[parrys]

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. (DICV), the Indian subsidiary of Daimler AG, launches its first set of trucks under the BharatBenz brand in Mumbai. The company stated that there are 14 models to come over the next 17 months.





BharatBenz showcased three heavy-duty trucks in the 25T & 31T GVW category. The 2523R & 3123R (for haulage segment) and 2523C (for construction segment) will be available for booking and delivery immediately.

High Points:

• In 1954, Telco had launched the "Tata Mercedes-Benz" diesel trucks in India.
• Mercedes-Benz introduced the Actros range in 2007.
• On 18th April 2012, the DICV plant was inaugurated at Oragadam, Tamil Nadu.
• 98% of the company's engineers are from India.
• This new range of trucks is derived from platforms like the Mercedes-Benz Axor & Mitsubishi Fuso Canter.
• Localisation is as high as 85%, and is expected to reach 90% soon.
• 28 dealers have been appointed across India.
• 65 lakh kms of testing has been performed on these trucks.
• BharatBenz will provide special rooms for truckers at dealerships, where they can sleep!

[parrys]

These trucks are powered by a 6 cylinder BSIII engine producing 228 BHP of power (@ 2,200 RPM) & 810 Nm of torque (@ 1200 - 1600 RPM).

BharatBenz 3123R (8X2) - Price range between 18.7 to 20.2 lacs: Gradeability of 19% and maximum speed of 111 kph.

Long truck with a lift / tag axle:








Cabin gets driver + 2 seating. Sleeper flat bed behind:


Not a bad place to rest:

[parrys]

2523C (Yellow Truck) priced between 22.4 - 23.1 lakhs
2523R priced between 15.7 - 17.2 lakhs

The 2523C (6x4): Targeted at the construction segment, it has a gradeability of 40% and max speed of 90 kph.

Yellow seems to be a hot favourite in the truck category lately:




Headlamp:




Large fuel tank. Daimler claims best-in-class fuel efficiency:


The Tipper's hydraulic lift:


Height-adjustable seats:






The A/C vent is worse than a household water bucket. Not the quality we expect from Daimler:






The 2523R (6x2): Targeted at the haulage segment, it has a gradeability of 25% and max speed of 105 kph.







Underbody view:






Super Sonic Hi-Bass speakers

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Commercial Vehicles Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Asif 6959]

Its going to be simply great seeing these trucks perform on Indian roads. There was long ago a article in Forbes India that spoke great about these trucks and how they strategies their Indian invasion.
The simple and more sensible point made was:

"Come to think of it, he says, these aren’t virtues. “What kind of trucks do you build that breaks down so often that it needs to be serviced so often and spares need to be available at every paan shop?” he asks. His contention is a simple one. Trucks built in India are not reliable. And that is why you need a support station every 100 kilometres. So what do you do? Build reliable trucks that don’t break down. As simple as that!"

[TheARUN]

The pricing seems to be awesome, on par with LEYLAND and TATA. It's going to be great, seeing how the market reacts to it. BENZ-TATA and MITSUBISHI-CANTER were very successful, now that BHARATBENZ has both, looks like win-win for them

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by parrys

• BharatBenz will provide special rooms for truckers at dealerships, where they can sleep!

Nothing new about it. I have seen bunk beds at Apra auto MASS since the last 5 years almost. With them being 24 hour operations, drivers can crash anytime they wish.

But of course, the key will be in how often the sheets are changed given the potential variability of hygiene of the folks who use it.

I loved the little touches - AC vents and speakers - all non-essential items that a truck owner would NOT pay for, the cost has been cut to the absolutely minimum, and then some more

Now its even more logical why they created a separate BharatBenz brand!

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by parrys

Super Sonic Hi-Bass speakers

Looks more like after market fitment done just before the show.
Yellow truck looks good. Waiting to see that with multi-coloured hand painted motifs all over.

[wantarangerover]

Now it has to be seen whether they cut too many corners to achieve this pricing. Then it is just going to be like another tata-al truck. I hope that the mechanicals are superior, and the reliability is better as compared to tata-al.

[thecdkfactor]

Wow! Wonderful coverage Parrys. Good job

regarding the reliability part, reliability does come with additional cost. If Bharat Benz is placing their products at such a competitive prize, i doubt their claim for once in a 100,000 Km service interval. Let us wait and see !

[F150]

Excellent Review Parrys.

Could you please add a price comparison chart with TATA and ASHOK LEYLAND ?

[Thilak29]

Can someone tell me what C stands for in Gear knob?

[thecdkfactor]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Can someone tell me what C stands for in Gear knob?

It stands for crawler. Crawler gear, technically speaking is the first gear of the unit i.e the gear with the highest ratio. However, it is called a crawler because it is not used most of the time. It is used only in select conditons wherein the grade is high or, there is more power required by the vehicle. It is typical of gearboxes with more speeds and offroad vehicles

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Can someone tell me what C stands for in Gear knob?

That sands for crawler gear, which has relatively higher gear ratio

[ambivalent_98]

Good luck to BharatBenz. Finally Tata / AL have someone to compete with who seems to be ready for India considering the localisation numbers in engineers as well as their machines and the long time spent on studying and tuning to Indian conditions. Hope the trucker is the winner finally.