Daimler unveils new strategic FUSO trucks for Asian and African markets

• Wider choice for customers showcased at new vehicle plant in Chennai

David Ebert reporting from Chennai, India

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), one of Asia’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, unveiled its new strategic truck for export to select Asia and African markets recently.

Under its five-pillar growth strategy titled ‘FUSO 2015’, the company is strengthening its global operations to better position itself in the new growth markets in Asia and Africa. The all new FUSO trucks were unveiled to a large gathering of invited media at the company’s state-of-the-art, 400 acre Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Ltd. (DICV) plant in Chennai, India.

The FUSO truck range manufactured at the DICV Oragadam plant comprises of five new models; the nine to 16 ton, light-medium-duty versions ‘FA’ and ‘FI’, and the 25 to 49 ton, medium-heavy-duty trucks ‘FJ’, ‘FO’ and ‘FZ’ models.

These trucks will be exported and sold through MFTBC’s global network to 15 markets in Asia and Africa, starting with Sri Lanka in June 2013. Other markets will include Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles, with further markets currently being evaluated.

Speaking at the launch event, Daimler Trucks Head and MFTBC President/CEO Dr. Albert Kirchmann said: “Today is an exciting moment for us. The New Asia Business Model will enable us to unlock the full potential of MFTBC and DICV and we are already bringing strategies into reality. We have done our homework in repositioning our MFTBC operations, ramping up our DICV business and establishing our Bharat Benz brand in India. Coming out of the unimaginable 2011 earthquake crisis in Japan, we have achieved a record operational result in 2012. Now, with the strategic FUSO truck we are ready for launch and export out of India and our growth story ‘FUSO 2015’ is at full speed ahead.”

The new trucks are being built at the new plant in Oragadam near Chennai in Southern India, built with a total dedicated investment of approximately 620 million. The modern and durable ‘made in India’ trucks, promises a fuel efficiency that are at least 10% higher than its competitors, and look to make Daimler Trucks a game changer in the targeted growth markets in the Asian and African regions. In addition, rigorous testing has been assessed under the most strenuous driving conditions in Oragadam to ensure maximum reliability of the trucks.

The light-medium-duty FA and FI trucks are based on the Daimler Trucks technical platform with the Mitsubishi FUSO Fighter medium-truck on the chassis and the Canter light-duty-truck on the cabin; incorporating a newly developed 4D37 diesel engine, with a displacement of 3907cc, output of 100kW and a six-speed manual transmission.

The medium-heavy-duty FJ, FO and FZ trucks, also based on the Daimler Trucks technical platform and use the Mercedes Benz Axor chassis and cabin and incorporates the newly developed 6S20 diesel engine with a displacement of 6373cc and an output of 170kW with a six or nine-speed manual transmission.

Focus of the New Asia Business Model

The New Asia Business Model is an integral component of the company’s Daimler Trucks Global Excellence Program ‘DT#1’, designed to secure Daimler Trucks leadership position in the key growth markets in Asia and Africa. By leveraging its operational strengths in Kawasaki, Japan and Chennai, India, the new business model is targeted to pull in further unit sales increases thus as ‘Daimler Trucks Asia’ making a major contribution to Daimler Trucks overall sales target of over 500,000 units sold in the year 2015 and more than 700,000 trucks in the year 2020.

DICV Managing Director and CEO Marc Llistosella said: “Over the last four years DICV has made clear our promises to deliver the most reliable and cost efficient trucks to the India trucker and we have delivered on all of them. The launch of FUSO trucks from our manufacturing facility at Chennai is a clear demonstration of the same exacting quality standards practiced by Daimler facilities around the world. The export potential of DICV adds strength to our business plan while also encouraging the possibility of higher sourcing from the Indian suppliers.”

The new business model will enable Daimler Trucks Asia to fully leverage its product portfolio, R&D network, joint sourcing and global production footprint. Short-term joint projects are already underway in areas including sourcing, logistics and shared IT systems and platforms. Joint project committees are also in place to leverage the strengths of each side. Both companies MFTBC and DICV will remain as independent legal entities.

While the Japanese market, the home turf of MFTBC, remains one of the Daimler Trucks Asia’s important focus markets, the global economy shows significant growth potential shifting to Asia and its surrounding developing markets like Africa. The new Asia Business Model is precisely designed to address these trends and uplift Daimler Trucks Asia’s operational excellence.

The main focus areas will include greater emphasis on its integrated Asian product portfolio where MFTBC will continue to enhance its traditional Japanese heritage product line with strong focus placed o an integrated Daimler Trucks Asia product portfolio which will lead to wider product coverage. The new range of trucks unveiled today is one successful example of the short term product projects underway with DICV.

Its Asian R&D network will integrating DICV and Mercedes Benz Research and Development India’s (MBRDI) operations will enable MFTBC to leverage a leading position in software R&D in Bangalore and it’s fully fledged testing infrastructure and cost-effective R&D capabilities in Chennai. On the other hand, the integrated approach will provide DICV access to MFTBC’s experienced R&D capabilities and test facilities.

Greater synergies are targeted under the newly aligned Daimler Trucks Asia operations from leveraging DICV’s supplier base. While MFTBC has already leveraged its operations within the global Daimler Trucks procurement organisation, this next step will enable MFTBC to leverage its Indian products for its genuine brand Diamond Value Parts and endeavour to pull in new suppliers for Daimler Trucks Asia. The tried and tested supplier base in India through the experiences of the Bharat Benz trucks will enable this advantage for a coordinated procurement and supplier management function to ensure greater cost efficiency while maintaining high quality.

Daimler Trucks Asia under the New Asia Business Model is moving towards an optimised Asia footprint with two major production hubs in Kawasaki, Japan and Chennai, India. The Kawasaki plant is positioned as the central completely-built-up and knocked-down vehicle production hub especially in terms of delivering the highest standards to meet the ever demanding customer requirements for light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty products for Japan and the international markets.

The Chennai plant will concentrate on deliveries of Mercedes Benz and Bharat Benz trucks for India and on export of the all new FUSO trucks for selected markets in Asia and Africa, thus, complementing the central Kawasaki production hub.