A grand success

BharatBenz Power Yatra, flagged off by Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the Indian subsidiary of the world’s leading truck manufacturer, Daimler AG, during the plant inauguration in April, has made a successful return to Chennai after covering around 8,469 km in a pan-India drive. During the 73-day Power Yatra, the BharatBenz range was showcased in a real world environment along the Golden Quadrilateral across 22 cities, 19 transport nagars, 100 dhabas and state-of-the-art BharatBenz dealerships.

“The BharatBenz Power Yatra was designed not only to showcase the performance and efficiency of our product range in real-life conditions but also to receive feedback and inputs from the trucking community. The Yatra has given us the confidence that our engineers have designed the most appropriate trucks for India. It has been a fascinating journey where the trucking community has had the opportunity to explore every inch of our trucks – under the hood, the chassis, the cab, etc. – and responded positively”, said Mr. V.R.V. Sriprasad, Vice President, Marketing, Sales & After-Sales, DICV, on the success of the Power Yatra.

The Power Yatra gave customers, transporters, financiers and drivers a close look at the BharatBenz product range for the very first time across the country. The Power Yatra convoy representing the BharatBenz product range of LDTs and HDTs showcased six different trucks – a nine-tonner, two 12-tonners, two 25-tonners and a 31-tonner.

“We met around 3,000 drivers, mechanics and garage owners in the dhabas, apart from many others on the highways and were truly humbled by the reception and the feedback our trucks received. The most important feedback for us was the confidence shown on our product. In terms of product-level changes, the roof luggage carrier will most likely become a standard fitment based on customer feedback”, he added.

DICV plans to launch six of its BharatBenz trucks this year. The first product to hit the market would be the 2523 rigid truck, followed by the 2523 fully-built tipper and the 3123 rigid truck. A nine-tonner and a 12-tonner will also be launched this year.

The BharatBenz range will offer value-for-money trucks and be priced competitively. It also includes significant fuel efficiency advantages, best-in-class reliability with parts engineered for long lifespan and longer service intervals, which will reduce the operational cost and keep the trucks in running condition. A life-cycle warranty covering the entire life-cycle of the product would be offered to customers, with the warranty for the last one or two years priced extremely nominally. The warranty scheme is testimony to the confidence the company has in its products.

The company will offer 24/7 customer support service, including roadside assistance, interactive vehicle diagnostics in a short a turnaround time. Daimler’s captive financial arm (Daimler Financial Services) has created an exclusive branded financing scheme called ‘BharatBenz Financial’ which will offer tailor-made financial packages for BharatBenz customers. Besides, the company has also tied up with three leading Indian banks – HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Sundaram Finance.

BharatBenz trucks will be sold through 70 dealerships across the country by the end of this year. The company targets 110 full-fledged dealerships by 2014, of which 100 have already been contracted. It is interesting to note that the company has received around 735 written intents from interested people, including some of the big names in the Indian automotive retail segment for establishing dealerships. However, BharatBenz has been very structured and focused in selecting dealers.

Says Mr. Sriprasad: “We are looking to secure the network for the next 20 to 30 years. We have considered parameters such as knowledge of the Indian auto industry, ability to establish new brands successfully and intention of being present in multiple locations while partnering with dealers.”

Power-packed
At the final leg of the Power Yatra, Motorindia had an opportunity to get a first-hand Yatra experience. The convoy of six trucks were lined up in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, having traversed over 8,000 km. As the engines roared, the last stretch of the 73-day drive began. Though the drive from Nellore to the Tamil Nadu border was a short one, it was amazing to experience the BharatBenz effect.

The trucks come with an impressive cabin with spacious and comfortable interiors. A lot of effort has gone into making the interiors of the cab driver-friendly, starting from a comfortable seat, two-way tiltable steering, well-placed buttons and switches, air-conditioning (optional) to smart provisions such as holders and trays. The day cab comes with a sleeper-bed which is very useful for the driver while all the trucks have a double co-driver seat. The heat inside the cabin is very low because the entire cabin is well insulated to prevent the engine heat entering it.

The instrument panel is packed with indicators that provide a host of details for drivers, including the fuel consumed and fuel efficiency during a particular journey and the exact amount of fuel available in the fuel tank. Apart from the regular braking options, the engine brake is an interesting addition to help improve fuel efficiency by cutting off fuel supply to the engine when not required. The trucks also have a few more value-additions such as the green band in the speedometer which helps the driver to drive at an optimum speed for best fuel efficiency.

The truck ride is quite comfortable, and drivers would certainly feel very little fatigue even on poor roads. One of the drivers in the Yatra said: “I have been driving trucks for decades, but this Power Yatra has been my most comfortable journey ever. In many places, we eagerly wait to get into the truck because it is so comfortable inside (the truck) than outside, especially in some of the hot stretches of the Yatra.”

The vehicle, especially the cabin, has been designed with a lot of focus on minute details that provide a lot of comfort for the driver and is technically aided by high quality components such as suspensions to make the truck tailor-made for Indian conditions.

The entire Yatra did not see a single breakdown nor did any of the major components fail, which is not much of a surprise considering the lakhs of kilometres of testing the trucks had gone through before being rolled out. The convoy stopped for a brief while at a dhaba on the way where a few interested people flocked near the trucks and got into them to get a feel of the trucks. They were given details of the products in their native language, and had a good view of the inside and outside of the vehicles. They were quite impressed with what they saw, with some of them even enquiring about when and how to book the truck! Soon we were back on our way to the Tamil Nadu border with the trucks seamlessly powering through the highways.

The Power Yatra provided a glimpse of what’s to come from the BharatBenz stable. In a few months’ time, we can see the power-packed trucks hit the Indian roads when the official market launch happens. Perhaps then we will see the success of the Yatra unfold into reality, into an overwhelming success of brand BharatBenz.