Daimler India CV launches Euro 5-compliant BharatBenz medium-duty trucks

Having sold over 55,000 BharatBenz trucks in the domestic market, German CV maker celebrates five years in India with introduction of Euro 5 trucks, begins two-shift operation to meet growing demand.

By Autocar Professional Bureau

19 Sep 2017

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L-R: Erich Nesselhauf, MD and CEO, DICV, and Marc Llistosella, head of Daimler Trucks Asia, at the reveal of the Euro 5-compliant medium-duty truck in Chennai today.

BharatBenz, the trucking brand of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles in the Indian market, has turned five. Since its launch in September 2012, over 55,000 BharatBenz trucks have been sold in the domestic market, according to the company.

The company, which had launched commercial sales with an expansive range in the medium and heavy duty truck range, crossed the 10,000 unit sales mark in April 2014. In 2016, it implemented a refresh of the medium-duty range and earlier this year, introduced an all-new heavy duty range.

Speaking at a celebratory function in Chennai today, Marc Llistosella, head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said: “Our strategic aim was to give Daimler Trucks a strong footprint in India with its immense growth potential. In just five years, we have firmly established BharatBenz as an aspirational brand in the world’s toughest commercial vehicle market.”

DICV is bullish on growth and expects to achieve significant growth this year in the domestic market. The company says BharatBenz has recorded double-digit market share in recent months, based on the strong momentum gained with the BS IV transition from April 2017.

According to Erich Nesselhauf, MD and CEO, DICV, “We continue our sustainable growth trend with BharatBenz. Customer demand has been particularly strong in the 16-49 tonne segment, further extending our position as the clear No. 3 in heavy duty trucks. We have thus taken the next step and moved to two-shift operations at our manufacturing plant.”

Euro 5-compliant heavy duty trucks launched
To showcase its technological prowess at developing future-emission norm ready trucks, DICV today handover over its first Euro 5-compliant medium duty trucks to customers. Under Euro 5 emission norms, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are reduced by over 40 percent compared to BS IV.

According to Nesselhauf, “BharatBenz will continue to push the limits of India’s CV industry. We led the transition to BS IV standard, and are proud to hand over Euro 5-ready trucks today. Improvements of air quality beyond BS IV levels can be achieved immediately.”

DICV, which has its plant at Oragadam in Tamil Nadu and a manufacturing capacity of 72,000 trucks per annum (Buses/coaches: 1,500 units scalable up to 4,000 units), currently has over 130 dealer sales and service points across India, including Tier 2 and 3 cities.