Bharat Benz

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Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.

logo
legal form Pvt. Ltd.
founding 2011
Seat Oragadam , Tamil Nadu State , India
management Erich Nesselhauf
Number of employees 1400
Branch vehicle construction
Website www.bharatbenz.com

Bharat Benz dump truck at the IAA 2014

BharatBenz is a commercial vehicle brand from Daimler AG that was specially developed for the Indian market. The vehicles are produced in Oragadam in the south of the country. The first truck rolled off the assembly line on June 21, 2012; buses have also been manufactured since 2015.

history

Daimler and its predecessor company Daimler-Benz have been selling commercial vehicles in India for decades. The vehicles manufactured predominantly in Germany, however, are considered high-tech products there, which can only be sold in small numbers on the market characterized by special conditions. On April 5, 2006 it was therefore decided within the group to develop suitable commercial vehicles for the growing Indian market. Initially, Daimler tried to find a suitable cooperation partner on site. In 2008 a joint venture was concluded with the Indian company Hero Honda Motors , one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world, which included the establishment of a production facility for commercial vehicles. However, this contract was surprisingly terminated in 2009.

Therefore, Daimler founded the subsidiary Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. , which built its own plant in Oragadam, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu , on an approximately 160 hectare site. Oragadam is considered a suitable location because of its proximity to the Chennai metropolitan area , which is considered the center of the Indian automotive industry and is home to 90 percent of the Indian automotive supply industry . When developing the site, the company was acquired by the semi-public State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (SIPCOT) supported. In addition, the state government promotes the settlement of companies, for example by improving the infrastructure.

The new plant was completed in April 2012; the first vehicles were delivered on September 26th. In July 2013 the 5,000th truck was made, in April 2014 the 10,000th truck. Vehicle produced.

At the beginning of 2014, Daimler India received the Apollo CV Award as Commercial Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year for the BharatBenz series , presented by the leading Indian commercial vehicle magazine. Above all, the award recognizes the company's influence on the modernization of the entire Indian truck industry, which is still dominated by technically outdated models from the market leader Tata .

14,000 vehicles were produced in 2015, and bus production began in the same year. The vehicles produced at the Chennai location are also sold in selected export markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, some under the Fuso brand .

Economic Environment

Around 300,000 new trucks are sold annually in India; this makes the country the third largest truck market in the world. This is largely dominated by the national manufacturers Tata Motors (around 65 percent market share in 2012 ), Ashok Leyland (around 21 percent) and VE Commercial Vehicles ( Volvo / Eicher Motors -Joint Venture) (around 10 percent). Foreign manufacturers such as Hino , Tatra and KAMAZ only have low vehicle sales.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles plans to initially produce 36,000 BharatBenz commercial vehicles a year . In order to be able to adapt to sales and market developments at any time, the plant is designed for a production capacity of 70,000 vehicles per year.

Because of the considerably lower production costs  - mainly because of the lower labor costs  - the production of a truck in India results in around a third less costs than in Germany. According to market observers, the salary of a worker in the Indian automotive industry is around a tenth of the salary of a German colleague, while the regular working hours are one hour higher. The salary of an engineer employed in the research and development department is around sixty percent below the German level. Nevertheless, the BharatBenz vehicles should be around nine percent more expensive than the vehicles of the competition, but around ten percent more efficient in terms of fuel consumption.

Local requirements for the vehicles

India has around 3.3 million kilometers of roads, but only half of them are paved. Even the national highways are not paved throughout ; In addition, the asphalt stretches often show considerable road damage . In addition, the state highways and many lower-ranking roads are partly only single-lane. If there is oncoming traffic, these single track roads require a quick evasion into the terrain away from the paved road. In addition, it is common in India to massively overload vehicles regardless of the permissible payload .

All of this places special demands on trucks, such as extremely stable ladder frames . Other components such as heavy, robust axles and uncomfortable leaf springs ( semi-elliptic leaf ) (here photo) on the rear axle lead to vehicles that would no longer be for sale in this configuration in Europe. In addition, the country-specific characteristics require that a possible breakdown can be remedied by any local mechanic, regardless of the brand, without electronic diagnostic systems. This also requires a simple design without sophisticated technology.

