Franna, a leading provider of mobile pick-and-carry cranes under Terex brand, is set to expand its global manufacturing footprint into India in order to support international growth plans. In addition to production at the Brisbane facility in Australia, a new Franna pick-and-carry crane designed specifically for India will also be manufactured at the Terex Materials Processing facility in Hosur, with production expected to commence in early 2021. Terex already has a strong manufacturing presence in India having first entered the region in 2009.
“This is an exciting investment for Terex as we continue to promote and grow the Franna brand globally,” said Danny Black, General Manager of Franna. “We have already had very good experience in the Indian market (albeit third hand, many years ago before being part of Terex). Now we have the ability to directly bring our market leading Franna technology with local homologation to improve safety and performance for the Indian market. This expansion will allow us to support our growth plans without causing any disruption to our production capacity in Australia and will allow us to be a valued competitor in India. Given our proven manufacturing capabilities with the success of other Terex brands in India such as Powerscreen® and Terex Finlay®, we are confident this decision will provide a positive outcome for Franna.”
India is one of the largest mobile crane markets in the world according to market research organisation Off-Highway Research. In 2018, there were record crane sales in India with almost 12,000 units being sold in the region, some 96 per cent of these were locally manufactured pick-and-carry cranes. Franna’s expansion will give them access to the Indian crane market and the geographic location of the plant will allow them to better serve surrounding countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Michael Atherden, Principal Engineer at Franna explains, “From an engineering perspective, legislation for mobile cranes varies by region and by country. For example, the AT 22 we designed for the US was a left-hand drive with a Tier 4 final engine and say we wanted to enter the European market, we would be looking at a Euromot 5 engine. The expansion into India gives us a strong entry point for new and developing markets along with the flexibility to meet the ever-changing design requirements of each country.”
