Positive business development at Trucks Europe/Latin America

With its Mercedes-Benz Actros, Axor and Atego models, the Trucks Europe/Latin America business unit supplies medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks for long-distance haulage, local deliveries, and construction applications. The product range is rounded off by Econic, Zetros and Unimog special-purpose vehicles, which are primarily used by municipal authorities.

The business unit once again increased its unit sales in the year under review: by 6% to a total of 170,100 vehicles, thereby achieving a new sales record. The positive sales development is particularly a reflection of the continuing market success of the Actros and the Axor. However, the volume of orders received was significantly lower than in 2007, partially due to the increasingly difficult economic situation in the second half of the year.

Unit sales in Europe decreased slightly by 2% to 101,800 vehicles. Of this figure, 40,200 trucks were sold in Germany (+0.5%), where Mercedes-Benz maintained its market leadership in the medium and heavy-duty segment with a market share of 39.6%. Unit sales in the Middle East increased by 90% to 11,300 vehicles.

A new sales record of 43,400 vehicles (2007: 38,100) was also achieved in Latin America, due to very favorable business developments in Brazil. However, capacity bottlenecks caused Mercedes-Benz’s share of the heavy-duty truck market to decline slightly in Brazil to 27.6% (2007: 29.1%).

A particular highlight for Daimler Trucks in 2008 was the unveiling of the third-generation Mercedes-Benz Actros, which is the world’s first truck for long-distance haulage to be fitted with automated transmission as standard. A few weeks after its premiere in March 2008, the market-leading truck was already entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most fuel-efficient series-produced truck and world champion for low CO₂ emissions following a test drive in Nardo, southern Italy. At the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover, automotive journalists from 21 European countries honored the Mercedes-Benz Actros for its numerous innovations and improvements in the areas of fuel efficiency, environmental friendliness, safety, and comfort, and once again voted it the Truck of the Year. Actros construction vehicles, which are specifically designed for use on building sites, celebrated their world premiere at the international motor show IAA Commercial Vehicles.