Daimler Trucks Ends 2017 With A Bang
Commercial Vehicles

Daimler Trucks Ends 2017 With A Bang

Fahrvergleich Mercedes-Benz Actros 1845

Daimler Trucks increased its worldwide deliveries in the first eleven months of 2017 by 12 percent year on year to 422,500 units, despite the continuation of disparate market conditions. Until the end of November, more trucks were delivered than in the whole of last year. In full-year 2016, the Daimler truck division sold approximately 415,100 vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz, FUSO, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses and BharatBenz brands worldwide.

On the basis of initial December data, Daimler Trucks assumes that it will end the full year with unit sales in the magnitude of 465,000 vehicles (2016: 415,100). The final sales figures will be available at Daimler’s annual press conference on February 1, 2018.

“For full-year 2017, we at Daimler Trucks anticipate unit sales in the magnitude of 465,000 trucks – significantly more than in the previous year and significantly more than we expected at the beginning of the year. This is only possible with leading products and an excellent international team – especially with an ongoing situation of weak tailwinds from our markets. I thank all our employees for their outstanding efforts,” stated Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Trucks & Buses.

“In everything that we do, our focus is on our customers. In order to offer them the best products and solutions, we work continuously on innovations. We used the year 2017 to work hard on efficient, electric, automated and connected trucks. In the same way, we will be sustainably successful in 2018 – the year of the IAA Commercial Vehicles show – and beyond.”

The significant growth in unit sales achieved by Daimler Trucks was driven by the positive sales development in the NAFTA region, especially in the second half of the year. Although, as expected, the development of the North American market was slightly weaker than in the previous year, Daimler Trucks increased its sales in the first eleven months of the year by 12 percent to 150,600 units (2016: 134,200).

With a market share of 39.2 percent in weight classes 6 to 8 (2016: 40.0 percent), Daimler Trucks continued to be the undisputed market leader for medium- and heavy-duty trucks in North America by a clear margin. A key reason for the truck division’s success in the North American market is the new Freightliner Cascadia, which has been produced since early 2017 with an integrated Detroit powertrain and sets standards in terms of fuel efficiency, safety and connectivity. Also in the fourth quarter, Daimler Trucks recorded a significantly higher number of orders received in the NAFTA region than in the prior-year period.

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Daimler Trucks increased its sales also in the EU30 region (European Union, Switzerland and Norway) by three percent to 73,600 units in the months of January through November (2016: 71,100). Mercedes-Benz maintained its market leadership in the segment of medium- and heavy-duty trucks with 21.0 percent (2016: 20.7 percent).

Mercedes-Benz is the best-selling brand also in Germany, with a market share of 36.6 percent (2016: 37.2 percent) and deliveries of 28,000 vehicles (2016: 27,600). Since March 2017, Mercedes-Benz trucks feature the new Truck Data Center.

Due to the improved investment climate and thanks to optimized dealership structures, Daimler Trucks was able to more than triple its deliveries in Russia to 7,800 vehicles (2016: 2,200; +254 percent).

In Latin America, sales of 27,300 vehicles by Daimler Trucks in the first eleven months of the year were nine percent higher than in the prior-year period (2016: 25,100). There was a strong contribution from the positive sales development in Argentina, where 5,200 trucks were delivered to customers (2016: 3,500; +47 percent).

In the region’s main market, Brazil, Daimler Trucks increased its unit sales by eight percent to 12,200 vehicles (2016: 11,200). With a market share of 28.3 percent in the first eleven months, Daimler Trucks once again achieved a top position in this important truck market (2016: 29.3 percent).

In Japan, sales of 40,700 units in the first eleven months were just under the prior-year level (2016: 42,000) and market share was 19.3 percent (2016: 20.3 percent). The new SuperGreat heavy-duty truck demonstrates FUSO’s goal of further consolidating its position in the Japanese market and sets standards for efficiency, safety and connectivity.

Like the latest heavy-duty trucks from Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner, the new FUSO flagship makes use of components from the global platform strategy; in addition to a standardized electric/electronic architecture including the Truck Data Center, it also features a shared powertrain.

In Indonesia, Daimler Trucks profited from the growth dynamism of the overall local truck market. Sales of 37,600 units in the first eleven months were significantly higher than the prior-year number of 24,400 trucks sold (+54 percent).

Although the overall market in India was smaller than in 2016 – as a result of regulatory and tax changes especially in the first half of the year – Daimler Trucks significantly increased its unit sales in the fifth year since the launch of the BharatBenz brand.

From January through November, 15,200 vehicles were delivered (2016: 12,100; +26 percent). Market share increased by 2.3 percentage points to 9.0 percent. The plant in Chennai produces BharatBenz trucks not only for the local market, but also for export, meanwhile to more than 40 markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the Middle East, deliveries grew significantly by 31 percent to 21,000 vehicles (2016: 16,000).

In China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, Daimler holds a 50-percent interest in the joint venture Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd. (BFDA), the producer of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks under the Auman brand.

Along with the significant market recovery in China, sales of 104,600 Auman trucks in the first eleven months were significantly higher than in the prior-year period (2016: 68,800; +52 percent). Unit sales by the joint venture are not included in the consolidated sales of Daimler Trucks.

 

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