Daimler India Commercial Vehicles signs MoU with Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

by Shrutee K/DNS

Chennai – Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. (DICV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) to provide tailor-made financing packages to customers across the country for modern BharatBenz trucks and buses.

The agreement was signed by Mr. H.S Upendra Kamath, MD & CEO of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank and Mr. Arghadip Roy, Deputy General Manager and National Head- Retail and Channel Finance, DICV and Mr. Prabudass Ealumalai, Senior Manager, Retail Finance South, DICV.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Erich Nesselhauf, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles said: "This is another important step to further strengthen the BharatBenz brand’s presence in Southern India. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has a strong footprint where our dealers and customers are located in the region, with over 80% of TMB’s branches situated in semi-urban and rural areas. This makes TMB a perfect partner to support our dealers with fast and easy processes, as well as to provide our customers with competitive, tailor-made financing solutions for their new BharatBenz products.”

"We have strong presence in Tamil Nadu; our wide distribution network will help in reaching out to the semi-urban and rural areas of the state. This symbiotic relationship will help to leverage ours and DICV’s strengths, thus opening up new avenues and allowing for a collaborative association." added Mr. H.S Upendra Kamath, Managing Director & CEO, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank is one of the strongest commercial banks from Southern India founded in Tuticorin in the year 1920. The bank extends banking service to common people of rural areas and sets standards in operations, customer service, compliance and regulation. Out of the total 452 branches, 414 branches are located at rural, semi urban & urban (non-metro) centers.

TMB has an aggressive strategy in the SME lending sphere and offers its customers’ multiple schemes to choose from. Apart from Daimler’s own captive financing brand, BharatBenz Financial, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank becomes a key financing partner for BharatBenz products along with others adding substantial choice and value for customers.

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 tonne trucks for the Indian volume market under the brand name BharatBenz, which 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.

Under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia, DICV and MFTBC (Mitsubishi Trucks and Bus Corporation) are optimizing research activities, product development and sourcing. 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.