Eager to cash in on the fast growing commercial vehicle segment, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) on Wednesday said it would introduce its new range of trucks under the BharatBenz brand by mid-2012.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Germany's Daimler AG also plans to export trucks from India besides manufacturing buses from its Chennai plant.
“The full range showcase of the new BharatBenz trucks will happen in March …the production starts in April. The market launch will happen in the third quarter of the current year,” DICV Managing Director and CEO Marc Llistosella told journalists here.
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In February last, DICV had introduced the new BharatBenz brand for the Indian market.
The company has set up a 400-acre production plant at Oragadam near Chennai with an investment of Rs.4,400 crore in setting up manufacturing and marketing and sales paraphernalia.
The plant will initially produce 36,000 units a year and later expanded to produce 72,000 units by starting 2013 on which the company will spend an additional Rs.350 crore.
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Exclusive showrooms
DICV also has aggressive sales plans and is setting up exclusive showrooms in about 100 locations by this year-end. “The total truck market in India (in the 6-49 tonnes range) is estimated to be around 3.4-lakh units and is expected to grow annually at 5 per cent till 2020,” Mr. Llistosella added.
Export plans
On export plans, Mr. Llistosella said the BharatBenz trucks could be exported to markets such as Africa, the Middle-East and Southeast Asia. The company also plans to manufacture buses in India as there is a ‘huge potential' in the Indian market.