2011 headquarters chennai india key people erich nesselhauf ceo products trucks buses services financial services owner daimler ag number of employees 3 500 to 4 000 parent daimler india commercial vehicles website www.bharatbenz.com bharatbenz is a division of daimler india commercial vehicles dicv itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the german manufacturer daimler ag . 1 2 the brand is known for its range of modern trucks and buses . the headquarters of bharatbenz is at oragadam chennai india . the bharat part of the brand name means india in various indian languages . it symbolizes indian expertise along with benz german technology . bharatbenz s slogan is power ahead . 1 contents 1 history 2 bus 3 truck 3.1 trucks 3.1.1 medium duty trucks 3.1.2 heavy duty trucks 3.2 buses 4 production facility 4.1 research & development facility 4.2 bus manufacturing plant 5 milestones 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit bharatbenz dump truck at exhibition iaa 2014 in hanover germany . in 2008 daimler ag planned to enter the indian market in a joint venture with hero motocorp to build medium and heavy commercial vehicles . 3 a joint venture named daimler hero commercial vehicles dhcv was formed under memorandum of understanding mou in july 2008 with 60 % holding of daimler ag and 40 % holding of hero group . 4 daimler ag and hero group announced to dissolve the daimler hero commercial vehicles ltd. joint venture on april 15 2009 because of an economic downturn in india . 5 6 hero group decided to focus on core operation and return the 40 % stake in dhcv joint venture to daimler ag . 7 with 100 % stake daimler ag renamed dhcv as daimler india commercial vehicles dicv . bharatbenz mdt medium duty truck 914 the launch of the bharatbenz brand was announced on february 17 2011 at chennai by daimler ag chairman dieter zetsche and the first bharatbenz truck was unveiled on january 4 2012 at the delhi auto expo . 8 9 the decision to launch the brand was prompted by daimler s determination to compete in the fast growing indian truck market against existing indian brands such as ashok leyland tata motors and indian ventures of other leading global truck manufacturers like ve commercial vehicles volvo eicher motors joint venture . the entire proposed truck line up in the 9 to 49 tonne range was unveiled on march 2 2012 . 8 early 2014 bharatbenz launched the tractor trailer models and a construction model making itself a full range player in the segment above 9t category spanning across medium and heavy duty truck segments . product range 914 1214 2523 3123 3128 2523 6x4 1217 2528 6x4 3128 cm 4023 and 4928 . in may 2015 bharatbenz inaugurated its new bus manufacturing facility in oragadam chennai and unveiled its second wave of products bharatbenz and mercedes benz buses as well as a new range of new bharatbenz high power engine trucks and bharatbenz heavy duty tractors . bus edit bharatbenz bus is bus manufacturer in india daimler busses will serve the domestic market in india with a range of luxury service mercedes benz coaches with a best in class operational efficiency space and passenger comfort and a new range of busses is also being launched by the brand bharath benz which has been designed for best in class fuel efficiency strong build body to tackle the variety of road infrastructure in india and powerful low maintenance power terrain . truck edit bharatbenz hdt 3128 c heavy duty truck the bharatbenz heavy duty trucks are built on the mercedes benz axor platform and the medium duty trucks on the fuso canter and fuso fighter series . 10 11 the entire product line meets bsiii standards comparable to euro iii . 8 all bharatbenz 17 models trucks are slated to be up to 9 % more expensive but be 10 % more fuel efficient than the competition . 12 the fuso medium and heavy duty trucks produced in chennai are also being exported to markets of africa and asia under daimler s asia business model . bharatbenz crossed 30 000 units sale mark in january 2016 . from november 2015 daimler india commercial vehicles started delivery of its first set of made in india made for india buses . 13 the front engine buses are branded as bharatbenz and are based on the mitsubishi fuso canter platform . these are available in school staff and tourist variants . the rear engine buses are branded as mercedes benz and are based on the mercedes benz o 500 series . daimler india commercial vehicles have tied up with ireland based organisation wrightbus 14 for bus body building . wrightbus is known for their unique patented aluminique alloy structure which is lighter and stronger than conventional steel increasing fuel efficiency and making the buses safer . daimler is also be exporting these buses under the brand of mercedes benz to african and south asian markets 15 trucks edit medium duty trucks edit 914r md 9.6 t gvw truck 140 hp 914r md inpower 10.6 t gvw truck 140 hp 1214r md 11.9 t gvw truck 140 hp 1214r md inpower 11.9 t gvw truck 140 hp 1214re md 12.8 t gvw truck 140 hp 1214re md inpower 13.0 t gvw truck 140 hp 1217c md 13.0 t gvw tipper 170 hp heavy duty trucks edit 1617r 16t gvw truck 170 hp 1623r 16t gvw truck 230 hp 1623c 16t gvw tipper 230 hp 2523r 25t gvw truck 230 hp 2523c 25t gvw tipper 230 hp 2528c 25t gvw tipper 280 hp 2528cm 25t gvw mining tipper 280 hp 3123r 31t gvw truck 230 hp 3128c 31t gvw tipper 280 hp 3128cm 31t gvw mining tipper 280 hp 3143cm 31t gvw mining tipper 430 hp 3723r 37t gvw truck 230 hp 4023t 40t gvw tractor 230 hp 4028t 40t gvw tractor 280 hp 4928t 49t gvw tractor 280 hp 4940t 49t gvw tractor 400 hp 16 buses edit production facility edit dicv set up a manufacturing plant for the bharatbenz trucks in oragadam near chennai in tamil nadu at an investment of over 700 million 44 billion . 