The Hindu Business Line : DaimlerChrysler to foray into trucks business this year

THE country's commercial vehicles segment looks like it is going upwardly mobile with DaimlerChrysler announcing on Wednesday that it is all set to foray into the trucks business by the end of the calendar year.

The company also plans to introduce its luxury buses in India and is currently studying the market for the potential, said Mr Hans-Michael Huber, Managing Director and CEO, DaimlerChrysler India.

Mr Huber told newspersons here that the company's 40-tonner (gross vehicle weight) premium truck, Actros, is right now undergoing homologation at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and he expects it to roll onto Indian roads by end-2004. The Actros will be launched in two versions; a tipper and a tractor-trailer, Mr Huber said.

"With good quality roads coming up and the economy picking up, I see large potential for our kind of products in the market." The company is not yet betting on the numbers that it hopes to sell in the trucks business, but Mr Huber said that he expects the trucks to substitute for the existing products in the market.

"A single Actros can do the job that two of the existing trucks on Indian roads can do," he said, adding that while fleet owners are currently extremely price sensitive, the volumes will come in once the industry is more professionalised.

DaimlerChrysler has, meanwhile, launched the E 200 Kompressor, the third variant of the E-class range of Mercedes-Benz cars in India. The new offering comes with four-cylinder petrol engine, a host of safety features including a mechanism to reduce the risk of skidding and improved safety when braking in an emergency.

Other features include a sensor on the windscreen that detects low light and automatically switches the car lights on. Those looking for the ultimate toy will also love the fact that the steering wheel of the car will now allow the radio and other units to be operated from it.

With over 5,700 units of the E class have been sold since its launch in 1995 and with three models spanning a range of price points, Mr Huber said the E class is what will fuel the company's growth in India.

Last year the company sold 660 units of the car which contributed to almost a third of total volumes for the year and it expects to take the numbers to over 700 in calendar year 2004.

Mr Huber said the feel-good factor in the country currently is likely to fuel sales for the luxury carmaker, which is now in the mood to upward revise its sales projections to a 15 per cent growth over last year as against the 10 per cent it had predicted last month.

"We sold 1,580 cars totally last year and will be disappointed if we don't cross the 1,800-unit mark in this calendar," he said.

Meanwhile, the company's export of components for DaimlerChrysler's global requirements is now well in place, according to Mr Huber, who pointed out that in 2003 the company's share of the total components exported out of India was 10 per cent (valued at Rs 410 crore.

"There is a huge market waiting to be tapped in India's components business and we intend to grow the business significantly over the next couple of years," he said.

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