DICV inaugurates new bus plant, unveils new products

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has inaugurated a new bus plant in Oragadum, near Chennai.

The new facility is constructed with an investment of Rs. 425 crore within the existing premises of DICV. It is spread across an area of 27.91 acres and is set up for an initial capacity of 1,500 units which can be further expanded to 4,000 units subsequently. The new bus plant is expected to create 1,300 job opportunities in the state, 300 for DICV and additional 1,000 at Wrightbus International, which has partnered DICV for setting up the plant.

The plant will manufacture and assemble buses under two brands - Mercedes-Benz and BharatBenz. BharatBenz buses will be front-engine and used for short distance travel (school, staff and tourist transportation). The premium segment will be addressed with Mercedes-Benz rear-engine buses for inter-city transportation. The new plant will manufacture buses with gross vehicle weights of 9, 16 and above 16 tons.

After today’s inauguration of the bus facility, the DICV plant is the only Daimler Trucks plant worldwide to produce trucks, buses and engines for three brands - Mercedes-Benz, BharatBenz and FUSO - under one roof. The bus chassis are rolled out from the same assembly line as that of BharatBenz trucks, as they are technologically similar to the medium-duty BharatBenz trucks.

DICV has also unveiled a new mining truck and a local heavy duty tractor.

The BharatBenz 3143 is a deep mining truck, developed on the existing Daimler Heavy Duty Truck platform with a 4-axle configuration. It is uses an OM 457 Mercedes-Benz engine that puts out 430 HP. It will be available in two variants 19.5 Cu.M rock body and 32 Cu.M coal carrier.

The BharatBenz 4940TT is a tractor that can be used for transporting heavy-lift project cargo such as turbines, heat exchangers, windmill propellers and other industrial equipment. This model will be launched in the market later this year.

DICV has more than 80 dealerships that cover 85% of the Indian market. The buses will be served by the existing dealership network. Daimler Financial Services will also extend financial packages for the bus business.