Daimler Buses in India has begun bus chassis exports, initially to Egypt, where they will receive bodies built by long time partner MCV.
MCV builds the bodies on nine ton chassis in Cairo and sells the completed Mercedes-Benz branded buses through its own nationwide sales network.
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“The export of bus chassis from India to Egypt is yet another demonstration of how we are successfully exploiting our global presence, said Daimler buses chief Hartmut Schick as the first chassis was delivered to Cairo. “Our global production network allows us to offer appropriate and competitive products for every market.”
MCV MD Karim Ghabbour said: “We’re convinced that the chassis from India will ensure our buses’ high quality and at the same time expand our product range with a high performance vehicle that will be offered at attractive terms.”
The chassis with front mounted engines are made at the Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) plant in the southeastern Indian city of Chennai, and delivered from there to Egypt. The chassis are technologically similar to those used in the medium duty BharatBenz trucks also built in Chennai. Daimler was actually able to start exports before the bus plant was completed at the Chennai site.
Shipments to other, as yet unnamed, markets will follow, Daimler said.
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By GlobalDataConstruction of DICV’s own bus plant is continuing. The automaker is spending around EUR50m in the project launched in March 2014.
The company expects to begin producing Mercedes-Benz and BharatBenz buses at the plant at the end of the second quarter this year. Covering 113,000 sq m the plant is being built within the existing DCIV premises and will have capacity for 1,500 vehicles a year to start but could be expanded to 4,000. The Chennai factory will be the first Daimler plant worldwide to produce trucks, buses, and engines for three brands.
