DaimlerChrysler AG says it sold 537,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks worldwide in 2006, a second consecutive record-breaking annual tally, crediting its new BluEtec diesel systems, as well as pre-buy effects thanks to new emissions regulations in the U.S. and Japan.
In 2005, DC moved 529,500 big trucks.
DC saw its highest sales in North America, where it registered 187,800 units in the North American Free Trade Assn. region, up from 183,000 in 2005.
In Western Europe, sales rose 3.9% to 106,400 units from 102,400 in 2005, while sales in Japan spiked year-on-year, with 71,100 deliveries in 2006 vs. 59,200 in 2005.
DC’s South American big-truck sales inched up 600 units from 2005, to 39,500.
Sales in other regions, however, slipped 9.5% to 132,200 units from 146,100 in 2005.
“As a result of cyclical and regulatory developments, we expect the markets in NAFTA and Japan to weaken significantly in 2007, while we anticipate that the demand in the European markets will contract only slightly,” Andreas Renschler, head of DC’s Truck Group & Buses, says.
However, he predicts a recovery in 2008 due to new emissions regulations leading to another “pre-buy effect.”
By brand, Mercedes-Benz, classified by DC as “Trucks Europe/Latin America,” saw sales slip 4% to 142,100 units from a record 148,000 in 2005, while trucks equipped with BluEtec technology comprised 28,000 of the total last year. DC says almost 40,000 BluEtec-equipped trucks have been sold since the technology’s introduction in early 2005.
In the NAFTA region, the Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star brands, as well as DC’s Sprinter vans sold under the Freightliner and Dodge marques and Thomas Built Buses, saw a 2.8% increase in sales in 2006, to 208,300 units.
Freightliner again was the Class 8 leader and placed second in Classes 5-7.
DC’s Trucks Asia subset, which includes the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. brand, saw sales rise 4.3% to 186,600 units in the year vs. 178,900 in 2005. Renschler says the ill effects of the truck maker’s quality issues pre-dating DC’s acquisition “have largely been resolved.”