Daimler India managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Erich Nesselhauf says that the company would start shipping out the products from the new production line in the last quarter of the current calendar year. To begin with, the trucks would be exported to the Middle East.

 

The company exported 4,000 units from India last year. It also sold 13,100 trucks in the domestic market the same year.

 

In the next three years, the ratio of exports and domestic sales of Daimler India is likely to touch 50:50 from the present 30:70 level even as the domestic sales are expected to see a double digit growth starting this year, according to Erich Nesselhauf.

 

Daimler would also start exporting its India made trucks to ten more countries taking the total number of export destinations to 40 this year. It wants to make India its export hub for the entire Southern hemisphere.

 

Talking about the government’s Make In India drive, Nesselhauf says that the company is already pushing the government's vision of encouraging local manufacturing.  It has exported 40 million automotive spare parts produced by Indian vendors across the world in the last three and half years.

 

Nesselhauf expects a significant increase in Indian sales growth in the current calendar year despite a subdued performance in January-March period owing to the impact of demonitisation, from little over 7 per cent growth it had seen in 2016. “The launch of entire range of new products comes on the back of the company hitting a cumulative sales figure of 50,000 in India in the past five years. The company is going to reach the next 50,000 sales figure mark in a shorter time period,” says Nesselhauf.

 

According to him, growing demand by customers for having access to products meeting global quality standards coupled with the implementation of BS IV technology are expected to drive the demand for BharatBenz models in India.

 

Daimler India CEO said the company’s investments in India had already crossed more than ~5,000 crore.