BharatBenz

Bharat-Benz commercial vehicle is a brand of Daimler AG, which was developed specifically for the Indian market. The vehicles will be produced in Oragadam in the south of the country; the first truck ran on June 21, 2012 from tape.

History

Daimler AG ( or its predecessor company, Daimler -Benz AG) for decades commercial vehicles already sold in India. The vehicles mainly produced in Germany are there, however, as high-technology products that can be deposited on the marked by special conditions market only in small numbers. On 5 April 2006 the Group was therefore decided to develop appropriate equipment for the growing Indian market. First, Daimler AG, to find an adequate local cooperation partners sought. Cooperation experiments with Indian partners are sometimes to be difficult and in the processes do not always result-oriented. 2008, a joint venture with the Indian company Hero MotoCorp Ltd.. (formerly Hero Honda Motors ), one of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, closed, which included the construction of a production of commercial vehicles. This agreement was, however, dissolved in 2009 surprisingly again.

Therefore, the Daimler AG founded the subsidiary Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt., Which built in Oragadam, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, a private drive on a 160 -hectare site. Oragadam is considered suitable location because of its proximity to the metropolitan area Chennai, considered the center of the Indian automotive industry and is home to 90 percent of the Indian automotive components industry. In the development of the site, the company by the State Industries Promotion Corporation parastatal of Tamil Nadu Ltd. was. ( SIPCOT ) support. In addition, the state government promotes the establishment of companies, for example by improving infrastructure. So currently 3 billion rupees will be invested ( about 42 million € ) for the construction of a road connecting the National Highway 4 and National Highway 45 until after Oragadam. From the Daimler AG around 700 million euros have been invested.

The new plant was completed in April 2012; On 26 September, the first vehicles were delivered. In July 2013, the 5000th truck was produced. Early 2014 received Daimler India for the series of BharatBenz the Apollo CV Awards ( Commercial Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year ), awarded by the leading Indian commercial vehicle magazine. The award recognizes especially the influence of the company on the modernization of the entire Indian trucking industry, which is still dominated by out-dated models of the market leader Tata.

Economic Environment

300,000 new trucks are sold each year in India; so that the country is known worldwide as the third-largest truck market. This will largely depend on the national manufacturers Tata Motors ( approximately 65 % market share (as of 2012) ), Ashok Leyland ( around 21 %) and VE Commercial Vehicles ( Volvo Eicher Motors Joint Venture) (about 10% ) dominated. Foreign manufacturers such as Hino, Kamaz and Tatra have only a small vehicle sales.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. planning a production of first 36,000 annually Bharat-Benz commercial vehicles. In order to adapt to the sales and market developments at all times, the work is designed for a production capacity of 70,000 vehicles annually. The expansion of a dealer network to include more than 100 locations by the end of 2014.

Because of the significantly lower production costs - mainly because of lower labor costs - caused the production of a truck in India in the end, around a third less cost than in Germany. According to market observers, the salary of a worker in the Indian auto industry is around one tenth of the salary of a German colleague and an improvement in one hour daily working hours. The salary of employees employed in the research and development department engineer is around sixty percent below the German level. Nevertheless, the Bharat-Benz vehicles are supposed to be about nine percent more expensive than the cars of the competitors in fuel economy but about ten percent efficient.

Local requirements for vehicles

India has around 3.3 million kilometers of road network, of which only half is paved. Even the National Highways are not fully paved; moreover, have also paved routes often considerable road damage. In addition, the State Highways and many lower-ranking roads are partly only one lane. This single track roads require oncoming traffic of Dodge in the area far away from the paved road. In addition, it is customary in India to overload vehicles without regard to permissible payloads massive.

All this requires special demands on trucks such as extremely sturdy ladder frame. Other components such as heavy, robust axles and leaf springs little comfortable (semi- elliptic leaf ) ( photo here ) on the rear axle result in vehicles that would no longer be salable in this compilation in Europe. In addition, the typical features require that a possible glitch can be performed regardless of the brand of each local mechanic without electronic diagnostic systems. This also requires a simple construction without sophisticated technology.

The disastrous traffic conditions in major Indian cities usually only allow walking pace. All light-duty trucks are therefore equipped with a comfortable Directions function (smooth acceleration ) provided that allows a quiet start. Even the interior of the vehicle cabins adapted to Indian conditions; then there are the surfaces of the seats of easy-care, washable hard plastic.

Models

The model range includes light duty trucks ( light-duty trucks ), heavy trucks (Heavy Duty Trucks ), dump trucks and tractors. All vehicles meet Indian emission standards Bharat Stage 3 (BS 3), the former corresponds to European standard Euro III. In a few large cities applies to new vehicles approved to BS 4; all Bharat-Benz vehicles are pre-equipped accordingly.

Heavy Duty Truck

The heavy BharatBenz (type designations HDT ( for Heavy Duty Truck) 2523 and 3123 ) correspond in the cab and engine is no longer offered in Germany first series of the Mercedes -Benz Axor. They are with different body variants - offered or 4 axles with a gross vehicle weight of 25 or 31 tons - and even without building - and 3. In line with local requirements the axles and the lead frame being increased considerably. The Series 3123 has a six-cylinder in-line engine with pump-nozzle direct injection and an output of 170 or 205 kilowatts ( 230 and 280 hp). With this engine, the vehicles exceed Common standards. The cab includes a simple, but - with the other local competitors - generously blank folding bed.

Light Duty Truck

The light vehicles (type designations LDT ( for Light Duty Truck) 914 and 1214 ) correspond in the cab and engine largely the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter and Mitsubishi Fuso Fighter. They are available since February 2013 with various structures with gross vehicle weights between 9.6 and 12 tonnes; However, the components are designed for a higher gross weight. The vehicles produced at its Chennai but are offered there under the Fuso brand and selected export markets of Africa and Asia.

Dump Truck

Dump trucks are offered in four weight classes between 13 to 31 tonnes gross vehicle weight with two, three or four axles. The driven rear axles are equipped with limited slip differential. The easiest dump truck, model 1217 (13 tons ) was awarded the Commercial Vehicle Innovation of the Year 2013; he is considered the first Indian dump trucks in this weight class.

Tractors

Also offered with two or three axles tractor BharatBenz 4928 is based on the chassis of the Mercedes Axor and has an output of 205 kilowatts. The total weight ( with semi-trailer ) is 49 tons.

Others

In the trade press alliteration BharatBenz is rated as a marketing idea, the Indian seems, by definition, as the names of the domestic manufacturers such as Ashok Leyland. Bharat is in several languages ​​of the country the name for India.