their fellows and peers from the trucking industry.

The session opened with a warm yet informative session by Mr. B. S. Swaroop, Area Business Manager, Orissa, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. – (Truck and Bus Division). Mr. Swaroop’s speech focused on explaining the objectives of OPL and its potential to revamp the transport ecosystem as a whole. He was followed by the first guest speaker Mr.Sushil Cherian – Anantara Solutions who enlightened the crowd as he spoke on Trends and Future of Market Load.

Mr. Cherian was followed by Mr. Vijay Batra, Think Inc who motivated the audience with his words and visuals. The energized audiences then witnessed the closing of the event as Mr. Saumyabrata Das, Zonal Head East- Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. – (Truck and Bus Division) concluded the seminar with the vote of thanks.

At the OPL, glamour & performance was to be found everywhere. While the workshop had stars in the form of speakers inside the venue, two beautiful beasts waited for the audience outside. The Truxo 37 cowl / Traco 31 cowl and Torro 25 cowl  were displayed for the customers to have a closer look.

The key stakeholders of the Balasore Transport Co-ordination Committee (BTCC) expressed their happiness for being able to attend this event. Mr.Narendra Bihari Das (Secretary) and Mr.Kamala Kanta Sahu (President) thanked Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. – (Truck and Bus Division) and conveyed their support for all future initiatives.

An easy and effective blend of networking, knowledge and camaraderie, the OPL at Balasore yet again proved that the concept is a progressive and effective one. The pioneering initiative by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. – Truck and Bus Division which started in the year 2011, has in the past 100 + seminars, organized in over 30 cities and touching over 9000 stakeholders, has taken a major leap towards the evolution of the trucking ecosystem

For further information, please visit us at www.mopleague.com or www.facebook.com/OKisnolongerOK

M POWER WAR ROOM: EDITION II

MPOWER was launched in February 2013, with the intention to train the next gen entrepreneurs to face the challenges thrown at them by ever competitive business space. Within this short time, the program has captured the imagination of close to 200 young transport entrepreneurs. This encouraging response egged us to take the learning experience to the next level and hence the MPOWER WAR ROOM was born.

The objective of the MPOWER War Room was to examine how well the past participants of MPOWER have utilised the learnings from the sessions in their business. The participants are given an opportunity to present how lessons from MPOWER helped them ‘OUTPERFORM’ in their family businesses.  The objective of the War Room goes beyond reconnecting and socialising with your course-mate. There is sharing of application of the lessons from the MPOWER sessions and how each one of them contributed to the growth of the transport eco-system.

The participants go through a fair and rigorous process based on their learning, project execution and business benefits. The three stage jury process comprise of eminent executives from the industry, professors from IIM-Ahmedabad and the leadership team from the Mahindra Group. Any previous participant from the MPOWER 1-4 may participant and will need to present the case study on their own.

Here are quick snapshot of what happened at M Power War Room Edition 1. The top 6 finalists- Jehaan Dhalla, Manoj Sahu, Mitesh Shah, Nishi Singl, Vandana Laddha & Vineet Huria shared their success stories, which were filled with inspiration and vision. The application of what they learnt in the ‘MPOWER’ sessions was visible. The incremental innovation and tweaks inspired everyone in the room.

The MPOWER War Room was won by Mr. Vineet Huria, who was followed by the first and second runner-ups Mr. Jehaan Dhalla and Ms. Vandana Laddha, respectively.

The timelines are as follows

Confirmation of Participation             : 18^th September, 2015

Submission of entry                            : 25^th September, 2015

Submission of detailed presentation  : 25^th October, 2015

War Room at IIM-A                            : 28^th and 29^th November, 2015

Delegates check-in                             : 28^th November, 2015 afternoon

Parents check-in                                 : 29^th November, 2015

All check out                                       : 30^th November, 2015

For more details please click the following link http://www.mahindratransportawards.com/pdf/War-Room-2.pdf

PS: The event is invite-only. MTB’s holds reserves rights to admission and participation, before, during and after any stage.

MPOWER Batch VIIIth starts the hunt for the next set of gen-next transport entrepreneurs

The VIII^th batch of the very innovative MPOWER is all set to train the next gen entrepreneurs pegged to change the face of the transport business in India. While they set on a task to take their ‘Papa ka business’ to the next level, the MPOWER program helps train these participants to meet today’s challenges. The VIII^th batch will start on the 21^st of November and will run for 7 days.

Opportunities are flourishing in the transport space. Not only is it the lifeline of the modern economy, the recent keenness shown by the government towards road logistics and infrastructure opens up a significant spectrum of opportunities. Opportunities are bound to make the space competitive and only those who evolve and solidify their business models and strategies can survive.  

With the intention to help the new-gen transport entrepreneurs to achieve it, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division along with the knowledge partner IIM Ahmedabad designed MPOWER, a holistic course aimed at professionalising the Indian trucking industry and to train these youngsters to OUTPERFORM in the Indian trucking ecosystem.

Over the last 7 MPOWER batches, we have been on the constant search for young entrepreneurs who have the fire to take their family business to new heights. The program intends to train the participants in the areas of business planning, market segmentation, HR Practices, Service Quality, financial management, supply chain management, legal, IT and other relevant aspects. The 7 day intensive program which includes field visits and external workshops leave almost no time for participants to focus on their existing business. It is expected that the participants come with prepared to disassociate themselves from their routine responsibilities.

