Daimler Trucks Asia now moving closer to customers in Africa

AUTOMOBILES

     Daimler Trucks opens two regional centers (RC) in 

Africa for all brands including FUSO

     RC Africa manages sales and customer service for 41 

markets in East, Central and West Africa

     RC Southern Africa responsible for nine markets

     Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) which has a long history in the region, will further enhances its presence in African markets

by Shrutee K/DNS

Kawasaki, Japan / Oragadam, Tamil Nadu, India – Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA), an organizational unit of Daimler Trucks that jointly operates Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles India Pvt. Ltd. (DICV) will be expanding sales and services for its FUSObrand benefitting from the opening of two new Daimler Trucks regional centers. Just months after the opening of the first Regional Center for Commercial Vehicles in Dubai (responsible for Middle East and North Africa), Daimler Trucks has opened a second RC in Nairobi/ Kenya and a third in Pretoria/ South Africa. These regional centers will be responsible for sales and service of all Daimler brands in 41 markets in East, Central and West Africa, and will cover 9 markets of Southern Africa.

DTA will benefit from this regional setup with its FUSObrand that has been sold in Africa for more than 45 years. Mr. Marc Llistosella, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia: “With the opening of these two new Regional Centers, we will get closer to our FUSO customers in Africa, being able to sell and service them better. We believe that Africa has a big growth potential for robust and efficient trucks and intend to increase our sales and market share with this step.”

DTA has launched its all-new FUSO range in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa since 2013, with more markets to come. The vehicles range is manufactured in its state-of-the art factory in Chennai, India and exported to the African markets. Later in 2016 DTA will start to sell its new high-powered heavy-duty truck under the FUSO brand in Kenya and Tanzania in response to demand for increasing infrastructure projects. Marc Llistosella sees this move as another proof for the successful global Daimler Truck strategy: “While benefitting from our access to Daimler Trucks Technology and international Sales setup, our DTA brands FUSO and BharatBenz are clearly positioned as the growth drivers in Asia, Africa and South America.”

East, Central, and West Africa: A promising region with a population of 770 million inhabitants. The East, Central, and West Africa region, with a total population of 770 million consists of 41 markets, including Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. It offers great long-term potential for growth: 68% of the population is under the age of 25 – no other region has a higher percentage. The dynamic development of the region is further supported by direct foreign investment, which has grown to six its year 2000 level. In parallel with the growing economy, it can be assumed that the transport sector will develop and thus also the demand for commercial vehicles will increase. In 2015, Daimler Trucks sold around 5,900 commercial vehicles in the region, of which 4,000 units were Fuso. This shows that DTA is already a key growth driver for the Daimler Commercial Vehicles business.

Southern Africa: Dynamic development expected in the medium term. Market observers see similar dynamics in the region of Southern Africa. The region is comprised of nine countries, including South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Despite the currently challenging global economic situation, experts expect annual increases in average growth of more than 4.5%. Correspondingly great potential is expected for the RCSA. Last year, Daimler sold around 5,500 commercial vehicles in the region, including1,600 Fuso unites.

Daimler Trucks Asia at a Glance

Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) is an organizational unit that jointly operates Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) – an icon of the Japanese commercial vehicle industry with more than 80 years of its history – and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a young challenger in the Indian market. DTA has a strategic business model that allows its group entities to collaborate in product development, production, exports, sourcing and research activity to provide the best of value products.

MFTBC at a Glance

Based in Kawasaki, Japan, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) is one of Asia's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers. In 2015, the company sold a total of about 154,200 vehicles including light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses as FUSO brand. Daimler AG owns 89.29% and various Mitsubishi group companies own 10.71% of MFTBC shares. MFTBC is an integral part of the Daimler Trucks division of Daimler AG.

DICV at a Glance

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) is a 100% subsidiary of Daimler AG, Stuttgart, Germany. DICV is a full-fledged commercial vehicle player in the Indian market. It currently produces and sells above 9 to 49 tonnes trucks for the Indian volume market, under the brand BharatBenz. BharatBenz stands for Indian engineering with German DNA. Under its bus division, the company produces and sells BharatBenz buses and Mercedes-Benz buses from its manufacturing plant at Oragadam. Bharat-Benz products have been engineered to serve all major customer segments with a focus on total-cost-of ownership, safety, reliability and comfort.The DICV-built FUSO trucks from Oragadam are exported to markets in South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The state-of-the-art production plant at Oragadam, near Chennai, spreads over 400 acres (160 hectares). It includes a modern test track designed to simulate Indian conditions – making it one of its kinds in Asia. DICV has made an initial investment of 4,400cr and additional 425cr for the bus plant facility (approximately €750 million). Sustainability being a core of Daimler’s corporate culture, DICV will focus on creating efficient, reliable and ecologically friendly products.