[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by lejhoom

That's a clever move. I remember years ago when TATA was manufacturing the trucks under license from Dailer they were called TATA Benz. Those trucks came with the Benz three-star on the front grille. I remember distinctly because we had a military-auctioned truck that was built by TATA but had the three-point star.

Originally Posted by directinjection

They were marketed as "TATA-Mercedes-Benz" but were popularly called "TMB", the abbreviated version of the trade mark..

Maruti - Suzuki
Hero Honda
Advani Oerlikon
Hind Dorr Oliver
Birla Yamaha
Tata Unisys
Bajaj Black & Decker
Mahindra Allwyn Nissan
Eicher Mitsubhishi
Tata Mercedes Benz

Hope you get the point. It was required by law - foreign brands had to be "indianised" back then.

Originally Posted by directinjection

Daimler does not want to dilute the prestigious Mercedes-Benz trademark by using it on relatively less sophisticated "Indianised" trucks that it will launch under the Bharat-Benz trademark. So from the viewpoint of brand management, it's a good move..

I was about to post that.

Originally Posted by the VTEC guy

Well If I was in the trucking bussiness I would have loved to see tristar as the logo and not "BharatBenz". Come on Daimler you could have done better. This is very unimaginative..

If you were in business and loved your four wheeled three pointed star, you will hate to find a multi axled poorly maintained behemoth of a rattle trap besides you at the traffic signal.

Do not tell me that being premium vehicles, these trucks will be well maintained. That is what Volvo thought about the B7Rs.

Will MBIL's ex collaborator, TML learn from this and introduce a different brand for their cars?

[anjan_c2007]

I believe that their first priority will be to launch a fully built bus in the Volvo niche.
That will offer real competition to the Volvo buses.
But I wonder why they are branding it as Bharat Benz ? Where is Mercedes here?
Their first foray into truck manufacture in India with Tata (Telco) in 1956 as a collaborative venture, was branded as Tata Mercedes Benz (TMB).

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by VW2010

I fear the faster moving volvo over the slower moving trucks in the current scenario. If these trucks started moving faster with minimal infrastructure we have, we will end up driving on bad roads all the time.

I respect the truck drivers in general more than the morons we have driving or riding in the city in their tinny cars/"super 100cc" bikes. At least these guys know their place in the traffic and mostly they are very patient drivers.

Originally Posted by GTO

Just received, and added to the opening post, the official BharatBenz logo.

There was a full page ad in the hindu newspaper today with this logo. In a way, I am happy that a company like benz has committed themselves in such a big way (Rs. 4,400 crores is not a joke). Also, in India, they would have wanted to keep their elite car customers elite and not absolutely relating to a truck company (like TATA).

[julupani]

I dont think the Mercedes Benz brand would get diluted to by selling slightly sub-premium trucks in India. I still dont think they will manage to hit the price point of the standard ALL or TML trucks. These would still compete with the U-trucks, AMWs, MNALs and may be Primas. Which means they are not going to the rock bottom basic trucks.

Even if they had to use a different brand name, what was wrong with plain and simple Daimler India. Bharat Benz just seems too tacky.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Hope you get the point. It was required by law - foreign brands had to be "indianised" back then.

The rule of Indian partner for opening a manufacturing base in India is no more.
HMIL is a fully owned subsidary of HMC Korea. BMW is also the same way.
Here its a clear case of branding and nothing been enforced by Law.

[Tapish]

I think Backseatdriver has made a point regarding earlier times because he explicitly mentions "back then"

Originally Posted by Ashley2

The rule of Indian partner for opening a manufacturing base in India is no more.
HMIL is a fully owned subsidary of HMC Korea. BMW is also the same way.
Here its a clear case of branding and nothing been enforced by Law.

In my opinion, Bharatbenz is a very smart move by Diamler as they can have the Actros renge selling at the higher price levels and that their pricing does not come under pressure because of the lower price levels of Bharatbenz. Something very similar to Toyota upgrading to Lexus.