8 its biggest investment outside europe . 12 construction area for plant is 400 acres out of which 47 acres are dedicated to 3 lane 1.55 kilometer test track . 17 test track include a bump track pothole testing and articulation sections a water trough an inspection ramp and a control tower . 17 initial production capacity at the plant is 36000 units per year for 2012 and will be expanded to 70 000 units per year by start of 2013 with additional investment of 3.5 billion . 18 series production started in june 2012 with the 2523r truck ; sales began in september 2012 . 19 currently bharatbenz has over 3500 employees including both indian and german staff . localization rate for bharatbenz truck is 85 % 12 with more than 450 local suppliers out of which 41 per cent are based in tamil nadu and 44 per cent are in rest of the country with an aim to exceed 90 % . 18 daimler has test driven its trucks a distance of 4.5 million km in various conditions at its test track in oragadam . 12 research & development facility edit dicv set up a fine research and development facility at oragadam manufacturing plant with initial investment of 12 billion . 20 bus manufacturing plant edit on may 27 2015 dicv inaugurated its new bus manufacturing facility in oragadam chennai . 21 the new state of the art bus manufacturing plant constructed within the existing premises of dicv spread across an area of 27.91 acres will manufacture and assemble buses under two brands mercedes benz and bharatbenz . with an investment of rs 425 crore the bus plant is set up for an initial capacity of 1 500 units which can be further expanded to 4 000 units subsequently . milestones edit on august 11 2016 50 000th truck rolls off the line at dicv . dicv reached this major milestone with the 50 000th vehicle rolling off the line at the truck plant just four years after the first vehicle left the line and one year after the 30 000th vehicle was produced . on june 16 2016 dicv touches 5 000 units of exports . 22 daimler india commercial vehicles which began export services three years back have achieved a milestone by exporting 5 000 units . see also edit list of trucks references edit a b daimler news the hindu bharatbenz trucks from daimler by mid 2012 economic times daimler hero jv to start in 2010 make 70 000 trucks daimler news the indo german joint venture daimler hero commercial vehicles dhcv money control news hero pulls out of rs 4400cr daimler jv daimler news repositioning of the daimler hero commercial vehicles ltd. joint venture in india hindustan times hero exits truck j v with daimler citing slowdown a b c d bharatbenz news daimler reveals its first truck made in india daimler news daimler unveils bharatbenz an exclusive brand for its trucks in india zigwheels bharatbenz reveals made in india truck autocarindia bharatbenz s 17 new products a b c d the german invasion of the indian trucking sector daimler ag rolls out bharatbenz buses in india wrightbus open factory in india daimler exports buses from india http bharatbenz.com products a b bharatbenz news daimler india commercial vehicles unveils test track at oragadam near chennai a b financial express dicv to roll out bharatbenz trucks by q3 2012 right on schedule first series produced bharatbenz truck rolls off the assembly line . daimler ag . 21 june 2012 . retrieved 25 june 2012 . business line daimler india working on new range of buses to take on tata motors ashok leyland daimler india cv opens all new bus plant reveals new products . www.autocarpro.in . retrieved 2015 05 28 . dicv touches 5 000 units of exports . www.thedollarbusiness.com . retrieved 2016 08 16 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to bharatbenz . bharatbenz official website daimler india commercial vehicles pvt. ltd. website v t e automotive industry in india automotive industry economy of india transport in india indian vehicle manufacturers active ashok leyland asia motor works bajaj auto chinkara motors eicher force hero hindustan hradyesh kerala lml mahindra group mahindra reva mahindra & mahindra mahindra international mahindra two wheelers mahindra tractors mahindra truck and bus maruti suzuki ofmk premier sml isuzu swaraj mazda bengal enamal tara international tata motors tata motors cars tvs vfj defunct hero motors sipani standard indian foreign joint venture vehicle manufacturers active eicher polaris tata marcopolo ve commercial vehicles defunct hero honda mahindra navistar mahindra renault components anand group jai jk tyre motherson sumi systems rane rane engine valve zf electronics tvs subsidiaries of foreign companies bmw india bharatbenz mercedes benz india ford india fiat chrysler india ferrari india fiat india gm india chevrolet india opel india honda india hyundai india porsche volkswagen india volkswagen group sales india audi india porsche india koda india volkswagen india renault nissan india nissan india renault india toyota india design studios taco faurecia design center other acma of india auto expo nha of india category v t e daimler ag divisions and subsidiaries cars current mercedes benz mercedes amg mercedes maybach smart trucks and vans current bharatbenz freightliner manufacturing commercial vehicles master motors 80 % mercedes benz mitsubishi fuso truck and bus 85 % western star defunct american lafrance sterling trucks buses current bharatbenz freightliner manufacturing commercial vehicles master motors mercedes benz mitsubishi fuso truck and bus setra evobus thomas defunct orion motorsport mercedes amg petronas f1 team mercedes amg high performance powertrains other alliance truck parts car2go daimler financial services mercedes benz bank detroit diesel mercedes benz india mercedes benz mexico shareholdings and joint ventures automotive fuel cell