Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, the wholly owned arm of Daimler AG, announced on Thursday that sales of BharatBenz trucks have surpassed 20,000 units since its launch in September 2012.
Erich Nesselhauf, MD and CEO, said, “This sales milestone shows that even under difficult market conditions of the truck industry, we are fully on track. Our trucks are well perceived by customers and subsequent orders are evidence of their confidence”.
Sreeram V, Vice-President added that BharatBenz is gaining momentum in the Indian market. “We are already among the top three in the heavy duty segment. This reflects that our robust product portfolio offers the lowest cost-of-ownership for the customer, better fuel advantage, efficiency and performance,” he said.
DICV has 81 dealerships that cover 85 per cent of the market. BharatBenz dealerships have a 24x7 enabled workshop manned by trained engineers/technicians equipped with high productivity tools, advanced guided diagnostics and mobile service vans.
It now remains to be seen if DICV will break into the stranglehold of established players like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. The commercial vehicle industry is just about crawling out of an abyss after nearly two years and manufacturers are keen on making up for lost time.
Within the industry, observers believe that BharatBenz trucks will continue to notch up numbers with younger fleet operators seeking something new. Yet, it is not as if Tata and Leyland are being complacent either with a host of product launches planned in the coming months.
What is interesting about DICV is that it is after ages that an aggressive competitor has entered the Indian trucking arena and has made its intentions known. Daimler can leverage global competencies to its advantage which will help from the viewpoint of economies of scale. Whether this will tilt the leadership balance during the reminder of this decade is the million dollar question.