Volvo brings ‘Tridem’ truck for Indian construction industry

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Construction is one of a few top industries that involve heavy commercial vehicles for various purposes. Sweden’s Volvo, which is dominating in the Indian mining sector, now focusing more on construction segment too.  Jaishankar Jayaramiah reports from Volvo Trucks’ stall at Excon 2017.

Volvo Trucks is bringing in new technologies to establish its business in the Indian construction sector. One such technology is  “Tridem’, which was showcased in the recently held Excon 2017, South Asia’s largest expo for the construction industry.

Sharing details with  Automotive Lead, Christina Hallin, Vice President Market India, Volvo Trucks, said, “Growth is happening in India.  Lot of investments are happening in various sectors  like infrastructure, road and construction. Volvo cannot miss this opportunity.  Right now we are dominating in the mining sector, now we will also concentrate in construction as well as in irrigation segment.”

Hallin : Volvo Trucks to concentrate on other sectors like construction and agriculture too in addition to mining segment

Currently the FMX 8×4 model is really driving the company’s overall truck sales in India.  India is very important market for us. The company has set up a specific division in its Sweden headquarters to promote business in India, Hallin said.

Endorsing this, Dinakar B, Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Aftermarket, said, “We are launching a new concept called Tridem. It is a global product we have for international markets. Now we are bringing it to the Indian construction sector.”

Tridem is something like three axles together at back. It takes very shorter turning radius. It has a liftable fourth axle. First time we are introducing heavy duty air suspension in construction trucks.

Currently Volvo Trucks are well known in the niche mining segment. Now the company is trying to cover business areas in construction sector. In the next five years, we would like to make a significant presence in the construction segment too, Dinakar said.

Dinakar : At first Volvo is making Tridem concept available for the customers in the Indian construction industry to conceive.

Then looking at the feedback from the customers, it will take the market accordingly.

Tridem – Technical

Its first-of-its-kind Tridem axle configuration with liftable tag axle. Volvo FMX 8×4 with single front axle has a Tridem bogie rear suspension, of which the tag axle is hydraulically steered. The result is extreme maneuverability and an unprecedented small turning circle. So that less time is spent on stopping, turning and reversing, and more actually driving. The Tridem bogie has many more advantages.

The raised tag axle contributes to less wear on tyres and improved fuel consumption. Optimized rear axle pressure on every axle means better traction. And you can adjust the axle load distribution for even better traction. And also, for the first time in India Volvo Trucks is introducing U-Body for construction application, which is light weight and results in increased payload.

The optimized rear axle pressure on every axle facilitates better traction and fewer vibrations. The tag axle can be lifted in an unladen condition, contributing to improved fuel consumption and lesser wear of tyres. The Tridem axle configuration with a liftable axle facilitates extreme maneuverability with a turning circle diameter that is almost 5 meter lesser than a regular Volvo 8×4.