Basic HTML Version
176
MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
buses in Europe and the NAFTA region, its business in
Latin America, Africa and Asia is focused on produc-
tion and distribution of bus chassis.
With unit sales of 39,700 complete buses and bus
chassis, the company surpassed the prior-year figure by
two per cent despite a generally difficult market situa-
tion. In its core markets in the segment of buses over
8 tons gross vehicle weight, it was the market leader
by a large margin once again in 2011. The factors con-
tributing for the increase in unit sales were the positive
business development for Mercedes-Benz bus chassis
in Latin America, including Mexico, and significant
growth in sales of complete buses in Turkey.
In Western Europe, unit sales decreased by 17 per
cent to 5,900 buses. Nonetheless, Daimler Bus-
es succeeded in maintaining its leading
position in the region with a market
share of 27 per cent (2010: 29.6 per
cent). In Latin America, Daimler
Buses increased its chassis sales
of the Mercedes-Benz brand by 8
per cent to 25,000 units. Its market
share in Latin America therefore
remained at a high level of 43 per
cent (2010: 47.1 per cent). While
the Mexican market continued to
recover, unit sales decreased in
North America.
City bus launched in India
In March 2012, Daimler Buses
launched the first Mercedes-Benz city
bus in the Indian mar-
ket. Following the
launch of a two-axle
coach in 2008 and a
three-axle coach in
2010, the company
now aims to establish
itself in the country’s
city-bus market with
its Mercedes-Benz
brand. The Indian
market already has a
high volume of about
50,000 buses per an-
num and is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead.
India already has the world’s largest bus market after
China.
For 125 years, Daimler has pioneered innovation and
engineering in the field of automobiles. The company
still remains a global leader and continues to come up
with path-breaking innovations and technologies for
the development of the automotive industry. With ex-
panding presence across the globe, the inventors of the
first automobile would certainly be keen on treading
new paths for others to follow and customers to cher-
ish.
w
vehicle zone