Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a subsidiary of the German multi-national Daimler A.G., is working on its next truck platform for the Indian market.
Referred to internally as Project Thunderbolt, a concept of the new truck will be unveiled at the IAA automotive show in Hanover coming September.
The first model from this new line is set for market launch in the third quarter of 2015, and is an important unfinished job that outgoing Managing Director and CEO Marc Llistosella is leaving behind for his successor.
Mr. Llistosella will be moving to Tokyo next week to take charge of his new role as Head (Marketing, Sales & After-Sales) of Daimler Trucks Asia and DICV.
“It [Thunderbolt] is a bit of my baby, and the launch of this next line of trucks is an important unfinished agenda that I’m leaving behind,” Mr. Llistosella told The Hindu .
He will be succeeded by Mr. Erich Nesselhauf, now Vice-President (Supply Chain) at DICV.
DICV has sold more than 10,000 units of BharatBenz trucks since its launch in September 2012, and claims to be number three in the pecking order for heavy-duty trucks with a market share of 6.8 per cent. The company does not share its sales numbers with industry body SIAM, but, according to Mr. Llistosella, the brand has high market shares in States such as Kerala (28.5 per cent), Karnataka (15.5 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (12 per cent).
Mr. Llistosella, who has led the project since its conception in 2006, contends that DICV has proved naysayers wrong. “They said you cannot succeed without a partner, the desired quality levels cannot be achieved, localisation over 60 per cent is not possible and that dealers cannot be convinced to join hands with us but we’ve proved them wrong on each of these,” he declares.
Ask him what was his biggest challenge and the Spaniard chuckles: “Doing business without compromising on our values.”
The company had to pay a price for refusing to grease palms — it had to shift its plant by 100 metres to the north because the promised allotment of extra land did not come on time. This was when the plant was well into construction with the paint shop coming up.
“There was a financial cost and our stockyard is now smaller by 100 metres but it is a price we were prepared to pay,” Mr. Llistosella said.
In another instance, the company was denied permission for aerial photography of its plant with a helicopter but one of its expatriate engineers built a drone with GPS, which was then used to shoot aerial pictures.
Denying that the German multi-national discounts its trucks, Mr. Llistosella argued that Daimler Financial Services finances only 30-40 per cent of its sales with the rest funded by outsiders.
“Do you think that an Indian financier will fund at discounted rates? Our in-house arm is also accountable for its profitability.
“As for extended warranties, these are paid for by customers,” he shot back.
But is he leaving behind a profitable DICV? “We will be extremely profitable from 2016. The path has been laid, and it was always planned that way,” is Mr. Llistosella’s answer.
