DICV navigates a challenging 2019

The company is bullish about prospects in the BS-VI era and is exploring additional revenue streams in off-highway, defence and freight aggregation segments.

- N. Balasubramanian

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has reported its preliminary results for 2019, a year that proved to be a very challenging one for the Indian commercial vehicle industry. In its domestic business, DICV recorded a drop of 36% with sales of 14,474 trucks in 2019 as compared to 22,532 units in 2018, in line with the 35% drop in industry sales volumes. The company managed to maintain its market share at 5.8% while not resorting to any form of discounting despite highly volatile market conditions.

In spite of significant market headwinds, DICV was able to grow its domestic sales network by a record 30%, expanding from 182 touchpoints in 2018 to 236 in 2019. In 2020, the truck maker plans to expand its network by another 25%.

Maintaining a bullish stance over his company’s performance and bright future outlook, Satyakam Arya, Managing Director and CEO, DICV, said: “In 2019, we have achieved the best-ever business ramp up in the Indian commercial vehicle industry. We now have more than 1 lakh BharatBenz trucks and buses on Indian roads and have exported over 30,000 vehicles across the world.”