Germany'S Daimler, a truck manufacturer, is all set to make its debut in the Indian market with an array of vehicles, capacity ranging from six to 49 tonnes, according to reports.
The German auto giant will thus join other foreign heavy vehicle brands such as Volvo, Kamaz, Navistar and Hino already doing business in the country.
Five-axle 32.7-tonne GVW (gross vehicle weight) trucks are slated to enter the market within the next few months.
Experts, however, feel that the launch of these vehicles, although welcome from an overall national perspective, would throw up fresh challenges.
Domestic truck manufacturers would have to pull up their socks to fight the competition that is expected to become intense. Besides, it would also entail reclassification of vehicles for the procedure of levying toll.
The number of multi-axle vehicles plying on Indian highways has been increasing manifold, with the potential to impact the wear and tear of roads and, therefore, the life of the highways, experts say.
In such a scenario, they aver that the old three-category classification, introduced in the 1990s, would be inadequate to meet the present day requirement and, therefore, should be done away with in favour of a more realistic one. It is learnt that the Delhi-based Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training is already working on a new classification, according to Exim News Service.