Daimler’s new commercial vehicle launch to help increase market share in shallow mines segment

Satyakam Arya, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, at the launch of new range of construction and mining vehicles at the factory in Oragadam near Chennai
| Photo Credit:
Bijoy Ghosh

With the launch of a new range of heavy-duty mining vehicles on Wednesday, BharatBenz hopes to increase its market share in the shallow mine segment (up to 80 m depth) beyond 50 per cent, Satyakam Arya, Managing Director and CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG said. He did not specify the numbers.

The mining truck market size is roughly around 5,000 units a year. This includes the complete range — from the shallow mine to mid mine up to 200 m.

The company is banking on replacement of the aging fleet to boost the sale of new vehicles.

“India’s construction and mining sector continues to be one of our strongest business pillars. Many fleets are 8-10 years old and reaching end-of-life, creating a major replacement cycle,” Arya said. The company will consider exports after reaching certain volumes, and one destination identified is Indonesia, he added.

India’s mining and construction equipment sector is projected to more than double to $45 billion by 2030 from $16 billion. The launch is to support this surge, he said.

DICV on Wednesday launched the all-new BharatBenz Construction and Mining range comprising of their HX and Torqshift series models. This heavy-duty truck series directly addresses the critical need for reliable, high-performance vehicles as large contractors increasingly invest in owned assets and modernize their aging fleets. “These are 15 to 20 per cent better performance vehicles,” said Arya.

The torque shift range introduces a Mercedes-Benz Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) transmission, already proven successful in over a million vehicles globally. The transmissions are imported due to the lower volume but the company will localise it on attaining a critical mass, he said. The AMT system aims to reduce driver effort by 40 per cent, he added.

When asked if the company’s existing customers would move to the new range, Arya said, “we believe that over the next one year we will make a complete switch to the new products in the construction and mining space.”

On a lull in the construction market that may impact sales, Arya said that the slowdown is seasonal in nature due to the monsoons. “Once that is over by the end of August, this segment will come back on a growth trajectory. So, from that point of view, we are absolutely in time with our launch,” he said.

DICV’s 28 tonne budget variant of the new launch is priced at ₹56 lakh (HX) while the 35 tonne vehicle is priced at ₹65 lakh (Torqshift).

Published on July 2, 2025