Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has seen domestic sales of its BharatBenz range of trucks pass the significant milestone of 50,000 units, while its export figures have topped 10,000 units sold to more than 30 countries.
DICV shipped the first trucks under the brand from its facility in Chennai in 2013, after BharatBenz was established in 2011 in a bid by Daimler to enter a tough commercial vehicle market dominated by well-established domestic brands.
However, the bet paid off, and today, while India had not one of the Top Ten markets for Daimler Trucks until 2014, it now ranks as the fifth most important market for Daimler Trucks worldwide – with 13,100 units sold in 2016.
Now, with its BharatBenz product tried and tested in India, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles has developed a sub-nine-tonne truck specifically for the Middle East that will be launched in Q3 2017.
For the moment, Daimler is being tight-lipped about the details of the Middle East product, but its exports from India have been doubling for several years, with the business exporting a total of 4,000 Fuso and Mercedes-Benz brand units from its BharatBenz production lines in 2016.
In 2017, the number of export markets from Daimler’s Indian made product will grow to 40 countries on three continents, including markets in Africa and Latin America, and, in the Middle East, Bahrain.
With the launch of the BharatBenz heavy-duty truck range in April 2017, DICV has completed its domestic truck portfolio less than five years since the market launch.
Now Daimler is looking outwards to where the experience garnered during DICV’s roll-out of the BharatBenz in India can be used to deliver gains in light- to medium-duty trucks in other emerging markets.
