Daimler starts to sell BharatBenz trucks and delivers first vehicles to customers

Crucial day for the latest brand of Daimler's commercial vehicles division - In full view of journalists, dealers, and financing partners, three heavy-duty BharatBenz trucks rolled on stage on the occasion of a ceremony held in the Indian city of Mumbai. The trucks
mark the launch of sales and delivery of BharatBenz vehicles in India. As part of the market launch, the first authorized dealerships have also commenced operations. By the end of this year, sales and service points will represent the brand at all key transport routes and trucking hubs across the country. Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) thus continues to fully respect the timeline that the wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG set itself three years ago.

"The Indian truck market has evolved to become one of the largest markets in the world over the past years. In the medium term, we expect a further increasing volume of up to 550,000 units in the medium and heavy segment. Therefore, our new brand BharatBenz comes at exactly the right time to participate in this enormous growth," says Andreas Renschler, the Daimler Board of Management member responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses.

"Now that we have systematically built up the brand BharatBenz in recent years, our products are delivering on their promise in daily customer operations," states Marc Llistosella, CEO and Managing Director of DICV. "The fact that we have already received positive feedback on our vehicles confirms our goal to start a new era for freight transportation on India's roads."

Selected customers indeed had the opportunity to preliminarily use first BharatBenz trucks under real conditions. Several trucks have completed up to 50,000 kilometers in everyday life operations, and resonated well without exception. All expectations towards product strengths such as fuel efficiency, reliability, and comfort were met or even considerably exceeded.

Based on the Mercedes-Benz Axor platform, the newly launched truck models are heavy-duty BharatBenz 2523R and 3123R (25- and 31-tons gross vehicle weight, respectively) for the haulage segment as well as BharatBenz 2523C (25-tons GVW) for the construction segment. The robust and economical 'modern domestic' trucks ensure that customers enjoy a low total cost of ownership, which is an increasingly important selling point in India as well. By 2014, BharatBenz will have launched 14 additional models in the weight ranges from seven to 49-tons.

The state-of-the-art dealership network also focuses on customer preferences. Complete sales consulting, 24/7 after-sales service with advanced interactive vehicle diagnostics as well as tailor-made financial service packages are just a few of the comprehensive services that enable customers to achieve an optimal total cost of ownership.

Posted in: Andreas Renschler,BharatBenz,Daimler,Daimler India Commercial Vehicles,DICV,Ford Commercial Vehicles,Heavy-Duty,India,International,Marc Llistosella,Mumbai,Truck