Daimler India Commercial Vehicles starts expanding Oragadam plant capacity

DICV expands Oragadam facility to meet growing demand for trucks and buses, achieving record sales and revenue growth.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, has initiated expansion work at its Oragadam facility as it has reached full capacity, said a top official.

“The Oragadam plant has the capacity to produce annually 36,000 trucks and 4,000 buses. We have already reached the full capacity,” said MD & CEO Satyakam Arya during the media interaction.

“We have started accelerating the expansion plan at welding and paint shops without any major capex. The first step is to reach 45,000 vehicles. This expansion programme will go on for three years,” he said.

On Tuesday, DICV officials announced that in CY23 the domestic truck and buses sales grew by 39% from the year-earlier period, revenue by 21% and spare parts business by 21%. Export revenue grew by 30%. In CY23, DICV sold 23,400 trucks and 2,000 buses.

“It was the best ever sales and financial growth since inception. Our tipper and tractor trailer product lines grew 53% and 79% respectively. Bus sales doubled with 107% growth,” he said.

According to him, DICV undertook slew of strategic initiatives that also helped it take informed decisions on costs, tackle headwinds effectively and sharpen its focus on key areas of business.

Talking about the CY24, he said the total industry volume of trucks will remain flat at 3.50 lakh units or dip 5% lower from the previous year due to the three-month election period. The bus segment will grow by 25-30%. Overall, sales in the first half will be soft and strong in the second half.