Mercedes 2003 Annual Report Download - page 59
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Please find page 59 of the 2003 Mercedes annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.In 2003, Freightliner sold 128,300 commercial vehicles, a 13%
increase over the previous year’s figure. A total of 67,700 (2002:
65,400) Class 8 vehicles (15 metric tons gross vehicle weight and
over) were sold under the Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star
brands in the United States. DaimlerChrysler thus strengthened its
leading position in the Class 8 segment in the NAFTA region, with
market share increasing from 36% to 38%. Sales of Class 5 to 7
vehicles were up by 18% to 42,600 units, and market share in the
NAFTA region rose sharply to 26% (2002: 23%).
To secure its competitive position, Freightliner invested heavily in
new products and production facilities and launched several new
vehicles in 2003. Sales of the medium-duty Freightliner Business
Class M2 truck were 10,900 units. Introduced in 2002, it has now
been supplemented by a heavy-duty Class 8 version. The Sterling
brand meanwhile introduced a modified chassis for heavy-duty
trucks, as well as additional variants of its medium-duty trucks. In
November 2003, Thomas Built Buses launched a completely new
school bus in the North American market. And we have completed
our product range in the NAFTA region with the launch of the
Unimog, which has been successful in Europe for many decades.
To achieve economies of scale, we are also offering powerful
Mercedes-Benz engines in Freightliner and Sterling trucks. In 2003,
32,600 trucks from the Freightliner/Sterling/Thomas Built Buses
business unit were equipped with Mercedes-Benz engines. We are
convinced that as a result of its restructuring measures and
with new products, Freightliner is well prepared to meet future
challenges.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks boosts sales despite continued market
weakness. The Mercedes-Benz Trucks business unit sold 110,500
vehicles in 2003, an increase of 9% over the prior year. Continued
market weakness in Western Europe was more than offset by
higher sales in Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and Far
East. We sold 28% (2002: 21%) of the trucks produced in Western
Europe in countries outside the region. With sales of 59,300 units
(2002: 60,300) and a market share of 21% (2001: 21%), Mercedes-
Benz was again the leading brand in Western Europe for medium
and heavy trucks. Mercedes-Benz Trucks also maintained its
leading position in Brazil and Argentina, with market shares of 34%
(2002: 34%) and 24% (2002: 33%), respectively. Although
conditions in the region remained difficult, the business unit sold
23,800 vehicles (2002: 21,800) in South America overall.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks introduced several new products in 2003.
The new Actros, which fully replaced its predecessor after an
overlap period of just four months, has met with a very good
response. First presented in September 2003, it has a completely
redesigned driver’s cab, improved aerodynamics, a new axle and
suspension system and new engines with more power and lower
fuel consumption. As a result of its convincing overall concept, the
new Actros was given the “Truck of the Year 2004” award. In the
segment of light and medium-duty trucks, the newly developed
Accelo was successfully introduced in South America. 1,000 units
have been sold since its launch in May 2003.
With the goal of enhancing profitability beyond the year 2004,
the Mercedes-Benz Trucks business unit has started a future-
oriented program known as TruckPlus. In addition to cutting costs,
TruckPlus aims to boost unit sales and revenues, and to make
even more effective use of our global development and production
network, thus achieving the overall optimization of Mercedes-Benz
Trucks’ business system.
Enhanced efficiency in the components business. The business
unit DaimlerChrysler Powersystems, which combines all the
Group’s component operations for commercial vehicles, posted
revenues of €5.6 billion in 2003 (2002: €5.1 billion), despite the
deconsolidation of Mercedes-Benz Lenkungen GmbH following the
sale of a 60% stake to ThyssenKrupp. This increase was primarily
due to higher sales to the other units within the DaimlerChrysler
Group, a consistent improvement in quality and the implementation
of the STEP efficiency-boosting program.
In 2003, DaimlerChrysler substantially increased the proportion
of Detroit Diesel and Mercedes-Benz components in Freightliner and
Sterling vehicles. To benefit from additional economies of scale,
in 2003 we decided to develop a new engine family for heavy-duty
trucks to replace the four different engine series currently in use.
The new generation of engines is scheduled to go into series pro-
duction in 2007.
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The Freightliner Coronado and the Freightliner Business Class M2 at a warehouse in Portland, Oregon