Truck manufacturer Daimler India Commercial Vehicles on Wednesday inaugurated a new bus plant and expanded its trucks range to heavy duty trucks and tractors.

The ₹425-crore bus plant with a capacity to make 1,500 units a year will manufacture vehicles under the Mercedes Benz and BharatBenz brands. The plant has come up on a 28-acre facility within Daimler India truck factory located at Oragadam industrial hub to the west of Chennai.

The bus plant and expanded truck range marks Daimler India’s metamorphosis into a complete commercial vehicle manufacturer. The heavy duty trucks in the 360 HP to 430 HP range are being manufactured for the first time in India. This is a segment dominated by European brands.

The Bharat Benz bus bodies, with chassis supplied from the truck plant, will be built by Wrightbus of Northern Ireland with which it has a supplier agreement. The bus plant is equipped to expand to 4,000 units a year with growth in demand.

The Mercedez Benz luxury buses with rear engines catering to intercity transportation will be built with imported engines and transmission from Brazil.

Daimler India showcased for the international media Bharat Benz buses to cater to markets for schools, staff movement and tourism.

Marc Llistosella, Head, Daimler Trucks Asia, said the buses from the plant will roll out in the third quarter of the current year.

Wolfgang Bernhard, Member of the Board of Management, Daimler AG, said the company sees a huge potential in India with demand for modern, heavy duty trucks set to increase.

By 2020, the industry estimates the number of trucks of eight tonnes and more to double, he said.

The company also entered into the mining segment with the launch of two heavy duty trucks – the 430 HP BharatBenz 3143 Tipper; and the 360 HP BharatBenz 2536 – and a 400 HP tractor, the BharatBenz 4940, for heavy lift project cargo.

Erich Nesselhauf, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India, said the domestic market is shifting to more modern and larger capacity trucks. The company’s sales volume in the first quarter of the current year has increased by 60 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

Markus Villinger, MD, Daimler Buses India, said the bus plant will generate over 1,300 jobs. It will manufacture buses with capacities of nine tonnes, 16-tonnes and heavier gross vehicle weight.

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