Mercedes 2006 Annual Report Download - page 106

1,606
30,368
966
944
539,304
529,499
84,254
2,020
31,988
907
1,023
530,198
536,956
83,237
Operating profit
Revenues
Investments in property, plant
and equipment
Research and development
expenditure
Production
Unit sales
Employees (Dec.31)
90
Truck Group
Positive developments in global commercial-vehicle markets | Slight increase in unit sales |
Continued successful implementation of Global Excellence program | Further strengthening of world-
wide development and production network | Operating profit at new record level
Increases in unit sales, revenues and operating profit. In
2006, the Truck Group built on the very successful developments
of the prior year, increasing unit sales by 1% to a new record of
537,000 vehicles. The higher sales volume and an improved model
mix caused revenues to rise by 5% to €32.0 billion. We continued
toconsistently implement the worldwide Global Excellence opti-
mization program in the year under review. The measures under-
taken in this regard had a positive impact on earnings. Operating
profit of €2.0 billion surpassed the high prior-year result by
26% (see page 44).
Ongoing high unit sales by Trucks Europe/Latin America.
The Trucks Europe/Latin America business unit offers medium-
duty and heavy-duty trucks under the Mercedes-Benz brand
name for long-distance haulage, delivery and construction appli-
cations. While the Actros is designed exclusively for heavy-duty
applications, the Axor and Atego models cover the segment for
both heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks. The product range is
rounded off by the Econic and Unimog special-purpose vehicles.
Trucks Europe/Latin America increased its unit sales in the core
market of Western Europe by 3% to 76,000 vehicles in 2006.
Sales developed particularly well in Germany, totaling 37,400 units,
an increase of 4%. Despite the market downturn in Brazil and
lower sales in the Middle East, total unit sales of 142,100 vehicles
were only slightly below the prior year’s high level. With market
shares of 40% in Germany (2005:42%) and 22% in Western Europe
(2005: 22%), the Mercedes-Benz brand was the leader in the
segment for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks in those markets.
In Latin America, the unit sales of Trucks Europe/Latin America
decreased by 5% to 29,900. In Brazil, the Mercedes-Benz brand was
the market leader,achieving a market share of 32% (2005: 31%).
The outstanding business development at Trucks Europe/Latin
America in 2006 was largelydue to the market success enjoyed by
our innovative products. In the year under review, we sold 24,900
trucks equipped with the environmentally friendly BLUETEC tech-
nology, which is now available in all model series.
In the summer of 2006, as part of a roadshow through 12 major
European cities, we 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 Stability
Program. The utility and effectiveness of these systems were
demonstrated in a major series of tests with 1,000 trucks that
clocked up more than 100 million test kilometers. The Mercedes-
Benz “Safety Package” reduced the frequency of accidents by 50%,
and in those cases where an accident was unavoidable, the
resulting monetary damage was 90% lower on average than the
damagefigure associated with a similar accident involving a
truck without the safety systems. Insurance companies are reward-
ing the utilization of safety technologies by granting lower
premiums for liability and collision policies.
% change
+26
+5
-6
+8
-2
+1
-1
06/05
Amounts in millions of €
2005
2006