Bharat Benz trucks debut with 3 models

Daimler, the world’s largest commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturer, has entered the Indian market with the launch of its heavy duty trucks under the brand name Bharat Benz.

The company is looking at becoming a volume player in the CV space as it plans to launch 17 products in the next 17 months.

Daimler’s entry is expected to change the dynamics of the CV segment, which has been dominated by Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. To offer competitive pricing, Daimler has gone for a localisation of 85% for its products with aim to take it to 90% by the next year-end.

“Nobody in this industry has reached 85% localisation in just three years. We want to be the aspirational brand in the industry and we want to be among the top three CV manufacturers in the country in the next four years,” said Marc Llistosella, MD & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).

The company, which previewed its entire range of products in in March this year, plans to launch products in the 7-49 tonne categories in the next 17 months.

To start with, DICV on Wednesday launched three heavy duty vehicles in the 25 and 31 tonne categories in the price range of `15.7 lakh to `23.1 lakh. The company will begin the production of light and medium duty trucks from October.

Daimler has set up an annual capacity of 36,000 units at its plant in Chennai, which can be further expanded to 50,000 units.

According to analysts, pricing will be key for Daimler to compete with local players in India. As per Daimler, prices of Bharat Benz trucks will be marginally higher than the competition.

“If the company gets the pricing right, then the immediate impact will be on the smaller players like AMW and Eicher. Daimler will gain market share from the smaller players,” said an analyst with domestic brokerage.

The company is also working on building a strong dealer network as it aims to reach 100 plus locations by the end of next year. “We received some 800 applications from top dealers across the country. Out of these, we have shortlisted 28 to expand our reach. We will keep adding more dealers going ahead,” said VRV Sriprasad (VP marketing, sales & after sales), DICV.

The company has also set up a captive financing company – Bharat Benz Financials – to provide easy financing to its customers.

It has also tied up with leading lenders such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Sundaram Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Without commenting further on the future product range, Llistosella said that the company will also consider manufacturing buses.