Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the Indian subsidiary of truck manufacturer Daimler AG, unveiled a new range of trucks under its BharatBenz brand at a media meet at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre on March 2. At the special premiere spread over six days, potential customers and brand partners like dealers and suppliers will experience the BharatBenz trucks for the very first time.
Speaking on the occasion, Marc Llistosella, CEO and MD of DICV, said: “We will start our market launch in the third quarter of 2012 with the introduction of three models. This will be followed by the launch of our entire product portfolio, consisting of 17 models, over the next 20 months.”
The BharatBenz range of trucks unveiled today includes Light Duty Trucks (LDT) and Heavy Duty Trucks (HDT) in the 9, 12, 25, 31 and 49 tonnes category, featuring various usages and applications.
Aydogan Cakmaz, vice-president, Product Engineering, said: “Our trucks are based on two of the most successful platforms proven across the globe, the Fuso Canter and the Mercedes-Benz Axor. But for that, we have literally taken every part, re-developed and re-designed it for Indian conditions like overloading, rugged terrain and poor roads. This re-engineering has been the key for the development of a new generation of products, which are 85 percent localised right from the beginning, to perfectly fit the Indian customers’ requirements. Our BharatBenz trucks have been benchmarked and tested for over 4.5 million kilometres on our specially designed test track. We don’t test our products on the customer. When a customer buys our product, he gets a 100 percent tested and reliable product.”
V R V. Sriprasad, vice-president, Marketing & Sales, Aftersales, said: “We have priced our trucks competitively in the volume segment. Importantly, we have focused on offering value-for-money features, which includes significant fuel efficiency advantages, best-in-class reliability with parts engineered for long lifespan and longer service intervals, which will reduce the operational cost and keep the trucks running.”
In the first phase, BharatBenz trucks will be sold and serviced over a network of 70 dealerships. This will be extended to more than 100 dealerships by 2014. DICV will offer 24/7 service which includes roadside assistance, interactive vehicle diagnostics and short turnaround time.
Furthermore, BharatBenz customers can choose to use the services of Daimler’s financial arm - Daimler Financial Services - for financing solutions, insurance and service.