Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, has announced that in CY23 the company demonstrated remarkable performance, surpassing the total industry volume in its operational segments by three-and-a-half times.
The company achieved significant milestones, selling 23,400 trucks and nearly 2,000 buses in the domestic market, marking respective growth rates of 39% and 107% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, DICV recorded a 13% increase in cumulative sales, along with robust growth of 21% each in revenue and parts business.
Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, DICV, attributed its performance to a series of strategic initiatives undertaken throughout the year. These initiatives were aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, reducing costs, and focusing on key areas of the business. The company also met its target of establishing 350 sales and service locations across India, expanding its presence in new markets. He said that the company hopes to grow aggressively in the next five to seven years, which will be supported by many initiatives including new product launches.
Strategy, Focus AreasArya outlined the company’s strategies across three key areas: product leadership, enabling customers to be more successful in their business and ensuring future readiness. Under the product leadership initiative, the company plans to introduce 14 new vehicles across three categories. Additionally, it aims to expand its touch points to 375 by the end of 2024, up from the current 350. Moreover, the company will adopt Total Quality Management (TQM) principles to further improve its operations.
With nearly full utilisation of its installed capacity of 36,000 trucks and 4,000 buses, the company is already optimizing assembly lines and improving efficiency in certain areas. This will boost the truck capacity to approximately 45,000 units.
Regarding product enhancements, the BharatBenz Construction and Mining heavy-duty range has undergone significant re-engineering to enhance functionality, boasting several segment-first features. Furthermore, BharatBenz trucks will now come equipped with a 12-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) variant, enhancing both driver comfort and operational efficiency.
Launch Of MY24 BharatBenz Range
Building on its performance, DICV is set to launch its all-new MY24 BharatBenz heavy-duty trucks in the coming months. According to Pradeep Kumar Thimmaiyan, President and CTO, DICV, the MY24 range is designed to set new benchmarks in the industry, offering superior features in terms of total cost of ownership, technology, reliability, safety, comfort, and serviceability.
Talking about the features of the new products, Thimmaiyan said, the all-new BharatBenz Rigid Heavy-duty range, scheduled for launch in April 2024, will include various configurations powered by an advanced 6.7-litre, common-rail BS6-Stage 2 BharatBenz engine.
Outlook For CY24 - Navigating Uncertainty and Anticipating Growth
Arya said more than half the world's population will go to elections in 2024, that began with Indonesia. India is in the midst of it, and US will go for elections before end of this year. The geopolitical environment continues to be uncertain as there are still two active wars continuing on the planet. The realignment of global supply chains is still progressing. Though “we may not talk about the chip shortage, but whether it is China plus one or the Red Sea crisis, they still continue to impact the business in one way or the other,” he said. Besides, Artificial Intelligence has begun to impact businesses.
Arya sees growth for CV industry in CY24, however, it will be predominantly in the second half. Talking about the forecast for the MHCV market in 2024, he said, “we are expecting that the market will mostly remain flat when it comes to truks. We are expecting it will finish with about 350,000 units, with the first half being a bit soft, but a second half quite strong. In a more pessimistic scenario, it could be lower than last year by about maximum of 5%. For the bus segment, we are expecting a growth of about 25% to 30%.”
Focus On Sustainability
Arya highlighted the company's commitment to sustainability, citing significant progress in its initiatives. Presently, about 84% of DICV's manufacturing operations are powered by renewable energy, with plans to increase this to 90% by 2024. Moreover, nearly 90% of plant functions utilise upcycled water, resulting in a notable reduction of over 27,000 tonne in carbon footprint.
Addressing diversity, Arya noted that currently, about 11% of the workforce comprises women. The company aims to elevate this figure to 14% by the year's end, underscoring its dedication to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace environment.
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