When Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) recently celebrated its 10th anniversary at its Oragadam plant near Chennai, its employees were literally over the moon. As Satyakam Arya, MD & CEO recalls, it was a "wonderful day" where people felt truly elated.
"The Indian market is not for the fainthearted. Look how we have played this game in coming up with a new brand like Bharat Benz which combines the ideology of Benz with the dimensions of a country like India," he says.
A DICV veteran, Arya adds that this market always figured high in the parent company's scheme of things and it was "indeed a bold move" to invest at that point in time. The world was not in a great place then with the aftermath of the Lehman crisis and a host of automakers were compelled to either shelve or defer investments in India. The list included Peugeot, General Motors, Renault-Nissan etc which had to redraft their strategies in the midst of a global downturn.
Daimler however stuck to its plans for trucks and the BharatBenz brand is now all too well known across the truck and bus ecosystem. This is in sharp contrast to another German brand like MAN Trucks which recently shut down its India operations when it realised that it could not cope with the challenges of this market.
Today, Daimler has split its car and truck businesses globally which means that India will have an even bigger role to play going forward. "With Daimler Truck now a separate entity, we definitely have to prepare for the future of mobility," says Arya. He is pleased that the hard work put in over the last decade has put in place a strong base to take on new challenges.
India’s potential
Denne historien er fra 15th July 2022-utgaven av Autocar Professional.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 15th July 2022-utgaven av Autocar Professional.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Spain's Fersa Group invests in India-based Delux Bearings
Besides theRs100 croreinvestment, the Indian company gets access toadvanced technologies and bearings with arange of applications that willhelpinits global growth strategy, writes Manobhava Baruah.
Tata Autocomp to open compact dual-clutch transmission plant
Amidthe country’s growing need for personal mobility with easy manoeuvrability, comes the demand for vehicles with automatic transmission. Tata AutoCompisready tomovein writes Shruti Mishra.
Pankaj Munjal-backed Hero Motors raises equity from GEF Cap
The company willinvest Rs1,500 crore over thenextthree years andit expects 60 percent ofits turnover to come fromelectric vehicle parts. Itaims to becomea Global EV Solutions Company from India
New age thermoplastics for next-generation EV batteries
Saudi-based global materials major SABIChas developed cutting edgein fire-resistant polymers and flame-retardant materials that comply with various EV battery safety standards across the world.
Switch Mobility to meet growing e-bus demand with fresh capex
Oncourse for abillion-dollar business, the company is exploringa possibility of operating satellite factories across the country to serve different geographies, write ShahkarAbidi and Ketan Thakkar.
Kia India to invest Rs 2,000 crore in EVS, to introduce new e-RV in 2025
New investmentto drive R&D, infrastructure development and manufacturing capabilities. The company willlocally produce EVsin India with possibility of exports as well, writes Mayank Dhingra.
"The government has given enough time for indigenisation but the industry has not taken it seriously"
Amitabh Saran, Founder and CEO, Altigreen, shares his views on problems inthe EV industry and battery localisation solutions with Amit Vijay M.
TATA MOTORS SEES ONE INTWO CARS SOLDAS EVS BY 2030
The company aims to offer wider choices withnew EVs that may straddle a pricebracket of Rs20to 40lakhinthe coming years, writes Ketan Thakkar.
MG Motor India in expansion drive, to invest $100 million
The investment willbe usedtoramp up existing production capacity from1.2to1.4-15lakh units per annum atthe automaker's Halol plantin Gujarat, writes Ketan Thakkar.
"Technology and its multiplier effect are driving business transformations and customer experiences"
Technical Centre India is one of Continental’s largest research and development centres in the world, andasa Centre of Competence’ it also develops customised products for the BRIC countries.
