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Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation

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Fuso-Based Medium-Duty Truck Line Production Goes into
Full Speed At Daimler India Commercial Vehicles
New Plant in Chennai, India

April 18, 2012
•  Daimler Celebrates Opening of New Production Plant in Chennai, India
•  Total Investment of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Over €700 million, Including Manufacturing Plant as well as Research and Development
•  Initial Production Capacity of 36,000 Units Per Year, Possible Ramp Up to More than 70,000 Units
•  9-Ton and 12-Ton Trucks Based on Fuso Fighter Medium-Duty Truck Chassis and Canter Light-Duty Truck Cabin
•  Fuso Leveraging Daimler Trucks Network Under FUSO 2015 “Profitable Global Player”
Kawasaki - Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), one of Asia’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, today took part at a new plant opening ceremony hosted by Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. (DICV) in Oragadam-Chennai. At the plant opening ceremony held on April 18, DICV inaugurated the around 160-hectare manufacturing site along with the integrated research and development center and the state-of-the-art test track. The plant is one of only three Daimler truck plants worldwide to combine truck assembly and components production at one location.
The total investment of DICV is over €700 million including the manufacturing facility for BharatBenz brand trucks as well as research and development. The plant in Chennai has an initial production capacity of 36,000 units per year and is designed to allow an increase up to more than 70,000 commercial vehicles per year.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, explained, “Our new Oragadam-Chennai plant shares Daimler’s stringent quality standards with its sister plants around the world and is unique at the same time. It is the only Daimler plant in the world that houses products which combine Indian engineering with German and Japanese DNA under a single roof. This way, we are optimally positioning ourselves for one of the world’s strongest and fastest-growing truck markets.”
While the facility in Oragadam-Chennai will produce versatile BharatBenz product range for the Indian volume market, the 9-ton and 12-ton medium-duty trucks are based on the Fuso Fighter medium-duty truck chassis and Canter light-duty truck cabin.
Andreas Renschler, Daimler Board of Management member responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, emphasized at the plant inauguration in India, “DICV is an outstanding example of Daimler Trucks’ Global Excellence strategy. Our worldwide production network and our global research and development efforts enable us to develop, manufacture, and sell trucks in India, for India. We do all of this in close proximity to our customers, for our customers.”
BharatBenz trucks are robust and reliable vehicles for the modern domestic segment, which illustrates the consistently increasing demands of the Indian customers. This segment currently accounts for four percent of all trucks in India, but this figure is expected to rise to almost 80 percent by 2020. With a product portfolio of 17 BharatBenz commercial vehicles by 2014, DICV is preparing for the promising Indian truck market, which has developed into the world’s third largest market with a volume of 330,000 vehicles in the weight classes of 5 to 49 tons in 2011.
According to Dr. Albert Kirchmann, MFTBC President and CEO, Fuso aims to further optimize its overall global market setup. “Under ‘FUSO 2015,’ Fuso’s 5-pillar strategy, we are taking steps for additional growth in the promising developing markets like India by leveraging strengths, expertise, and network within the Daimler Trucks group,” said Dr. Kirchmann. “We are proud to be a part of this historical moment for Daimler, DICV and Fuso, and are excited to be taking leadership participation in terms of delivering technical expertise in the volume medium-duty trucks segment.”
To benefit from India’s market potential in the commercial vehicle segment, the plant in Oragadam-Chennai was built for the future local production of BharatBenz trucks. At the celebratory inauguration, Mr. Marc Llistosella, CEO and Managing Director of DICV, declared, “Filled with pride and joy, I dedicate today’s plant opening to the employees of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. Our work-force is primarily Indian and has steadily increased to include more than 1,400 employees today.”
Mr. Llistosella added, “Our focus on localization has resulted in more than 40 percent of our suppliers being located within a 40-kilometer radius of the plant. Overall our BharatBenz trucks will have a localization rate of 85 percent in India.”
Cooperation with Local Suppliers and Creation of Extensive Dealership Network
Daimler’s Indian commercial vehicle subsidiary cooperates with over 450 suppliers, who were selected after stringent quality and due diligence tests. In cooperation with local car and commercial vehicle dealers, DICV has built up a nationwide retail network that will encompass around 70 locations by the end of 2012. The retail network will be expanded to more than 100 dealerships by 2014.
FUSO 2015 “Profitable Global Player”
The 5 pillars under FUSO 2015, the company’s holistic improvement program aimed to increase operational excellence in all aspects, are: ‘Leader in Green Innovation,’ ‘Profitable Global Player,’ ‘Efficiency Leader,’ ‘Customer Number One in Japan,’ and ‘Employer Number One.’ Through FUSO 2015, the company aims for significant increase in global sales, including an overall target to double international sales volume to over 200,000 units annually.

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About MFTBC
Based in Kawasaki, Japan, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) is one of Asia's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers. In 2011, the company sold a total of about 147,700 vehicles including light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. Daimler AG owns 89.29% of MFTBC shares and various Mitsubishi group companies own 10.71% of MFTBC shares. MFTBC is an integral part of the Daimler Trucks Division of Daimler AG.
BharatBenz Medium-Duty Truck
BharatBenz Medium-Duty Truck
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Oragadam-Chennai Plant
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Oragadam-Chennai Plant
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