Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Supports Fight Against COVID-19

·          Company and employees pledge cash donation to relief funds

·          Medical equipment, masks, Bio-PPE kits and hand sanitizer provided to multiple government administrations and charities

·          Around 1000 meals a day distributed to stranded drivers and locals in need

·          Mr. Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, said: “DICV takes its responsibility to society seriously. Hence, we are considering every conceivable approach to offer our support in a timely manner. We depend on the community and the community can depend on us. Together, we can keep the world moving.”

Chennai – Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) is taking a multi-faceted, comprehensive approach to supporting India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. After soliciting dozens of ideas from employees, the well-known CV manufacturer has rolled-out a multi-tiered strategy for their CSR initiatives aimed at helping the community through the crisis.

From monetary contributions to donations of meals and medical equipment, the Chennai-based producer of ‘BharatBenz’ vehicles has bent the might of their 4000+ employees towards the main problem facing the world today – COVID-19.

Mr. Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, said: “DICV takes its responsibility to society seriously. Hence, we are considering every conceivable approach to offer our support in a timely manner. We depend on the community and the community can depend on us. Together, we can keep the world moving.”

So far, DICV has pledged large cash donations to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund and the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. The company has additionally donated high-tech critical care ventilators, bio-PPE kits, masks and hand sanitizer to local medical services, charities and administrative departments.

Aside from cash donations, DICV has also offered up its manpower and its facilities. For the last several weeks, DICV has been using its company canteen in the Oragadam plant to provide around 1000 meals a day to local citizens and stranded drivers in need. Their Bus division lent 16 buses to support foreign nationals in reaching the airport, allowing them to safely take flights back to their respective countries. Every day, the company posts security personnel at local ATMs to remind people to respect social distancing.

The company even stands ready to convert buildings at its Oragadam plant to treatment wards in the case of a major outbreak, and to open the doors to its state of the art in-house medical center.

“We care about the community because they are our employees, our suppliers, our customers and our families. We will do everything we can to support them in this time of need because ‘They’ are ‘Us’,” concluded Mr. Arya

About Daimler India Commercial Vehicles

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, Germany and operating under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia, is a full-fledged commercial vehicle player in the Indian market and the only Daimler entity worldwide with a brand dedicated to its home market: BharatBenz. DICV produces and sells in India above 9 to 55 tons trucks as well as BharatBenz buses, Mercedes-Benz coaches and bus chassis. DICV’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Oragadam near Chennai spreads over 400 acres (160 hectares) including a highly modern test track and is home to the company’s headquarters, R&D and training operations. With one global quality standard, it also produces for Daimler Trucks’ brands of FUSO, Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner. Products and parts are exported to more than 50 markets in the Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. DICV represents an overall investment of more than INR 5,500 crores.

About BharatBenz

The BharatBenz brand is tailored for the Indian market and its demanding customer requirements by Daimler AG, the world’s leading CV manufacturer with a global reach. First unveiled in February 2011, the brand was launched in September 2012 with the introduction of its heavy-duty haulage trucks. The portfolio was expanded with the launch of medium-duty haulage trucks (2013), construction & mining trucks and tractors (2014), and buses (2015). The pan Indian BharatBenz sales and service network of more than 235 touchpoints is being continuously expanded. Within eight years after the market launch, BharatBenz has already produced over 100,000 vehicles – an unprecedented ramp-up in the world's toughest commercial vehicle market.