- Daimler shows numerous premieres of vehicles for markets around the globe.
- The Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 points the way to the future of freight transportation
- Global sales of trucks, buses and vans surpass last year’s level in first eight months
- Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard: “We want to lead our industry – both technologically and economically. With strong technology, a global presence and intelligent platforms.”
Five brands, numerous world premieres, new services and the spectacular Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 concept. That’s how Daimler AG, the world’s Number 1 commercial vehicle manufacturer, is presenting itself at this year’s IAA auto show in Hanover. 63 trucks, buses, and vans can be watched at the booth of Daimler. Its motor show lineup is rounded out by fascinating trucks from North America and Asia. With this IAA presentation Daimler is underscoring its leading role as the world’s biggest commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, the Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for trucks and buses, emphasized: “Our goal is clear: We want to lead our industry – both technologically and economically. With strong technology, a global presence and intelligent platforms.”
Daimler is the world’s only real full-line supplier and fulfills every customer wish ranging from the agile Citan city van to the heaviest of heavy-duty trucks, the Mercedes-Benz SLT. With its range of trucks, vans and buses, Daimler is more global in scope than any other manufacturer. Daimler’s strong international position is also reflected in the number of commercial vehicles it sold in the first eight months of the year. Altogether, Daimler sold around 516,000 trucks, buses and vans worldwide, representing an increase of over five percent on last year’s result. The van business did especially well, with sales growing by ten percent to approximately 181,000 units. Truck sales rose in the first eight months of the year by three percent to about 314,000 vehicles, while bus sales totaled around 20,000 units, which was more or less unchanged from last year.
Daimler Trucks with higher market shares – Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 is first autonomous truck
Daimler Trucks is delivering trucks with best in class consumption to customers around the world and is penetrating new markets in Asia and Africa. The division increased its market share in almost all of the key regions. In view of the latest results, Daimler Trucks has reaffirmed its sales forecast for 2014, which foresees slightly higher sales than the 484,000 units that were sold last year.
“Despite the difficult economic conditions, after eight months things are going as planned. We expect slightly higher volumes and a significantly higher EBIT. One reason is our strong performance in the NAFTA region, a further our strong plus in Japan,” Bernhard said.
At this year’s IAA, the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 takes center stage. With the Future Truck 2025 Daimler not only puts the autonomously driving truck of the future on the road but also highlights Daimler Trucks’ technological leadership. The Future Truck 2025 will be a key element of tomorrow’s transportation system, because it will make freight transport safer, more efficient, and more closely networked. This year Daimler is also presenting pioneering new safety systems such as Blind Spot Assist, which will help to significantly reduce accident figures in the future.
In addition to the Future Truck, which serves as the auto show’s highlight, Daimler’s presentation at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2014 is concentrating on the company’s technological leadership with regard to trucks, buses, and vans. The focus here is on maximum customer dedication. In the commercial vehicle business this dedication is primarily expressed by the three letters “TCO,” which stand for “total cost of ownership.” No matter whether a vehicle is from Mercedes-Benz, Setra, Fuso, Western Star, Freightliner or BharatBenz, Daimler trucks, vans, and buses focus on minimizing costs by combining the highest levels of efficiency with maximum performance.
This customer dedication is also clearly reflected in the excellent sales figures for Euro VI vehicles. Mercedes-Benz launched these vehicles on the market long before its competitors did, and considerably in advance of January 1, 2014, the day the new emission limit went into effect. Mercedes-Benz sold about 47,000 Euro VI trucks from the time the various models were launched. Overall, the customers drove almost five billion kilometers with the Euro VI fleet of Mercedes-Benz trucks.
In addition to being the efficiency champion in Europe as a result of Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Trucks also offers the new Western Star 5700 as another example of outstanding efficiency. This spectacular North American truck from one of the Daimler brands was recently presented in the U.S. and will be available to customers there beginning in 2015. The WS 5700XE consumes only slightly more fuel than the Freightliner Cascadia Evolution, which offers best-in-class fuel efficiency in North America. As a result, in the future Daimler Trucks will be offering the two most fuel-efficient trucks on the North American market.
The huge BharatBenz 3143 is also spectacular, but in a completely different way. This four-axle truck from the division’s Indian subsidiary has two rear-drive axles and a tremendous GVW of 48 tons. It is powered by the proven Mercedes-Benz OM 457 six-cylinder inline engine with 12 liters of displacement. This engine is well known not only in Asia but also in Europe and the Americas. The BharatBenz 3143 is by far the strongest local truck on the Indian market. Series production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2015.
Another perfect example of Daimler Trucks’ global ambitions is the FJ-series Fuso HDT-2528R three-axle solo truck. The Japanese brand’s truck is also produced by Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) in India, which exports it to promising markets in Southeast Asia and Africa. Other vehicles that are being showcased by Fuso include the Canter with a GVW of 8.55 tons and the new Canter E-Cell, which has an all-electric drive system and is produced in Europe.
Mercedes-Benz Vans: The Vito is becoming the second global van
In Hanover, Mercedes-Benz Vans is celebrating the public premiere of the new Vito, which sets new standards in the midsize van segment. The new Vito offers outstanding levels of efficiency, quality, and safety and variability. For example, the new generation of the vehicle consumes 20 percent less fuel on average than its predecessor. When it is fitted with the BlueEFFICIENCY package, its standard fuel consumption can be as low as 5.7 liters, which none of the van’s competitors can outdo. As the only van in its segment, it has three drive variants.
The new Vito is also an example of Daimler’s “Vans goes global” strategy, because it will become the second global vehicle in the company’s van family, after the Sprinter. Mercedes-Benz Vans will be using the Vito to capture a share of the midsize van segment in Europe and will also go on the offensive with the new vehicle in the Americas.
“We are the global player in the van business. We attack in Europe; we conquer new markets and expand our technology leadership. In this way we expand our fan base around the globe,” said Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans.
Daimler Buses: ABA 3 in the Mercedes-Benz Travego
The centerpiece of Mercedes-Benz Buses’ presentation at the IAA is the Safety Coach version of the Travego premium high-deck touring coach. It combines all of the currently available safety systems, including the third-generation Active Brake Assist (ABA), which will be available in the 2nd half of next year. ABA 3 enables the Travego to automatically initiate an emergency braking maneuver even when facing a stationary obstacle, so that accidents can be effectively prevented. The Travego is also innovative with regard to efficiency, as it will be available with Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) in the future. By combining an automatic transmission with GPS map information, PPC can optimize switching times and cruise control speeds in advance, thus greatly reducing fuel consumption.
The IAA highlight of the second bus brand, Setra, is the world premiere of the ComfortClass MD. This bus is a medium-deck vehicle that is perfect for short trips, excursions, and shuttle services. The lowered passenger compartment has improved aerodynamics and raises efficiency to a new level.
“No commercial vehicle will transport as many people as the bus. How this can be done as safe, efficient and comfortable as possible, show the products of Mercedes-Benz and Setra,” Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, said.
