Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly owned subsidiary of German automotive giant Daimler, has exported the first batch of 64 Fuso trucks manufactured at its Oragadam plant in the outskirts of Chennai.
These trucks are headed towards Sri Lanka as part of the company’s commitment to export to various countries in Asia and Africa, according to the Times of India.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Last month, DICV, along with Daimler unit Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, launched the new Fuso range of trucks at DICV’s plant at Oragadam. The factory has been identified by Daimler as one of its production hubs in the Asia-Pacific region with significant export commitments.
Marc Llistosella, MD & CEO, DICV, said: “The export of the first Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka is a realisation of our promise to export from DICV, Chennai. The quality standards at our plant in Chennai combined with the quality of parts from Indian suppliers has made this possible. Going forward, more trucks will be exported to other Asian and African markets.”
The range manufactured at Oragadam comprise five models spanning medium/heavy-duty (25-49 tonne) and light/medium-duty (9-16 tonne).
DICV will export locally assembled Fuso trucks to 15 markets in Asia and Africa: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Sri Lanka will be followed by Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya and Brunei later this year.
Currently 19 plants across the world produce 175,000 Fuso trucks sold in 150 countries. Oragadam and Kawasaki in Japan will be Daimler’s two global ‘competence centres’.
Although the new tange will be branded Mitsubishi Fuso in export markets, in India they will be badged Bharat Benz, Daimler’s Indian brand. There will be some product differences too – though they will be from the same platforms, the products will be market specific.
