As part of this exercise, the company is currently building up a permanent, dedicated workshop - Volvo Service and Parts Centre - in Thane at an investment of Rs 14 crore. The company has recently acquired a 4.5 acre plot of land in Thane and the workshop was expected to be operational by June, he said.

Mr Uppal said, the workshop would have 12 truck service bases. Currently, the company has 22 service points and two dedicated workshops in Bangalore and Delhi. Set up recently at an investment of Rs 20 crore, these two workshops together have 16 truck service bases.

The new workshop would offer Volvo spare parts, comprehensive service facilities and customer care. All these service points and workshops would be connected through VSAT.

"All the trucks that come in for service in the morning will be delivered the same evening," he said. On an average, in a year, a truck makes eight calls to the service centre. Volvo currently has over 700 trucks on Indian roads.

According to Mr Uppal, the company would launch a series of products. "We will roll out the first batch of buses by July. We are also working on new construction equipment including small excavators, a range of re-loaders, penta gensets for engines (80 kva to 180 kva)." Currently, the company has penta gensets under 200 kva to 500 kva range.

Volvo India would also launch new variants of tippers for road and building construction and low-priced 3-axle tractors and light weight trailers meant for oil & gas, cement and construction segments.

During calendar 2000, the company posted a turnover of Rs 200 crore, marking a 60 per cent growth over the last year. Since its entry into the country in 1997, the company invested Rs 375 crore. "We will break even in 2003," Mr Uppal said.

Currently, the company has 100 vendors for sourcing in India. By the end of the calendar, the company's domestic sourcing would touch 50 per cent and it is expected to reach 70 per cent in a year or two, he said.