Daimler, the world’s largest manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty trucks, unveiled its new brand of trucks for the Indian market. The brand, BharatBenz, will offer Indian customers an entire range of trucks from 6 to 49 tons across various applications.The new brand will figure among the other global truck brands of Daimler, including the MercedesBenz, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built and Mitsubishi Fuso. What is interesting to note is that, apart from MercedesBenz, all the other brands have been acquired by Daimler. So, in a sense, BharatBenz is the second major truck brand created by Daimler globally.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mr. Andreas Renschler, Head of Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, and Mr. Marc Llistosella, Managing Director and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), together unveiled the BharatBenz brand at the production location in Oragadam, near Chennai.
“We are sending a clear message with our new truck brand: Daimler is at home in India. Our BharatBenz trucks are the right combination of Daimler’s DNA and India’s market know-how. These trucks will be developed and built in India, for India, and by specialist employees from India,” said Dr. Zetsche.
Mr. Andreas Renschler explained: “India’s macro-economy has been on a growth track over the last few years and is estimated to grow between seven and eight per cent in the next ten years. Additionally, India has become the world’s second largest market for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. By 2020, we expect the Indian truck industry to double. We will play a significant role in this leap. For us, the most promising market is the ‘new middle market’, for which we will offer our new truck product portfolio. That’s why we’ll see a general upward trend towards vehicles that will set new standards in terms of performance, quality reliability and efficiency. This market is expected to grow to as much as 80 per cent of the Indian truck market until 2020”.
DICV is investing in the state-of-the-art plant in Oragadam to the extent of Rs. 4,400 crores. This plant, spread over 400 acres of land, will be the truck manufacturing hub from where the modern, indigenously-made trucks will roll out. The new facility will have a capacity to manufacture 36,000 trucks in the first phase and 72,000 trucks in the second phase of expansion.
“We’re not new to this country. In fact, the very first Indian-made truck back in 1954 was a Daimler product. Once again, we’re building on a proud tradition. To build an even brighter future, we also have a strong footprint in India when it comes to research and development: We already have a team of 500 R&D experts here, and we plan to double that number in the next two years. These are excellent conditions to make sure our new trucks will be a fusion of Daimler DNA and Indian engineering”, said Dr. Zetsche.
Mr. Renschler observed: “We’ll invest about 700 million euros over the next five years. That’s because we believe in India and we believe in the trucks we will offer here. What’s more, Daimler Financial Services is currently building up an operation in India to provide a full financial services program to support our Indian truck business and customers. So, as we get ready to begin production next year, we’re also putting in place the services we need to successfully launch in the Indian market in mid-2012”.
“We’ve designed it to perfectly suit the needs of Indian customers with superior technology, benchmark reliability and optimal total cost of ownership (TCO). Plus, we’ll build an entire range of vehicles from 6 to 49 tons – providing solutions for hauling, construction and tractor trailer applications. But may be the most important factor is that those products will truly be at home here in every respect: They’ve been designed and tested specifically for Indian usage patterns and road conditions. In short, we want to sell trucks that are made in India, for India, by our excellent team from India”, added Mr. Renschler.According to Mr. Marc Llistosella, the BharatBenz product range will draw on Daimler Trucks’ entire range of technological expertise in order to best address the special needs of Indian customers. The product range in the light-duty segment is based on the Fuso Canter tried-and-tested platform, while the heavy-duty range is based on one of Mercedes-Benz trucks platforms. With these platforms, the trucks have been ideally tailored to the needs of Indian customers.
The first product to get launched in 2012 is a 25-tonner truck haulage, construction and rigid truck applications. These trucks are already localized to the extent of 70 per cent and will be more than 80 per cent localized within the first two years of launch.
DICV has already been conducting extensive testing of its trucks both at the test tracks and on-road across India. These trucks have already completed a million km in testing. “We do not test our trucks with our customers. We bring finally tested products to the market”, said Mr. Listosella.
The choice of “Bharat” as part of the name reinforces Daimler Trucks’ commitment to serving the local market.Daimler AG, headquartered in Stuttgart, is commemorating 125 years of its automobile this year. The pioneering spirit of its founders set the world in motion, by creating the world’s first automobile. Having spearheaded a tradition of innovation, with many firsts to its credit, including the world’s first truck 115 years ago, the new exclusive Indian brand BharatBenz is yet another great achievement in Daimler’s quest for excellence.
World class test trackThe comprehensive, in-house, state-of-the-art test track is the first initiative of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles in developing trucks for India. The test track has been designed based on meticulous research done on road-load data patterns across the country, on various terrains.
It consists of a super elevation track that enables testing at three different speeds, including a jump section and a noise pad. The testing facility also includes a bump track with 40,832 cobblestones laid to precision, articulation and pot holes, which together simulate the toughest conditions that a truck may have to negotiate on Indian roads.
Daimler India aspires to be as close to its customers as possible. Its prudently planned sales and service network will span the entire length and breadth of the country. Regional offices in major metros, area sales offices in 10 prominent cities and a pan-India network of sales and service centers will cover 83 locations. The second wave of service facilities will cover 27 additional locations.The sales and service centers will set new benchmarks in the trucking industry, with products and services that clearly reflect Indian market insights, state-of-the-art infrastructure, experienced sales personnel, highly qualified service personnel and much more.