[rajtheindian]

I think Merc want to differentiate the CV and car market. They may not want to use the same premium brand Tri star for commercial vehicles.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by rajtheindian

I think Merc want to differentiate the CV and car market. They may not want to use the same premium brand Tri star for commercial vehicles.

oes Commercial vehicles exclude buses!

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

1. Certainly had the rules in the yesteryears in mind when I made the post.

2. My point is - the rules have changed, but they have still introduced an "Indianised brand"; so they certainly have something in mind.

3. It is a smart move. "Benz" is not a brand they (Daimler - Chrysler) uses elsewhere. IIRC, Benz is a name they have dropped.

But thanks to the old Tata tie up, "Benz" has fantastic brand recall in India. The OM 616 engine and its variants do their duty in LCVs - Matadors to Trax travellers and even old cars - we even have a thread in the Vintage & Classics section on a Merc with an OM 616 engine. Without going to merits and demerits of all that - focus on the point - Benz, the brand which has all but vanished elsewhere is still recalled in India.

If you are 40+ age and in the transportation business, and have not graduated, chances are that you have 50Lakh to spare and still call a Tata truck a "benz".

MBIL has cashed in on that brand value. To differentiate between the premium trucks and also the premium cars.

What I want to know is - will the three pointed star find a place on these trucks?

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

3. It is a smart move. "Benz" is not a brand they (Daimler - Chrysler) uses elsewhere. IIRC, Benz is a name they have dropped.

Mercedes Benz as a brand is very much in existence. It is is under the parent company, Daimler AG (not Daimler - Chrysler anymore). (Mercedes-Benz International)

I think they want to differentiate their passenger car division and have a desi touch to their CV division. As told already, Benz has a strong brand value in India.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Ooops!!! thatnks for that rap in the knuckles!!!

I confused the brand with the corporate name.

[teamveevee]

I agree with BaCkSeAtDrIVeR. The announcement says the range includes "Fuso" based vehicles also. Probably most of the vehicles could be based on Fuso range, and hence dont want to put the 3 point star on these. But would like to leverage the brand recognizition "Benz" have in India. The cost involved to establish the "Fuso" brand in India is much, much more than than the "Bharat Benz" brand. They need a cheaper range to compete with AL/TM s (whcih is Bharat Benz) and a premium range to compete against the Volvs. The company cannot survive in India with just the premium brand.
Off topic, In US, the company is called Diamler Truck NA and the ranges are Freightliner, Thomas Built, Western Start etc. They do not sell "Benz" branded trucks or trucks with 3 point star logo in US. So "Benz" used in India just for the name recognition the brand got in India..

[shankar.balan]

whats important in this is that Marques such as Mercedes and others are investing so much in "Localization" for our market. Obviously India must be pretty much at the Top of their list of priorities at the moment.

Yes they are leveraging the magic of the Benz brand name - many of our Indian consumers still refer to Mercedes as "Benz". All in all I think it is a good move.

[vivriti]

I generally concur with what Backseatdriver and shankar.balan have said here.

I respect the truck drivers in general more than the morons we have driving or riding in the city in their tinny cars/"super 100cc" bikes. At least these guys know their place in the traffic and mostly they are very patient drivers.

IMHO, the much maligned truck and bus drivers are indeed much better than the bikers. Am saying this with experience after coming back to India after a long gap and spending a year in Chennai's traffic.

[amitk26]

I am not associated with CV industry even remotely but I think with Bharat in Bharat Benz they want to reach out to the customer base who otherwise might be intimidated by owning Mercedes-Benz.

In this segment people want sasta-sundar-tikau ( Cheap, easy and long lasting) which can take abuse and be a workhorse brand bharat gels with that and Tikau is coming from Benz. Bharat sends a message it is local thus easy on maintenance and pocket.

Mercedes on other hand is rich-man's dainty darling in mind of average Joe.