Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) will sell BS-IV BharatBenz trucks at the price level of its BS-III trucks to gain an edge over competition in the Indian market.

With India moving into BS-IV emissions regime and the Supreme Court banning sale of vehicles conforming to BS-III norms from April 1, DICV, Indian arm of Daimler AG, the German automaker is confident it is on a strong wicket to grow its volumes significantly.

“In BS-IV regime, we will not have any price disadvantage. We will have only technology and BharatBenz will lead BS-IV transition in the Indian commercial vehicle segment,” said Eric Nesselhauf, Managing Director & CEO, DICV, after unveiling the company’s BS-IV heavy truck range.

DICV’s trucks were priced slightly higher than competition. However, with BS-IV becoming a norm for all manufacturers, prices of BS-IV trucks of other manufacturers are projected to be 7-10 per cent costlier than their BS-III versions.

Apart from the price advantage, the company’s Profit Technology that powers all its BS-IV heavy truck range promises to cut maintenance costs by up to 15 per cent, higher load carrying capacity of up to 400 kg as the company has reduced the kerb weight of the vehicles for that level and fuel efficient. “It will be cheaper to maintain and will carry more load,” said Nesselhauf.

DICV officials also asserted that BS-III fuel won’t choke engines of BharatBenz BS-IV trucks.

“The 1,000 plus BS-IV trucks that are running successfully on Indian roads for the past one year is the proof those trucks are working fine,” they said.

Nesselhauf took a dig at competition over huge BS-III inventory. “Building up BS-III truck inventory of 97,000 units is not by accident but by intention," he said. DICV had BS-III inventory of about 200 units, which will be taken back from the dealers.

Meanwhile, DICV is also preparing to launch its sub-9 tonne trucks for the Indian market in the next 2-3 months.