DICV ride high on new BSIV trucks with cost advantage
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has launched BSIV BharatBenz trucks without increasing the price. The trucks are designed and made to deliver best-inclass efficiency, productivity and safety. This made DICV to have an early mover advantage where the Indian automobile industry is undergoing a transformation with the implementation of BSIV emission standards from April 1, 2017. Promising on low cost of ownership, the new BharatBenz truck is a combination of Daimler’s global experience in building trucks and the Indian frugal engineering abilities. With the tagline of ‘Profit Technology’ DICV has refreshed its product line up with a host of new features that gives more profit to its customers.
BSIV compliance
DICV had placed the 3-tonne GVW 3123R 8x2 rigid haulage truck at the centre of the display of (16 - 49-tonne) HDTs in Chennai recently. The company has sold over 1000 BSIV trucks since August 2015, much before the pan-India BSIV emission norms came into force on April 01, 2017. The 3123R is equipped with a 60-litre AdBlue tank as part of its BSIV architecture. The company is also offering BSIV trucks in 1617, 2523 and 4023 models.
The 3123R is powered by the 235 hp, 6372 cc six-cylinder engine, the truck is fitted with a SCR exhaust gas after-treatment. The SCR has NOx sensors at the core of it apart from the AdBlue injector nozzle. The system is controlled by an ECU, and the AdBlue solution , made of Urea, is sprayed into the exhaust gas stream, with the NOx sensors sense the amount of reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions is required as per the prescribed BSIV emission norms.
What comes out of the tail pipe is harmless nitrogen and water. Dubbed as air purifiers, the BSIV trucks from DICV “use SCR technology that has been tried and tested internationally, and is robust. Changes included a few additional harnesses, sensors, electronic bits and software, said Erich Nesselhauf, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.
The truck major also pointed out that their BSIV trucks are fuel efficient comparing to the old trucks. The increase in fuel
efficiency is achieved by enhancing the engine efficiency and by reducing 400 kg on kerb weight.
AdBlue
The AdBlue reservoirs of the BSIV BharatBenz trucks have to be topped-up at long intervals. For this, the company has made requisite arrangements with its dealers. It has also tied up with petrol pumps. Supply of quality Adblue solution is essential. Any compromise on quality may lead to the truck into a limp mode, affecting operational efficiency, performance and emissions. It is
an important aspect that links the reliability and performance of BSIV trucks with the dealers.
With considerable uptake in electronics, DICV has invested in time and resources to train its dealer network and also to address the concerns of its customers. “We urged our dealers to look at areas of gain. With fuel saving of 10%, a fleet owner stands to save 1000 litres annually on each truck that he operates for 18,00,000 kms. In terms of pure carbon savings per litre of diesel, BSIV engines result in carbon emission reduction of 2.5
kg per litre. Significant savings are also achieved in the case of NOx emissions. We laid special focus on optimising engines as part of our move to BSIV,” Nesselhauf said.
Apart from training, the dealer staff is supported by an online technical information platform called Ascent (After Sales Central). It is a multilingual, animated system to facilitate information access at all DICV service centres. In addition, mobile service workshops, claimed DICV sources, are equipped and trained to reach out in case of an emergency in four hours flat. Customers can reach them through a 24x7 helpline number.
DICV is working to streamline processes on the BSIV BharatBenz trucks in order to go with the higher electronic content. Seeking feedback from owners, operators and drivers to improve products and services, the company has devised a mobile application, ProServ. The ProServ app. enables customers to analyse vehicle data or access maintenance instructions.
New avatar
DICV has leveraged the move up to BSIV to treat its trucks to a facelift. The truck now feature a bold new face. The grille is grown in size; there are LED DRLs built into the headlamp assembly, and the bumper comes with a body colour on higher spec models. DICV has also added a host of new features to turn its trucks into a better value proposition.
With ABS standard on BharatBenz trucks since 2012, new features include auxiliaries that have been optimised; aerodynamic improvements, and efforts to reduce friction. In an effort to reduce fatigue, the trucks come with ‘cruise-control’. The head lamp design with built in LED DRLs is claimed to offer better visibility. The higher spec models come with a reverse camera.
Advocating the deployment of AC in truck cabins, the BharatBenz trucks come with AC as optional. A brief drive revealed the difference in how the BSIV truck feels over a BSIII version. If an improvement in NVH is noticeable, the 2523C con-truck felt as capable and pro-efficient as its BSIII brethren. A differential lock buzzer in the cab indicates the engagement of active differential lock as the truck drove on an earthern path with numerous hurdles. An interesting feature of the BSIV BharatBenz trucks is the fuel-theft protection device.
Future ready
According to Nesselhauf, DICV is future ready. He further said, the implementation of GST in July will eliminate inefficiencies in the transport industry and DICV is looking to double the market share in the heavy-duty truck segment. In the wake of the global headwinds and the slowing down of many markets in the world, India is assuming greater importance in the scheme of things at Daimler.
A big chunk of CVs made at DICV’s Chennai plant are exported to over 14 markets under the Fuso brand. Fuso is now being increasingly perceived as a heavyduty truck brand. Nesselhauf said he was confident of the new range boosting volumes. A big draw is the price, which has not increased despite the additional BSIV hardware.
In 2016, DICV sold 13,100 trucks as compared to 13,997 in 2015. The company will be soon launching a sub-9 tonne (7-tonne) truck for the export market. The Indian market launch is expected to happen sometime later.