German auto giant Daimler is preparing to achieve pan-India presence for its bus business by the end of this year. Also, the company’s vehicle manufacturing factory near Chennai is set to export its first fully-built bus soon.

The company said it had sold over 1,000 Oragadam-built buses in both domestic and export markets (only chassis) since the start of its bus sale in November 2015. Now, with expanded reach, the company seeks to enter faster-growth curve.

“Our bus business in India has progressed as per our plans. Growth is happening across segments. So we are working on a phase-by-phase approach for the Indian market. We have done phase-1 and we are now going to phase 2 plan under which we will expand to northern and eastern markets of India,” Markus Villinger, Managing Director, Daimler Buses India and Vice-President – Daimler India Commercial Vehicles told BusinessLine . The phase-1 strategy was all about south and western markets and also North. “With this, pan-India presence for buses will be completed by the end of this year,” he added.

Daimler will step up its focus on staff, tourist and inter-city segments to boost its bus sales. BharatBenz brand of buses will focus on school, staff and tourist transportation, while Mercedes-Benz brand of luxury buses are sold for inter-city transportation. But its buses come at a premium as the company positions itself slightly above the mass-market segment.

Along with its domestic focus, Daimler has also been exporting bus chassis, built at its Oragadam factory, to many markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

However, it will soon graduate to next level with the export of full buses.

The company will export its first fully-built bus from the Oragadam factory by the end of this year. These buses will be sold under the Mercedes-Benz brand in other markets. “We don’t go with BharatBenz brand for rest of the markets,” he said.

Its Oragadam bus factory, which makes buses under two brands: BharatBenz and Mercedes-Benz, has a capacity of 1,500 units and that can be scaled up to 4,000 units.

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