The first BharatBenz bus has rolled off the line at the Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) plant in Oragadam, Chennai, marking the start of production at the integrated truck and bus manufactory, and delivering gross vehicle weights ranging from nine tonnes to 16 or more tonnes.
Daimler India’s front-engine BharatBenz buses are designed for the short-distance people moving for tourism or staff transport, while its rear-engine Mercedes-Benz buses are targeting inter-city transportation, including a new multi-axle Mercedes-Benz that will be the first 15-metre bus in India.
“It is a significant occasion for us as we start production of Indian buses for the Indian market at our Oragadam plant,” said Markus Villinger, MD of Daimler Buses India, which claims to be laying down news standards of safety and efficiency in India with its new range.
“The buses are engineered to provide value to our customers and offer them suitable products with our two-brand strategy. We see enormous potential for growth in the market as the volume of the Indian market for buses weighing over eight tonnes is set to double by the year 2020.”
The company invested an additional $67m in the new bus plant at the 160-hectare Oragadam facility, delivering an initial annual capacity of 1,500 units, with the potential for expansion to up to 4,000 units.
The Chennai plant was established with an initial investment of $695m and is the only Daimler Trucks plant worldwide to produce three brands – Mercedes-Benz, BharatBenz and Fuso – under one roof. It also features a modern test track designed to simulate Indian conditions – one of the first in Asia.
The bus chassis are being rolled out from the same line as the technologically similar medium-duty BharatBenz trucks, which the Chennai plant already began exporting to Egypt in February, before the advent of local bus production.
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) is a 100% subsidiary of Daimler AG, Stuttgart, Germany, and currently produces and sells nine tonne to 49 tonne trucks for the Indian volume market under BharatBenz brand.
