Daimler India Commercial Vehicles exports first batch of 64 Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka

Chennai: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly owned subsidiary of German automotive giant Daimler AG, exported the first lot of 64 Fuso trucks manufactured at its Oragadam plant in the outskirts of Chennai. These trucks are headed towards Sri Lanka as part of the company's commitment to export to various countries in Asia and Africa. Last month DICV along with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, another entity of Daimler Trucks based in Japan, launched the new Fuso range of trucks at DICV's plant at Oragadam. The Oragadam plant has been identified by Daimler as one of its production hubs in the Asia-Pac region with significant export commitments.

Said Marc Llistosella, MD & CEO, DICV: "The export of the first Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka is a realisation of our promise to export from DICV, Chennai. The quality standards at our state-of-the-art plant in Chennai combined with the quality of parts from Indian suppliers has made this possible. Going forward, more trucks will be exported to other Asian and African markets." The FUSO trucks range manufactured at DICV's Oragadam plant comprise 5 models spanning medium/heavy-duty (25 - 49 tonne referred to as 'FJ', 'FO' & 'FZ') and light/medium-duty (9 - 16 tonne referred to as 'FA'& 'FI').

DICV will export locally assembled trucks from the Mitsubishi Fuso range to 15 markets in Asia and Africa like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Sri Lanka will be followed by Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya and Brunei later this year Currently 19 plants across the world produce 175,000 Fuso trucks sold in 150 countries. The Oragadam plant along with the Kawasaki plant in Japan will be Daimler's two global competence centers. Although the new lineup will be branded Mitsubishi Fuso in export markets, in India they will be badged Bharat Benz, Daimler's Indian brand. There will be some product differences too - though they will be from the same platforms, the products will be market specific.