Daimler set to run Tourismo on Indian roads

Germany-based luxury coach manufacturer DaimlerChrysler's (DC) subsidiary Mercedes Benz is planning to launch its high-end premier bus Tourismo in India by 2008.

The company intends to launch the vehicle through completely built unit (CBU) route making it a direct import thereby pushing up its cost further.

Speaking to Business Standard, a company official said, "We are planning to launch a bus in the Indian market through completely built unit (CBU) route. Tourismo, could be a possible choice".

"Right now the talks are in early stages and we definitely will not be rolling out any buses next year, the launches could however happen in 2008. We cannot give an exact time frame for this,"said the DaimlerChrysler spokesperson.

Experts believe that Tourismo would target the intercity luxury passenger segment. Although the current market is about 1200 buses but is growing.

With this development, DC seems to have temporarily halted its plans to locally assemble its buses.The company was in talks with several domestic coach builders, including the Jalandar-based Sutlej Motors. It was said to be close to a deal with them in this regard.

The luxury liner would then be in direct competition with Volvo's B7R, Ashok Leyland-Irizar's Luxura, Tata Motors's Globus and Swaraj-Mazda Isuzu buses.

The major chunk of the luxury coach segment in the country belongs to Volvo followed by Tata Motors. The Indian market is among Volvo buses' top ten markets in the world.

In August, Sutlej Motors was speculated to have signed an agreement with DaimlerChrysler for its Merc range of luxury buses. A DaimlerChrysler delegation from Germany headed by Wolfgang Diez, the head of the DaimlerChrysler (buses and coaches business unit), was said to have had assessed the market.

All models of the Tourismo which are already plying on the European roads are equipped with the Euro4-compliant six-cylinder inline turbo-diesel engine which has 12 litres of displacement. The engines are fitted with Blue-Tec diesel technology and a downstream SCR catalytic converter.

This technology not only ensures a clean exhaust but also very low fuel consumption. Tourismo has a very long range, thanks to the high capacity of the fuel tank of 490 litres in the two-axle version and 475 litres in the three axle coach.

DaimlerChrysler India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler group and was set up in 1994 with a production facility in Pune. Currently, it has two brands in the Indian market in Mercedes Benz and Maybach. The company's flagship product Mercedes Benz has the largest share of the Indian luxury car segment with a sales of more than 2,000 cars a year.