Daimler launches heavy trucks, BharatBenz Finance

September 26, 2012: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles has finally launched its first products in India, bringing to a grand climax, a variety of brand familiarisation initiatives over the better part of 2012 which also included a country-wide yatra that gave potential buyers a chance to experience the Daimler range.

At a meeting in Mumbai, the company launched its heavy-duty range which comprises the 2523R and 3123R for haulage and the 2523 for the construction segment. These trucks as well as others to be launched in due course will be sold through a network of 28 dealers that have signed on with DICV.

While these dealerhips currently cover 89 percent of the market, in the words of VRV Sriprasad, VP, marketing and sales, the company wants its dealership network to be the differentiator. DICV hopes to have between 40-45 dealers in place by the end of the year and will have over a 100 by end-2013. DICV does not have a presence yet in the northern most state of Jammu & Kashmir and the north-eastern states. Talks are on to establish presence there.

While the 2523R has 3 variants is priced at Rs. 15.7 lakh – Rs. 17.2 lakh, the 3123R is priced between Rs 18.7 lakh to Rs 20.2 lakh. The trucks’ components have not only been localised but re-inforced too. “All components, including cabin have been reinforced to meet Indian conditions,” says Erich Nesselhauf, vice president, procurement and supply chain management, DICV.

Alongside the launch of the trucks, DICV has launched BharatBenz Financial as a captive area of business under the aegis of Daimler Financial Services. BharatBenz Financial has tied up with four finance institutions including HDFC Bank, Sundaram Finance, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Marc Llistosella, MD and CEO of DICV said the company will launch 14 new models over a 17-month period. In his presentation, Llistosella focused on total cost of ownership as one of the USPs of the BharatBenz range. Based on the Axor platform, which has been localized for India, the heavy duty range that was launched comes with six-cylinder engines with 230 HP in all three variants.

The trucks, he said, have a 85 percent localisation and DICV will endeavour to increase this. Among features being offered are unitized fuel injection systems, balance-type rear suspension and inter-wheel differential in the haulage vehicle and inter-wheel/inter-axle differential locks in the construction trucks.

With the launch of the heavy trucks, DICV, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG aims to take on Tata Motors, India’s No 1. trucks manufacturer. Tata Motors launched six new trucks a few weeks ago including a more ‘affordable’ Prima LX range. With the entry of Daimler, all the major global truck brands are now present in India. Scania is currently building a plant near Bangalore and will begin operations in April 2013.

The launch of Daimler takes place at a time when the medium and heavy truck sector in India is undergoing some pressure. Over 700,000 trucks were sold in India in 2011-12 of which 3.48 lakh were M&HCVs.

At the Hanover CV show last week, Andreas Renschler, the chief of Daimler Trucks, told a group of visiting Indian journalists that, “Growth in the TRIAD (Japan, US and Europe) markets is limited. Volume growth will come from the emerging markets like India, China, Russia and Brazil. Our strategy is to be in the market, be aware of the risks but somehow deal with it and beat local competition. We will do this in India and China.

BRIAN DE SOUZA