12 | AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017CORPORATE
F
ive years ago in September
Daimler India Commercial
Vehicles (DICV), the wholly-
owned subsidiary of Daimler
Trucks, launched its range of trucks
in India under the BharatBenz brand.
To commemorate its fifth anniversary
in the Indian market and to reduce
the carbon footprint of its vehicles, the
company has introduced BharatBenz
Euro 5 ready medium-duty trucks.
DICV handed over the truck to a
customer last month.
In line with the Euro 5 emission
standard, nitrogen oxide (NOx)
emissions are reduced by more
than 40 percent compared to BS-IV.
Nitrogen oxides are considered to
be a major source of air pollution in
high-traffic metro areas which leads to
respiratory diseases and other negative
impacts on people and environment.Like many emerging markets India too
is driven by Government regulations
making the users to buy less polluting
vehicles. However, according to
industry sources, there is hardly any
intent for the customers to buy a
vehicle that is above the stipulated
emission norm. In such a scenario
why DICV is attempting to launch a
Euro-V compliant (almost equal to
BS –V) vehicle while India is currently
following only BS-IV (similar to Euro-
IV) norms and with a clear direction
to leapfrog to BS-VI norms by 2020?
To this Erich Nesselhauf, Managing
Director and CEO, DICV, said, there
are customers who are conscious
about the environment and they are
prepared to buy vehicles that comply
with norms better than those stipulated
by the Government. “This vehicle will
cater to those customers,” he said. As
the pollution in cities are higher than
the rural areas, DICV has launched
the Euro 5 vehicle in the Medium Duty
Truck segment that is suitable for intra-
city operations.DICV has been growing consistently
despite adverse conditions such as an
overall industry downturn or multiple
market distortions in 2016. So far over
55,000 trucks have been delivered to
customers across India. Besides, it
also commenced exports from 2013
and shipped over 10,000 trucks. The
number of export markets will reach 40
before the end of this calendar year.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.”
In 2017, DICV expects to achieve
significant growth with BharatBenz.
For the first time, the brand progressed
into double-digit market share in recent
months, based on strong momentum
gained with the BS-IV transition.Reflecting persistent strong order
intake, DICV decided to add a
second shift at its truck
plant in Oragadam,
near Chennai. The
production increase
will also cater to
expected growth in
DICV’s export business.
“We continue onour sustainable growth track with
BharatBenz. Customer demand has
been particularly strong in the 16-
tonnes segment, further extending our
position as the clear number three in
heavy-duty trucks. We have thus taken
the next step and moved to two-shift
operations at our manufacturing plant,”
Nesselhauf said.Tailor-made For India
The BharatBenz brand is tailored for
the Indian market and its demanding
customer requirements by DaimlerAG.
First unveiled in February 2011,
it celebrated its market launch in
September 2012. Soon featuring a
full-fledged product portfolio in the
medium- and heavy-duty segments,
the brand crossed the first major
milestone of 10,000 units in April 2014
and further accelerated its growth from
there.With the refresh of the medium-duty
range in 2016 and the all-new heavy-
duty range in 2017, BharatBenz
updated its entire truck portfolio within
a short span to give customers even
more value for money. In less than five
years after its market entry, more than
55,000 BharatBenz trucks were handed
over to customers. Currently the
products are sold and serviced through
an all-India network of more than 130
touchpoints.DICV Launches Euro 5 Truck To
Celebrate 5th Anniversary
APA Bureau
Daimler Anniversary
Erich Nesselhauf and Marc Llistosella with the Euro 5 truck