
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, demonstrated strong resilience and transformation in 2024, despite a 10% overall decline in India’s commercial vehicle market. The downturn was attributed to macroeconomic headwinds, elections, an erratic monsoon, and sectoral uncertainties. Nevertheless, DICV strengthened its core operations and set a clear path toward sustainable growth, driven by its commitment to innovation, sustainability, quality, and customer-focused solutions.
Bus and Aftermarket Segments Fuel Growth
DICV’s bus and aftermarket businesses were key contributors to its solid performance. Despite market sluggishness, the company recorded its highest-ever annual bus sales, delivering around 2,200 units—a 10.5% year-on-year increase—fueled by replacement demand and expanded transport solutions. Exports also surged by 65.9%, reaching approximately 1,000 units, underscoring rising international demand for high-quality, made-in-India buses.
In the service and aftermarket domain, customer service revenue climbed to ₹1,381 crore, a 27.8% increase over the previous year. Aftermarket revenue also rose by 18% year-on-year. Together, these segments now represent a substantial share of DICV’s overall revenue, highlighting their growing importance to the company’s business strategy.
Satyakam Arya, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, said: “Despite numerous challenges, 2024 has been a year of resilience for us. In a time marked by geopolitical tensions and domestic elections, our entire industry faced significant tests. However, through collective strength, we have emerged stronger by focusing on what truly matters – our customers, products, and people. Therefore, I am incredibly proud to share that we recorded our highest-ever bus sales, a remarkable milestone that reflects our dedication and hard work. Additionally, we expanded our aftermarket and customer service business, and took decisive actions in innovation, sustainability, and transformation. Each of these achievements is the result of the strength and agility of our strategy and the exceptional team at DICV.”
Alexander Schoen, Chief Financial Officer, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, said: “Despite the tough market environment in 2024, our revenue mix developed positively, driven by a 30.7% growth in domestic bus revenue and 58.5% increase in bus export revenue. With our customer service and components business collectively generating over INR 2,200 Cr., our business fundamentals remain strong. In addition to these financial successes, we have continued to invest in advanced technologies and sustainable practices that position us for long-term, sustainable growth.”
Sustainability leadership: 100% renewable power achieved
Sustainability has been an important cornerstone of DICV’s strategy since the inception of its operations in India. In April 2024, the company transitioned to 100% renewable power for its activities under Scope 2 emissions, representing a major milestone in its sustainability journey. It also became the first facility in India to achieve the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Green Factory Building Version 2 standards, reaffirming its position as a sustainability leader in the automotive sector.
Operational excellence: Celebrating a decade of global supply chain contribution
DICV marked ten years of successful operations at its Consolidation Center (CC) in India. Since its launch in 2014, the CC has exported over 10,000 containers and 300 million parts to Daimler Truck plants worldwide, becoming a vital pillar in the company’s global supply chain — recognized for quality, efficiency, and reliability.
Strategic innovation in products: Expanded BharatBenz portfolio
In 2024, DICV expanded its product portfolio with the launch of its new range of BharatBenz Heavy-Duty Rigid Trucks. Additionally, the company introduced the all-new BharatBenz TorqShift tipper range, featuring globally proven AMT technology, successfully deployed in hundreds of thousands of Daimler Truck heavy-duty vehicles worldwide.
The TorqShift AMT range has exceeded industry expectations and is proving to be a game-changer in India’s commercial vehicle market. Already transforming the mining segment, DICV now plans to extend this technology across other key applications.
DICV also became the first OEM in India to set up a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to comprehensive vehicle safety and Conformity of Production (CoP) testing, in line with evolving regulatory standards and its continued commitment to product excellence.
“The BharatBenz Way”: Organizational transformation
DICV continues to make significant strides toward becoming a more efficient and future-ready organization. Through its company-wide “BharatBenz Way” initiative, DICV has set its sights on winning the prestigious Deming Award, a globally recognized honor for excellence in Total Quality Management (TQM). This initiative marks a transformative journey aimed at embedding quality, efficiency, and continuous improvement across all operations. With this focused approach, DICV is not only building a stronger organization for today but laying a robust foundation for tomorrow.
The commitment to quality was further reinforced with a Gold Award win at the International Convention on Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) in Sri Lanka and a strong second-place ranking in the 2024 Dealer Satisfaction Study conducted by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).
Satyakam added: “Looking back, 2024 was a year of significant achievements and transformation for DICV. I am extremely proud of our team for achieving 100% renewable power ahead of our sustainability roadmap, and for being honored with several prestigious international awards for their outstanding work throughout the year. The performance demonstrated in 2024 underscores our commitment to operational excellence through the BharatBenz Way. As we look ahead to 2025, we are confident in our ability to address the existing challenges within the Indian commercial vehicle market by delivering robust products that support the crucial work our customers do every day. Through the BharatBenz Way, we will continue to make our organization more efficient and future-proof while enhancing our customer-centric approach. This commitment will align our goals toward a sustainable future, driven by our dedicated team.”