Daimler enters pre-owned market with launch of 'BharatBenz Certified'

Commercial vehicles maker Daimler India has forayed into the pre-owned business segment under its new brand 'BharatBenz Certified', the company said on Monday.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Daimler Truck AG.

The new business initiative would refurbish and sell pre-owned BharatBenz trucks to customers.

To be initially available at Trident Trucking in Bengaluru, the BharatBenz Certified programme would be expanded to other dealerships across the country.

"Our perpetual and thorough market research practice brought to our attention the aspiration of customers who would like to purchase pre-owned BharatBenz trucks. This need in the market gave birth to the idea of launching BharatBenz Certified -- a company-steered pre-owned CV business initiative...," BharatBenz Marketing, sales, and customer service, President Rajaram K said.

BharatBenz Certified would also be the catalyst for its customers to upgrade their fleet to new BharatBenz vehicles which in turn creates an opportunity for customers aspiring to own safe and reliable pre-owned vehicles that would be as good as new, he said.

Under the initiative, the company would undertake a rigorous 125-point quality check that would lead to a thorough technical, repair and restoration of the vehicles.

The pre-owned vehicles would be equipped with six-month warranty and would have a detailed pre-delivery inspection (PDI) before dispatch.

Customers would have the option to choose an annual maintenance contract for the pre-owned BharatBenz range of trucks or transfer the existing warranty and AMC from the previous owner, it said.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles said it also has a programme called 'BharatBenz Exchange' aimed at providing customers who own commercial vehicles of different brands to shift to BharatBenz. BharatBenz Certified complements BharatBenz Exchange programme in utilising the longer lifecycle of commercial vehicles that customers can enjoy.

The BharatBenz Certified sale and purchase process would be through digital platform, the company said.