Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Germany-based Daimler AG, plans to roll out 17 new products in 18 months in India.

According to VRV Sriprasad, Vice-President - Marketing and Sales, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, the company has proposed to roll out 17 new products in light and heavy duty categories in the next 18 months in the range of 9-31 tonnes to makes its presence felt across the country.

Elaborating on the product portfolio, Sriprasad said a 31-tonner GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) with 230 HP would be launched this year and a 12-tonner (range of trucks) by December.

He informed that all the products would be under the brand name - BharatBenz.

He added that the entire range of trucks would be launched in 18 months, and in the first two years after the plant inauguration would bring in more products for the domestic market.

Sriprasad said the Chennai facility is a single-shift operation having the capacity of 36,000 units per year.

"The capacity will be doubled up to 70,000 by 2015 and reach one lakh by 2020 in case demand grows. To produce one lakh units, we have also a plan for second expansion," Sriprasad pointed out.

The facility in 400 acres at Oragadam was built with an investment of Rs 4,400 crore, he said.

He also highlighted the BharatBenz Power Yatra organised by the company to showcase the products across the country. The yatra, according to him, with a total of six trucks visited 22 cities, 19 Transport Nagars (hubs for all the facility including technicians, dealers and customers) and 100 dhabas. It took 71 days visiting various parts of 11 States to collect feedback from customers, dealers and mechanics, he said.

Daimler's captive financial arm (Daimler Financial Services) has created an exclusive branded financing scheme called 'BharatBenz Financial.' This will offer tailor-made financial packages for BharatBenz customers. Besides, BharatBenz has also tied up with three leading Indian banks - HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Sundaram Finance.