Daimler subsidiary Fuso will play a major role in the company's sales offensive in Asia and Africa. One key component of the new “Asia Business Model” will be the manufacture of Fuso trucks in India.
Fuso trucks will start rolling out from Daimler's commercial vehicles plant in Chennai as early as in the second quarter of 2013, destined for sales in the price-competitive markets of Asia and Africa. The range of commercial vehicles involved is yet to be announced.
The Asian business is expected to make a major contribution to Daimler Trucks' global sales target of over 500,000 units to be sold in the year 2015, and more than 700,000 trucks in the year 2020.
“With the Asia Business Model we are bringing our operations to the next level in order to serve our existing and new customers with the right products and the best service in Asia and Africa,” said Dr Albert Kirchmann, Fuso President & CEO and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia.
Marc Llistosella, Managing Director & CEO of Daimler's Indian plant, said, “Our ‘Quality Made in India’ has been proven with our milestone of over 1,000 BharatBenz trucks sold in three months since the launch. Now, we will soon start the production of BharatBenz and Fuso trucks under one roof.
The BharatBenz trucks and the new Fuso trucks produced for selected export markets are based on the same Daimler Trucks technical product platform.
In Indonesia, Fuso's largest export market, the company has sold 68,000 units in 2012, posting a sales record for the third consecutive year and marking a double-digit growth over the previous year. Sales were also up in other Asian markets, such as Taiwan, the company’s second largest export market, and also in Malaysia and in Thailand. In Africa, Fuso grew its 2012 unit sales by 88.7 per cent to over 8,000 units.
