Mercedes-Benz announces plans to expand its non-European manufacturing operations
June 15, 2010
Commercial vehicle manufacturing is becoming more globalised with Mercedes-Benz announcing plans to expand its non-European manufacturing operations.
The first announcement from Mercedes-Benz was confirmation the popular Actros truck range will begin production in South America from 2011 onwards.
The Actros trucks will be produced at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Juiz de Fora, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, supplying the Latin American market with heavy duty vehicles.
The Juiz de Fora factory will also begin manufacturing the Brazilian Mercedes-Benz light truck, the Accelo from 2011, to meet anticipated demand.
Investments in construction, mining, agriculture and the oil industry caused demand for heavy-duty trucks in Brazil to increase by 95 percent in the first five months of 2010, compared to the same period last year.
Stimulated in particular by an upswing in retail commerce, demand for light-duty trucks rose in the first five months of the year by around 45 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
President of Mercedes-Benz Brazil Jürgen Ziegler says the company expects light truck sales to continue to rise in coming years, and the move to manufacture locally will allow the company to react to this demand.
Ziegler says 18,047 Mercedes-Benz trucks were sold in Brazil between January and May this year, more than the total Australian market during the same period.
Actros models will also be manufactured at the Aksaray plant in Turkey to ease pressure on the existing Actros plant in Wurth Germany, as demand for the model increases in Turkey.
Despite these expansion plans, Mercedes-Benz says all Australian trucks will remain manufactured at the Wurth factor in Germany.