Daimler Confident of Growth in Indian Bus Market

German major Daimler views India as a crucial business stronghold in the coming years. The company believes that India is a pivotal market for the bus segment, with a wealth of opportunity expected to widen up in coming times. In July last year, the brand had introduced buses through its BharatBenz marque, to be used in the tourism industry, as well as schools and offices.

Furthermore, in December last year, it had launched the SHD 2436 Mercedes-Benz coach. The multi-axle, super high-deck model is currently the longest coach in the Indian market, with a seating capacity of 61. Over the past few years, the company has made steady progress in a segment wholly dominated by local players and foreign majors such as Volvo and Scania.

The company had kept India on a priority ever since its foray into the market. It had raised a greenfield bus manufacturing plant with an investment of Rs 425 crores, opened the last year. “We have taken important decisions in recent years, which will be fully realized in 2016. A good example for this is the start of our new production location in India. Here, we have been producing for the local market since mid-2015, and are simultaneously tapping into important growth markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America,” said Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses.

Daimler maintained its leadership in the bus business worldwide, having sold 28,100 buses and chassis in 2015. Shedding light on the company’s plans for 2016, Schick said, “With respect to the growth in new markets, our goal is clear: We want to develop custom-made solutions for each market and create synergies in our global production and sales network in the process.”

The company had enjoyed good performance in parts of Western Europe last year. However, it faces a tough situation in many markets at present, particularly in South America. Its sales in Brazil plunged by 40% last year, and it had been forced to lay off hundreds of workers from its factories.