Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) had stolen the thunder in the Indian CV industry even before its market entry in 2012. The Indian subsidiary of global leader Daimler has been meticulous in planning and executing its entry into the country as well as tackling the unique challenges posed by the market. Having registered steady and sustainable growth until now, there are clear signs of what DICV can do with its BharatBenz brand in India once the CV industry gets back on track, while its Fuso branded trucks have been well received in different parts of the globe. An official DICV spokesperson charts out the company plans for 2015 and the way forward for the industry.
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Business in 2014
We have entered the Indian CV segment only three years ago and have had a very good start from the beginning, breaking into the list of top three truck makers in the heavy duty segment in the country. By now, we have over 16,000 trucks on the Indian roads since our market launch in September 2012 – not a single truck with any discount. Sales in the first 11 months (ytd 11/14) climbed by 61 per cent to 9,700 (previous year: 6,000) units. By now, we have established a network of 81 BharatBenz dealerships with a plan to cover more than 100 locations this year.
The year 2014 has been quite exciting and challenging for DICV. There is an impressive list of accomplishments. Just to mention some of them, we laid the foundation stone for our bus plant, celebrated the market launch of three tractor trailers and a construction mining truck, had the start of production of our first left-hand drive FUSO, exported more than 1,000 trucks, and closed the year with 20,000 trucks rolling off the assembly line in Oragadam.
Major plans for 2015
In terms of product, to give just one example, our drive goes on with our new BharatBenz 3143 later this year. The BharatBenz 3143 was already showcased at the IAA Commercial Vehicle show in Germany last September. It is specially designed keeping in mind the ultimate requirements of the Indian mining sector. Highly researched and meticulously engineered, the BharatBenz 3143 will be made and sold in India, targeting the niche deep-mining segment, hitherto operated by highly priced premium deep-mining trucks from global players. With high levels of localization, the product will offer the Indian mining truck owners an unbeatable value proposition and higher return on investments.
Developed on the existing HDT platform – the Mercedes-Benz Axor platform – the BharatBenz 3143 is the first truck with 430 HP made in India, optimally engineered to meet the most demanding operating conditions at the mining sites.
Expectations from CV industry in 2015
These are challenging times for the CV industry with the continued economic sluggishness. There is an obvious trough in the market at present. Several economic indicators are under severe strain, and this is reflected also in the trucking industry. But we as DICV focus generally on long-term developments. The downturn in the trucking industry is a part of the cyclical turns that any industry faces, even though the current downturn has lasted longer than expected.
However, we believe in the India growth story. The CV industry will ride back on its growth path in the near future. Renewed focus on infrastructure projects and industrial production, coupled with favorable Government policies and reforms, would certainly boost the sentiment of the customers in the industry. ‘Make in India’ can become a Quality sign, and if you have seen our DICV plant at Oragadam, then you see that world-class development and production is quite possible in India.
The entire market volume (9t-49t) is around 1.6 lakh units, whereas it should have been about 3 lakh units per annum. In the long term, this market has a potential to reach 4.5 lakh units per annum.