BharatBenz 3143 And 4940TT: A Closer Look At Daimler's New Heavy-Duty Trucks

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles has rolled out new heavy duty truck range - BharatBenz 3143 dump truck and 4940TT tractor - in the domestic deep mining segment.

Codenamed internally as "Thunderbolt" range, these trucks are developed and manufactured in India with 90 percent localisation (at chassis level), targeting both the domestic and other export markets.

The new BharatBenz 3143, which was premiered at the 2014 IAA Hanover show last September, is built on the existing HDT (Heavy Duty Truck) platform – the one that underpins Mercedes-Benz Axor and Arocs HDT range in the European market. It is characterised by rugged and heavy-duty bumper claddings, high ride height, and large off-road wheels. However, the production truck launched here gets slight facelift with a more pronounced and wider matt black grille. The truck gets a 4-axle (8x4) configuration, with twin-steerable front axle, and short wheel base to meet the mining requirements. Its gross vehicle weight (GVW) is pegged at 48 tonnes and will be one of the strongest local truck in the country. It will be available in two variants - 19.5Cu.M rock body and 32Cu.M coal carrier.

The BharatBenz 3143 received global premiere at the 2014 IAA Hanover show last September

The heavy-duty tipper is powered by the OM 457 Mercedes-Benz engine that is renowned for its usage in many products globally including the Axor range trucks. It is a 12-liter 6 cylinder, vertical in-line diesel mill with BOSCH direct injection system. It gets a turbocharger and an intercooler, with a fully electronic engine management with single-cylinder injection pumps, and centrally arranged seven-hole nozzles providing an injection pressure of up to 2000 bar. The Euro 4 compliant engine, mated either to a 16-speed (12 forward, 4 reverse) G330 'Powershift' constant mesh Automated Manual (AMT) gearbox, develops 430 hp (315 kW) of peak power at 1800 rpm, and a max torque of 2100 Nm is available at 1100 rpm.

The truck gets  bumper claddings and high ride-height.

The BharatBenz 3143 is expected to feature state of the art equipments and operator controls including Air conditioner, Driver Information display, Tiltable Steering, multi-function stalk (Paddle Shift for gear operations), Cruise control, ABS, Hill hold, fog lamps, etc. It will compete with the other fairly new entrants to the mining segment - Volvo FMX range, Scania P-series heavy-duty dumpers, and the Eicher Pro 8031 XM 8x4 Tipper. Both of them are powered by 12-liter engines with similar output range that of the BharatBenz 3143. BharatBenz is already selling the 3128 range of tippers in the low tonnage segment, with a 6.4-liter diesel engine with 9-speed manual transmission.

BharatBenz 3143: Impressive interior design and ergonomics reflect European standards.

The 4940TT, on the other hand, is a tractor-trailer unit based on the same chassis and mechanical of the aforementioned 3143 heavy-duty dumper. BharatBenz says that this cab truck is best suited for transporting heavy-lift project cargo in construction and infrastructure project applications, including haulage of turbines, heat exchangers, windmill propellers and various industrial equipments. It will be launched in the later part of this year.

According to the company, the new trucks are designed in keeping Indian requirements in mind and are a natural progression towards high powered and cost efficient mining trucks in the domestic market. It believes that the two new trucks will bridge the gap in the local market that currently offers premium trucks on the one hand and underpowered trucks (for mining application) on the other hand. Local manufacturing and component sourcing will help render the truck in affordable prices, adds the company.

DICV, a fully owned subsidiary of Daimler AG of Germany, also revealed its new BharatBenz and Mercedes-Benz buses that are to be manufactured at their new bus manufacturing facility at its Oragadam plant in the outskirts of Chennai. The BharatBenz branded buses are front-engined small and medium segment buses for short distance travel like school, staff and tourist transportation. The premium, inter-city segment buses are branded as Mercedes-Benz.

Also Read: Daimler's Freightliner Inspiration Self-Driving Truck

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