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© 1998 - 2007
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DaimlerChrysler Truck Group
2006: In 2006, the Truck Group built on the very successful developments of the prior year, increasing unit sales by 1 percent to a new record of 537,000 vehicles. The higher sales volume and an improved model mix also led revenues to rise sharply by 5 percent to $42.2 billion. The Truck Group achieved an operating profit of $2,666 million in 2006, a significant increase from the previous year’s result of $2,119 million. The operating profit posted in 2005 included exceptional income of $364 million from the settlement reached with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation relating to expenditure for quality actions and recall campaigns at Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation. The impact of other special factors on the earnings of the two years is shown in the table at the end of this release. The increase in operating profit was primarily the result of efficiency improvements realized in the context of the Global Excellence Program as well as improved product positioning and model mix. In addition, higher unit sales, which were mainly the result of purchases brought forward because of stricter emission limits in important markets, contributed to the higher earnings. Higher expenses for new vehicle projects, for the fulfillment of future emission regulations as well as currency effects had a negative impact on operating profit.
In the summer of 2006, as part of a roadshow through 12 major European cities the division presented the Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck, which combines all of the currently available assistance and safety systems, including Active Brake Assist (emergency braking support), Lane Assistant, Adaptive Cruise Control, and the Stability Program. Large-scale trials have shown that accident frequency can be reduced by 50 percent by the Mercedes-Benz Safety Package. Furthermore, The Truck Group’s Hybrid Technology Competence Center passed one of its first milestones with the introduction of Fuso’s Canter Eco Hybrid in Japan. In 2006, to ensure that it is ideally prepared to face future challenges, the Truck Group began to build a Development and Testing Center in the vicinity of the Wörth, Germany, truck assembly plant. The first stage of construction is scheduled to be completed during the year 2007. |
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Coinciding with Group-wide implementation of the new management model, the Truck Group was launched on August 1, 2006 with a modified organizational structure. The division now consists of three operating units:
Each of which is responsible for production and sales operations in its respective region. In order to more extensively exploit synergies as early as the product creation phase — and to allow the enhanced harmonization of parts and components — the former Truck Product Creation unit was split into two powerful units: Truck Product Engineering, which is responsible for the three vehicle development centers in Stuttgart, Portland and Kawasaki as well as the integrated development of large components, and Truck Powertrain Operations & Manufacturing Engineering, which oversees worldwide component production and production planning for vehicle and component plants. February 14, 2007 2005 : DaimlerChrysler posted a record year for commercial vehicles sales in 2005, with 824,900 trucks, buses and vans sold (2004: 712,200 units). The new record represents an increase of nearly 16 % over the sales total for 2004. In all business units, the state-of-the-art range of products and outstanding safety systems were very popular with customers. Commercial vehicles sales were up in all markets.
Even outside of the core markets, sales in the rest of the world increased from 203,100 to 266,900 units. In addition to the attractive products, strong demand on the Asian market was also one of the decisive factors behind this growth rate of more than 31%. In Asia, DaimlerChrysler sold a total of 165,600 units (2004: 119,400). In 2005, DaimlerChrysler's Trucks Europe/Latin America (Mercedes-Benz) business unit recorded a 8% increase in sales worldwide, to approximately 148,000 vehicles (2004: 137,400). The keys to this success continue to be the second generation of the flagship Actros truck, and the Axor and Atego production series. All three truck model ranges are already available with BlueTec diesel technology, enabling them to fulfill the emission standards Euro 4 and Euro 5. This means the Mercedes-Benz truck lineup is more up-to-date than the products offered by competitors. In the core market of Western Europe, sales were up by 12% over the 2004 level. During the same period, the Trucks NAFTA business unit sold 182,400 trucks from all Freightliner brands - a 20% increase over the previous year’s total (152,400). Freightliner LLC remains the market leader for heavy-duty trucks of the U.S. Class 8 segment, increasing its market share in the NAFTA region to around 36% (plus 1% compared to 2004) and the second-largest manufacturer of medium-duty trucks of the U.S. Classes 6/7 segments. Following optimization of the brand and product portfolio of DaimlerChrysler’s Commercial Vehicles Division, the special vehicles manufacturer American LaFrance was sold to Patriarch Partners LLC in December 2005.
Last year, the Fuso business unit sold about 178,900 trucks and buses. The German-Japanese management team systematically continued its business renewal measures with good success. In 2005, the new Canter light truck debuted in Europe and other export markets and the new Fighter medium-duty truck was introduced in Japan. Fuso is also the Commercial Vehicles Division’s Center of Competence for light trucks and hybrid drives. Fuso will launch a hybrid version of the Canter on the Japanese market this year. With worldwide sales of more than 36,200 Mercedes-Benz, Setra and Orion vehicles, the DaimlerChrysler Buses and Coaches business unit once again posted a 10% increase in sales (2004: 32,800). With this performance, the world’s market leader once again confirmed its top position. This positive development was achieved particularly as a result of the growth in chassis sales to 24,000 units (plus 16% in comparison to 2004), while sales of complete buses (12,200 vehicles) remained at the level reached in 2004. In Europe, the business unit presented various new products: the new generation of the Mercedes-Benz Travego coach, the city and intercity bus Mer-cedes-Benz Citaro Low Entry as well as the new Setra intercity bus Multi-Class 400 and the new Mercedes-Benz Integro. With 267,200 units sold in 2005, the Mercedes-Benz Vans business unit once again registered a 2.5% increase over the previous year’s mark (2004: 260,700). An important factor contributing to this growth was the continuing strong demand for the Viano and Vito models and for the Sprinter, which set a new record in its last year of production at the Düsseldorf and Buenos Aires plants with more than 167,000 units. In the NAFTA region last year, 28,100 Sprinters were sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dodge and Freightliner brands, a 49% increase over the 2004 total (18,900 units). DaimlerChrysler recently announced it will be dedicating its Charleston/South Carolina facility to assembly of the next generation Dodge Sprinter van in response to growing demand in the North American markets. Stuttgart, Jan 23, 2006 Source: DaimlerChrysler
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