The Hindu Business Line : DaimlerChrysler first bus to be inter-city coach

The first bus from DaimlerChrysler India Ltd will be an inter-city coach that will operate in a segment similar to Volvo. The buses will be assembled at its plant at Chikhali where a new assembly line has been installed, and be driven up to its partner Sutlej Motors, Jalandhar, for building the body.

Dr Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO, DCIL, said that only one model would be introduced by early 2008, and the company was looking at a slow entry.

“We want to first understand the product and the market, and how we can adapt them,” he said, adding that the investment in the new plant at Chakan, and the new assembly line was €50 million.

Flagging off an entourage comprising its entire diesel car portfolio for the ‘Mercedes Benz India Trail’, Dr Wilbur made a strong case for diesel as a fuel. “Today’s modern diesel passenger cars reduce exhaust emissions by 70-80 per cent, throw up 20-30 per cent lower greenhouse gases than petrol, and are much more efficient to run.”

Pan-India drive

With a fleet of six diesel models - S-Class, C-Class, E-Class, M-Class, Bio-diesel C-Class and the Viano – accounting for 50 per cent of its passenger car sales, he said, “We are finally where we want to be.” The pan-India drive covering 40,000 km and passing through Goa, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Pushkar and Jaipur before ending in Delhi on October 10, would “demonstrate the reliability of diesel cars,” he added.

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