Daimler to display its strength as the world market leader at IAA

Daimler’s presentation at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2008 will feature more than 80 exhibits of vehicles from all Group brands present in Europe. The company will thus highlight the unrivaled range of commercial vehicles it offers as the world market leader. The Daimler Group’s presentation will be arranged as follows: Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses (Hall 14/15), Mercedes-Benz vans (Hall 14/15), Setra buses (Hall 16), and Mitsubishi Fuso Canter trucks (Hall 16).

Daimler Trucks sold more than 311,000 vehicles through August 2008, once again posting a slight increase on the sales figure recorded for the same period in the prior year (309,656). Sales for full-year 2008 are also expected to be slightly higher than the result in 2007.

“As you can see, our sector isn’t getting a boost from the global economy, but Daimler nonetheless continues to stay in the lead: 2008, we again are able to increase our sales slightly”, says Andreas Renschler, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG with responsibility for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses.

Solid demand in the “Europe of 29” continues to be driven by growth in Eastern Europe, although demand is less dynamic than it was in 2007. Experts also believe that growth in Eastern European markets will end up being more moderate for full-year 2008. It appears that the European commercial vehicle market is now normalizing after six years of above-average growth.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks once again increased unit sales over the first eight months of the year, this time to more than 110,000 units. This figure is nine percent higher than that posted during the same period in 2007, which turned out to be a record year for Mercedes-Benz truck sales. Developments have been particularly positive in Brazil (+33 percent), the Middle East (+28 percent), and Eastern Europe (+7 percent). Because of such figures, Mercedes-Benz Trucks expects to post yet another truck sales record in 2008.

The truck market in the U.S. remains problematic, with overall sales in the segment for medium- and heavy-duty trucks falling by more than 16 percent through July 2008. The recovery expected by economic researchers for the second half of the year in the U.S. has failed to materialize, and forecasts for the country’s commercial vehicles market are now being adjusted downward on a monthly basis. Market performance during the remainder of the year will be strongly impacted by future development of the North American economy as a whole.

Daimler Trucks North America is being affected by this situation and has therefore adjusted its production capacities to changed conditions several times this year. The company’s Freightliner, Western Star, Sterling, and Thomas Built Buses brands recorded unit sales of more than 72,000 vehicles through August — fewer trucks and school buses than were sold during the same period in 2007 (87,383). This decline can be attributed on the one hand to the sales-dampening effect of the EPA 07 emission standard, with regard to major fleet operators. It is, however, also a result of the economic situation in the U.S.

Overall sales on the Japanese truck market fell once again through July 2008 compared to the result for the same period last year (-14.6 percent). No noticeable recovery is expected here for the rest of year, as diesel prices have risen and uncertainties remain with regard to the development of the market as a whole.

Mitsubishi Fuso was able to more than offset negative developments in the Japanese market through extremely positive sales development outside that country (+21 percent). Sales of Mitsubishi Fuso brand vehicles rose from 121,182 units in the first eight months of 2007 to nearly 129,000 units through August 2008 (+6 percent). International business accounted for 78 percent of Mitsubishi Fuso’s total sales volume in the first eight months of this year, which is ten percentage points higher than the corresponding figure from 2007. Positive sales development was recorded especially in Indonesia (+72 percent), Latin America (+23 percent), Africa (+31 percent), and the Middle East (+8 percent). After posting a sales record in 2007, Fuso looks set to do the same this year.

Daimler Trucks continues to grow rapidly outside the triad commercial vehicle markets. Sales in Eastern Europe (including Russia) were up 14 percent through August. The sales increase in the Middle East during the same period totaled 11 percent, while in Latin America it was 17 percent, and in Southeast Asia an extraordinary 60 percent. In the rapidly growing BRIC countries, Daimler Trucks is either already the market leader (Brazil), or else has embarked upon a strategic course that will accelerate market penetration over the short and medium terms through expansion of local production capacity (India, Russia, China).

Mercedes-Benz Vans sold nearly 196,000 Vito/Viano, Sprinter, and Vario vans through August 2008, an increase of six percent from the same period in the prior year. Says Wilfried Porth, head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans business unit: “The year 2008 will be a good one for our vans because, despite the changed conditions as of late, we still expect to surpass the record sales we achieved last year.”