With an engaging pedagogy, filled with case study presentations, discussions, management games, workshops and field visits, the sessions will be driven by top management faculty and guest faculties from the industry.

So if you are one those transport entrepreneurs who wants to change the way your business functions, then enroll before the 10^th of November, 2015. You will find more details on the program here http://www.mahindratransportawards.com/pdf/eighth-batch.pdf

PS: The event is invite-only. MTB’s holds reserves rights to admission and participation, before, during and after any stage. 

Calling all Transport Game-changers

It’s that time of the year when the ‘Outperformers’ of the trucking fraternity come together to recognise and be recognised. If you were one of those, waiting with bated breath for the categories of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards to be announced; well, let us tell you that the time has come.

If you have been an ardent follower of the awards, then you know about the below mentioned award categories which is widely accepted and appreciated by the transport fraternity. Here is the list, for the uninitiated.

This year however, we are taking a leap. After intense discussions with the people of the fraternity, we have decided to introduce certain categories, making the award more relevant to changing times. Here are the newly introduced categories.

·         Tipper Awards – for Mining and Construction segments

·         Additional Safety Award

·         Emerging Fleet Owner Award – for transport organizations that are less than 5 years old

Post our discussions with the transporter community we are revising the Fleet Owners Awards. While the categories remain the same, the criteria for selection changes. Instead of the application industry-based classification we had in the past, we are focusing on the key aspects of their business – Growth/Customer Focus, Fleet Management and Driver Management. This will enable all Fleet Owners to compete on an equal footing

Award Categories

Category	National Runner-up Award	National Winner Award
Fleet Owner – Outperformance in Growth Strategies – more than 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner –Outperformance in Growth Strategies – up to 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner –Outperformance in Fleet Management – more than 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner –Outperformance in Fleet Management – up to 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner –Outperformance in Driver Management – more than 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner –Outperformance in Driver Management – up to 100 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner – Outperformance in Construction Segment – more than 75 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner – Outperformance in  Construction Segment – up to 75 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner – Outperformance in Mining Segment – more than 75 HCVs	-	1
Fleet Owner – Outperformance in Mining Segment – up to 75 HCVs	-	1
-Emerging Fleet Owner of the year	1	1
Youth Transport Personality	1	1
Lady Transport Personality	1	1
Safety – Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC) Transportation		1
Safety – Hazardous Goods Transportation		1
Safety – Non-Hazardous Goods Transportation	-	1
HCV Driver	2	-
Super Outperformer Driver	-	1
Commercial Vehicle Financier	1	1
Highway Dhaba	3***	1
Essay competition for Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan scholarship awardees (driver’s daughter)	1	1
Lifetime Achievement Award	-	1

*** These will be Regional Highway Dhaba Winners

·         The Award categories may be changed / modified / split / merged / increased or cancelled by the Jury based on the number and quality of entries received in each category

·         In the event that no Applicant in a category is found to be worthy of inclusion by the Jury, the Award category may be cancelled by the Jury. The Jury may decide to add nominees in the category to maintain high standards of participation. The decision of the Jury in this regard will be final and non-contestable. The Awards management will not entertain any queries in this regard

For the first time, we are categorizing based on Size – we will have separate awards for fleet size up to 100 HCVs (75 in case of Tippers) and fleet size above 100 HCVs (above 75 for Tippers)

Please note that the winners of the Regional Awards, wherever applicable, will be the contenders for the National Awards. The Jury will be the sole deciding authority for selection of winners for all the Awards.

The jury is formed by some of the stalwarts of the industry and needless to say, their judgement will be fair. The applicants go through a stringent scrutiny process set out by the jury to qualify and eventually win the awards.

So if you believe you are an Outperformer or you know one, key up on the laptop, write the story down and send in the entries. Log on to http://www.mahindratransportawards.com/howtoapply.html for more details.

Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards- The Inception

For the past 4 years, the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards (MTEA) has always been welcomed by the transport fraternity with open arms. The awards are a proof of our commitment to recognize all important stakeholders of the transport industry. The tremendous response is a testament to it. The partnership with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has marked an added stamp of authenticity onto the awards. The fifth edition will be no different, poised to be bigger and grander.

The MTEA is designed to recognise efforts that push the boundaries in the Transport business. With the philosophy of ‘Outperform’ in the core of the concept, the award captures elements beyond the usual suspects like sales figures.  For e.g.: the ethos of accepting no limits, the award recognises those who think big and look beyond the conventional boundaries and are adaptable and agile. Their work is benchmarked with the global best in class. It’s an effort to appreciate those who take well-reasoned risks to deliver breakthrough products and services.

Another criterion that promotes lateral thought processes, like alternative thinking, a sharp eye is kept out for those who redefine the run of the mill way of everyday work.  A special effort is made to identify those who seek out fresh diverse perspectives & for those who direct intellect towards customer focused innovation.

Business as it reaches prudent level, slowly adds focus to softer elements of running an enterprise. Driving positive change also forms an important part of the evaluation. The award looks out for those who understand the needs of their customers and offer quality products and services to not only delight them but also to improve and transform their lives. It’s a search for those who put their customers at the centre of their business and build strong relationships with them while acting with the highest standards of integrity.

Watch this space for more on the MTEA awards.