BharatBenz, a trailblazer in the Indian trucking industry, offers a versatile range of products tailored for various applications.

 Sreeram Venkateswaran, President, and Chief Business Officer, Sales and Customer Service, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles

India is a market that is like no other, around the globe. Several big brands from developed economies came to India seeing the consumption potential and thought they could sell their wares to a highly discerning, even fickle, Indian customer. While India is outgrowing its ‘emerging economy’ image make no mistake, the Indian customer is becoming even more discerning because he or she has now seen products and technologies around the world and wants it right here at an affordable price. In the next decade India will be the place to be in. Our economy is growing fast. The world is looking at us differently. Companies are amenable to making changes to their strategies to become successful in this country.

Eleven years ago Daimler Truck entered India and launched a brand unique to, what we thought, will have a connect with Indian customers. That brand is BharatBenz. It was the first time that any Daimler product or any commercial vehicle had a country’s name in it to make sure we are connected with its customers. BharatBenz is quite young in a country that has other CV brands that our grandparents would fondly remember. When we entered India in 2012, were we late to the party? I think not. We came to this market when our competitors have established themselves well and firmly enough to garner significant market share and mind space in customers. What we could do ‘entering late’ was – to shift the paradigm and transform the industry by not just introducing a truck and bus brand that connects with customers but one that shatters convention and offers long term solutions and lifetime higher value. In 11 years BharatBenz has become a brand to reckon with, for its high benchmarks in total cost of ownership (TCO), reliability, safety and comfort. And there is one trait that got us to achieve these benchmarks and that is Competence.

Today, in its eleventh year in India, BharatBenz holds a strong position in the heavy-duty truck market with a firm hold in the construction and mining industry. It has built a solid reputation in providing transportation solutions in industries like Steel, Cement, Cargo, eCommerce and to name a few. Construction and Mining remains one of its core segments in which our trucks have made a mark.

India’s recent economic surge in has sparked a monumental transformation in its infrastructure landscape. This progress can be witnessed in is the extensive network of highways, that now crisscross the subcontinent. These roads, ranging from national expressways to rural routes, have ignited a surge in demand for trucks.

The Indian Government had announced a CAPEX of INR one lakh crore in its previous budget and evidently the pace of infrastructure has risen. Today, India is only second to United States of America when it comes to expanse of road network. India has overtaken China in this aspect. The central Government is planning to accelerate road development in FY 2024 by 16-21% to 15-20,000 km and also increase CAPEX to make this happen.

Concurrently, the construction sector has experienced a seismic surge in activity, fuelled by a diverse array of infrastructure projects. This surge has given rise to a parallel spike in demand for heavy-duty trucks, bulldozers, excavators, and other specialized equipment vital for executing large-scale endeavours.

The revenue of the domestic construction equipment sector is anticipated to grow by 14-15% in FY 2024 backed by more projects in real estate and mining. Road infrastructure accounts for 40% of the revenues of that the construction equipment industry is likely to gain in the next fiscal.

This rapid expansion of India’s highway network symbolizes its commitment to modernizing its transportation infrastructure. This concerted effort ensures the efficient movement of goods and people acts as a catalyst for economic growth, connecting previously isolated regions. These highways serve as crucial conduits of commerce, stimulating trade and fostering economic development.

BharatBenz, a trailblazer in the Indian trucking industry, offers a versatile range of products tailored for various applications, including construction, mining, and distribution. BharatBenz is surging ahead with robust double-digit year-on-year growth in this segment outpacing industry growth thanks to our truck’s superior fuel efficiency and unmatched uptime, demonstrating exceptional durability and efficiency.

India is on course to produce a staggering 1.5 billion tonnes of coal by 2030, a vision confirmed by Raosaheb Danve, Union MoS for Railways, Coal and Mines. From 572 million tons in 2013-14 to an estimated 900 million tons this year, coal dispatches are surging to meet escalating demand. Even with a 50% shift to renewables, India will still require 1.5 billion tons of coal for energy security.

This surge in coal production is a catalyst for increased sales of heavy-duty trucks in the mining sector. The growing demand for coal necessitates a robust fleet for efficient transportation, driving up the market for heavy-duty vehicles tailored to mining operations. BharatBenz has enabled its customers to complete more than 155 mining projects on or before schedule and has 60+ sites actively monitored through its dealer partners. We are proud that many BharatBenz construction trucks have covered over 38,000 hours and are still going strong.

All this, without shifting focus from Safety and Comfort. Safety and Comfort are built into BharatBenz design philosophy because if our drivers are not safe or comfortable they would not be able to perform as much as they should. All BharatBenz trucks have air-conditioned cabins that are certified to European cab-crash safety norms ECE R29-03, which are factory-built and fitted. This safety regulation is not yet mandated in India but BharatBenz trucks already comply with it.

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