On Course: Daimler Trucks Asia exports first FUSO Trucks “Made in India”

The Daimler commercial vehicles subsidiaries Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) are working side by side on achieving the joint unit sales target of 290,000 commercial vehicles until the year 2020. The sights are set on the highly promising export markets in Asia and Africa including Indonesia, where MFTBC achieved double-digit growth in 2012 with 68,000 units sold. In the five-year period from 2008 to 2012, MFTBC delivered a total of 263,000 units in Indonesia marking FUSO as the number one CV brand in the market.

 

Under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia, MFTBC is now going a step further together with DICV: With a view to boosting the presence in the growth markets and tapping into further sales potential, the two companies are going forward with an integrated product portfolio for greater variant diversity and an optimized production network with the truck plants in Kawasaki, Japan, and Chennai, India, as the main production hubs.

 

In addition to producing BharatBenz trucks for India, since May 2013, DICV is also making FUSO trucks for selected export markets in Asia and Africa. The first 70 FUSO trucks have already been exported to Sri Lanka and Kenya. By the end of the year, Bangladesh, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Brunei will also be supplied with state-of-the-art trucks under the FUSO brand from India. The successive roll-out in the growth markets of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles is planned for the year 2014.

 

Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, Management Board Member of Daimler AG responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses: “With the Asia Business Model we combined the strengths of MFTBC and DICV and are right on track: In May we announced the start of production for the first FUSO trucks `Made in India´. Today, we are already exporting to Sri Lanka and Kenya – followed by other export markets very soon.” Bernhard underlines: “With this product offensive Daimler Trucks is moving a decisive step closer to achieving the sales target of annually over 500,000 units sold by 2015 and 700,000 trucks by 2020.”

 

The new, medium-duty and heavy-duty FUSO models are based on the same technical Daimler Trucks product platform as the BharatBenz trucks. This enables the production of both truck brands under one roof.

 

Daimler Trucks Asia is making good use of the strengths of both companies through the cooperation of MFTBC and DICV in product development, production and procurement. Nevertheless, MFTBC and DICV are still active as independent subsidiaries of Daimler AG.

 

With the goal of generating further synergies in the Research and Development area, Aydogan Cakmaz will enter MFTBC as Head of Product Engineering Trucks Asia effective from July 1, 2013. Cakmaz was previously active in the same function at DICV. Daimler Trucks Asia is thereby creating an integrated Research and Development competence network in India and Japan, which includes the Indian sites in Chennai (DICV) and Bangalore (Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, short: MBRDI) as well as Kawasaki and Kitsuregawa (both MFTBC) in Japan.

 

About Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation

The Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, headquartered in Kawasaki, Japan, is one of the leading commercial vehicle manufacturers in Asia. The company produces and sells light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks and buses. Daimler AG holds 89.29% of the shares in MFTBC. The remaining 10.71% are held by various companies of the Mitsubishi Group. MFTBC is part of the Daimler Trucks Business Division of Daimler AG.

 

About Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.

DICV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG and has been producing trucks for the “modern domestic segment” since 2012. DICV is gearing up for the rising demand for modern trucks for the volume segment in India. The products are closely aligned to the requirements of the important customer segments, which range from individual business drivers through to the largest fleet operators.