INNOMERGE

Purpose and goal

The objective of the project was to elaborate new innovative service concepts and business models in the area of uptime, transport efficiency and traffic safety where advanced technologies for on-board diagnostics can be used in a frugal way in order to speed up the adoption of more sustainable truck solutions for emerging markets. The service concepts and technical solutions developed together with business models around it will enable higher uptime and better usage of the low cost trucks in India. The results from customer mind-sets can also be useful for other industries in Sweden.

Results and expected effects

Succeeding in emerging markets and dealing with future low cost competitors from Asia entering the European market is an important challenge for the Swedish vehicle industry. This project created frugal technical solutions and service concepts that will enable introducing relatively more modern technologies in truck segments sold in India. New business models for uptime and pay for performance on emerging markets were developed. The market and customer survey done in the project is applicable to other manufacturing industry to gain insights about the mind-sets.

Approach and implementation

Project started with a research at different regions of India for understanding the commercial vehicle market and to get a deeper insight of Indian market. Customers, dealers, fleet managers, truck drivers and technicians were interviewed. The research reports generated were used for developing service concepts and technical solutions. The project was one of its first kinds within Volvo to collaborate with emerging market in the area of service concepts and business models. Both Chalmers and Halmstad University has expressed good understanding of the Indian market.