Daimler to Manufacture New Sub-9 Tonne Commercial Vehicles in 2017
Published On Feb 13, 2017
Daimler has unveiled its plans for its India based manufacturing plants for 2017. The renowned truck and bus manufacturer, famous for BharatBenz trucks in India, has planned to roll out new sub-9 tonne commercial vehicles in the first quarter of 2017.
Marc Llistosella, Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said, "Our Indian operations at DICV are a cornerstone of our success at Daimler Trucks Asia. With the launch of a third product line for exports in 2017, at DICV we will enter the next stage in the strategic collaboration of DICV and MFTBC." He also added "The new sub-9 tonne vehicles will initially be designated only for exports as FUSO brand and the first customer variants will be rolled out in first half of the year."
The new sub-9 tonne trucks and buses by Daimler will be manufactured for export under FUSO brand only. Erich Nesselhauf, MD and CEO for Daimler India Commercial Vehicle, said, "We have kept our focus on profitable growth in 2016. Thanks to our successful exports, we have been able to more than compensate current challenges in domestic market."
Mr Nesselhauf was pointing towards the low sales figures that Daimler has registered in 2016. Daimler has managed to sell only 13,081 trucks in 2016. The figure is 619 units shorter than 13,997 trucks and buses that the CV brand had sold in 2015. Mr Nesselhauf, sounding confident about Daimler's future in India added, "We are planning to advance with our BharatBenz brand based on strong products, technologies. A key growth driver for us will be the new generation of our BharatBenz heavy-duty trucks which we are going to launch in coming months."
Daimler India, for the development of its manufacturing facility located in Oragadam, Chennai has invested more than INR 5,000 crore already. The company had rolled out 50,000 madein India commercial vehicles in August 2016.
