Daimler Buses India, a unit of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), plans to sell 200 units of Mercedes-Benz Super High Deck (SHD) automatic coach this year, said a top official.
“So far, we have produced and sold six units of 2441 SHD automatic coach,” said Thomas Fricke, managing director, Daimler Buses India. “We are aiming to log 80% to 100% growth in the bus segment during 2018.”
Touted to be the longest luxury coach (15 metres) in India, the 2441 SHD automatic comes with extra power, comfort and automatic transmission, besides 59 push-back seats, 14 cubic metres of luggage space and is the lightest vehicle in its class.
Mr. Fricke said: “Daimler Buses India has raised the bar further in the segment. With superior technology, we aim to be the benchmark in terms of total cost of ownership, safety and comfort.”
The new SHD replaces the earlier version (2436 SHD). In the last one year, Daimler Buses had sold 70 units of 2436 SHDs.
Asked about the SHD market size, he said it was pegged at 600 units per annum, of which Daimler Buses India plans to capture one-third.
Daimler Buses product portfolio comprises BharatBenz 9-tonne buses in school, staff and tourist sub-segments, Mercedes-Benz luxury coaches and bus chassis for the 9, 16, and 24-tonne segments. Bus chassis for 9 and 16 tonne are exported.
Till date, about ₹425 crore has been invested in the Oragadam bus unit. It has capacity to produce 1,500 fully built buses and 3,000 chassis. During 2017, Daimler Buses sold 906 units in the domestic market (501 units in 2016) and also exported 500 chassis.
“Our idea is to maintain domestic and export sales in the ratio of two-third and one-third respectively. Right now, it stands at 70% and we hope to achieve the ratio during this year,” Mr. Fricke said.
Positive outlook
In his presentation, he said India was the second largest bus market in the world after China with a sales volume of 40,000 units per year. It is bound to reach 50,000 to 60,000 units soon.
“From 2002-2017, the Indian market has grown by 4% per annum...The long term outlook remains positive,” he said.