Daimler India crosses export milestone of 10,000 trucks in 4 years

Milestone achieved with Mercedes-Benz 40-tonne heavy-duty tractor for a customer in Indonesia

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has rolled out its 10,000th export vehicle in less than four years after starting overseas shipment.

The milestone vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz 40-tonne heavy-duty tractor for a customer in Indonesia, is part of a batch of about 250 trucks on the way to various markets in South-East Asia.

Marc Llistosella, head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said: "10,000 trucks being exported is only a start. We are leveraging additional potentials in growth markets with reliable, efficient high-quality trucks built at our Indian manufacturing plant."

"There will be continuous significant growth in this business for our FUSO and Mercedes-Benz brands," the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) added. 

DICV's export product range, manufactured on the same production lines as its domestic BharatBenz portfolio, according to global Daimler standards, features medium-duty (9-16 tonnes) and heavy-duty (16-49 tonnes) trucks. 

Developed and rigorously tested to meet the diverse requirements of the target markets in Asia, the West Asia, Africa, and Latin America; they are opening additional growth opportunities for Daimler Trucks.

Erich Nesselhauf, managing director and CEO, DICV, said: "Our exports business has been developing extremely well. Since the launch in 2013, we have doubled our figures each year." 

"We aim for further significant growth as we will expand to serve more than 40 markets on three continents by the end of the year," Nesselhauf added.

Beyond completely built trucks, DICV has already exported more than 1,000 bus chassis produced at its bus plant and is ramping up volumes of its Mercedes-Benz school bus which has been launched in the West Asia. 

The company has also been supplying FUSO truck CKD kits to Kenya for local assembly by a FUSO partner in Kenya since March 2016, and to Daimler Truck's production plant in East London/South Africa, where local assembly just began in May 2017.