Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has announced production of its 1,000th BSVI-compliant heavy duty truck, one of over 1,500 such vehicles the company has manufactured in the last few months despite the ongoing lockdown.

Rajaram Krishnamurthy, DCIV’s head of marketing, sales and customer service, said: “Since premiering our new line of BharatBenz BSVI-compliant trucks and buses in January, we have been steadily increasing our lead in the industry. This is proved again now as we celebrate the production of our 1,000th BSVI- compliant heavy duty truck.”

The truck was a 3523R model, bound for one of the 235 Indian dealers for sale.

DICV also celebrated a further production milestone with the SOP of its updated 4228R, a truck model traditionally one of the company’s high volume sellers.

Although production has recently proved a challenge for many manufacturers in the automotive industry, DICV has remained firmly on track throughout the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While part of this success comes from a 80%+ localisation rate for BSVI components, DICV’s MD and CEO Satyakam Arya also credits the business’ sustainability to the comprehensive care shown to stakeholders.

He said:”We support our stakeholders through the hard times and we celebrate with them in the good times. Today, we celebrate these new production milestones both with them and thanks to them.”

During the crisis DICV has offered owners free vehicle checks and sanitisation, along with warranty extensions and also worked with Hindustan Petroleum to support stranded drivers with basic requirements such as secured parking, water, fuel, restrooms and shelter.

For dealers, suppliers and employees, DICV additionally conducted an intensive education and communication campaign.

All major stakeholder groups were provided with tailored health and safety manuals, instructional videos and web-based training.

The wide-reaching initiative provided partners with tools needed to navigate the ongoing crisis – from hygiene guidelines and holistic wellness seminars to expert talks on market trends and industry insights.