The catastrophic traffic conditions in major Indian cities usually only allow walking pace . All light duty trucks are therefore equipped with a comfortable start function ( smooth acceleration ), which allows a smooth start. The interior of the vehicle cabins is also adapted to Indian conditions; The surfaces of the seats are made of easy-care, washable hard plastic.

Models

BharatBenz Heavy-Duty Haulage 3723

The model range includes light commercial vehicles ( medium-duty trucks ), heavy -duty trucks , dump trucks and tractor units . All vehicles meet the Indian emissions standard Bharat Stage 4 (BS 4) , which largely corresponds to the former European standard Euro IV.

Heavy duty truck

The heavy BharatBenz with the type designations Heavy-Duty Haulage 1617, 2523, 3123 and 3723 correspond to the first Mercedes-Benz Axor series, which is no longer available in Germany, in terms of driver's cab and engine . They are offered with different body variants - and also without body - and with up to five axles with a permissible total weight of 16 to 37 t. In accordance with local requirements, the axles and the ladder frame have been significantly reinforced. The 3123 series has a six-cylinder in - line engine with pump-nozzle direct injection and an output of 170 or 205  kilowatts (230 or 280  hp ). With this engine, the vehicles exceed national standards. The driver's cab contains a simple, but - compared to local competitors - generously designed folding bed.

Medium-duty truck

BharatBenz Medium-Duty Haulage 914 R

The lighter vehicles with the type designations Medium-Duty Haulage 914 and 1214 largely correspond to the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter and Mitsubishi Fusō Fighter in terms of driver's cab and engine . They are offered with various bodies with gross vehicle weights between 9.6 and 15 tons; however, the components are designed for a higher total weight.

Dump truck

Dump trucks are offered in weight classes from 11 to 31 t gross vehicle weight with two, three or four axles. The driven rear axles are equipped with limited slip differentials . The lightest dump truck, the 1217 (13 t) model received the 2013 Commercial Vehicle Innovation of the Year award ; it is considered the first Indian dump truck in this weight class.

Tractors

The tractors offered with two or three axles are also based on the chassis of the Mercedes Axor and have an output of up to 205 kW. The permissible total weight with semi-trailer is 40 or 49 t, depending on the version.

buses

Simple coaches and school buses have also been manufactured since 2015 . The bodies are assembled in cooperation with the Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus .

Others

In the trade press, the alliteration BharatBenz is rated as a marketing idea that seems more Indian than the names of local manufacturers, such as Ashok Leyland . Bharat is the name for India in several of the country's languages .

See also

Web links

Commons : BharatBenz  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Realignment of the joint venture Daimler Hero Commercial Vehicles Ltd. in India ( Memento of December 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Daimler AG press release of April 15, 2009, accessed on December 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ BharatBenz ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Daimler AG website. Retrieved December 2, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.daimler.com
  3. ↑ DICV rolls out 5,000th BharatBenz truck. Motorindia, August 1, 2013, accessed October 3, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Daimler India Commercial Vehicles named Commercial Vehicle Maker of the Year. komarjohari.wordpress of January 23, 2014, accessed February 2, 2014.
  5. ↑ Hervé Rebillon: Daimler revient en Inde. as well as Indian Truck Market. In France Route No. 364, pp. 40f. and 78ff. Wolters Kluwer Publishing House , July 2012.
  6. ^ A b c The German invasion of the Indian trucking sector Forbes -India from April 10, 2012, accessed on December 15, 2012.
  7. ↑ Light Duty Trucks ( Memento of the original from December 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Manufacturer's website. Retrieved March 26, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bharatbenz.com
  8. ↑ Class leading trucks ( Memento from November 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Internet presence of the manufacturer. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  9. ↑ In India a truck has to be cheap. Eurotransport of May 17, 2012, accessed on December 15, 2012.
  10. ↑ Light Duty Trucks ( Memento of December 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Internet brochure from the manufacturer. Retrieved December 7, 2012.