Daimler AG, the world leader in commercial vehicles, on Thursday announced that its Indian operations ? Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) ? will manufacture trucks for export markets under the brand name ‘Fuso’ and will start exporting five models from June to 15 countries in the Asia and African regions.
The move is aimed at capitalising on the 80-year-old Fuso legacy apart from optimising its investments in its Indian operations, the company said. The move also aimed at giving a focussed interest to benefit Indian operations with sizeable revenue generation going forward. The decision to export from India is part of Daimler?s ?Asian Strategy?.
The Chennai plant capacity is pegged at 72,000 units per annum which can be expanded further given the operational flexibility. ?The trucks made in India under Bharat Benz will be exported under Daimler?s Fuso name. The trucks to be exported under Fuso brand will have 90% localisation level (Indian) and 10% of the components (core) will be imported from Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (another Daimler outfit selling Fuso trucks across 150-odd countries from Japan), to ensure customised products for different countries,? Daimler India Commercial Vehicles MD& CEO Marc Llistosella said. ?We expect to export around 1,000 Fuso trucks from Chennai during the year.?
Seventeen more trucks, which are planned for India launch in the next few months, will also be exported to these countries under Fuso name.
Said Albert Kirchmann, president and CEO, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, ?The countries being targeted are already being served by Japan. But India can serve these countries better than Japan or other plants of Daimler ? given the proximity to Asian and African regions.?
The trucks will be exported to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya, Brunei and Seychellies.
