Mercedes 2006 Annual Report Download - page 108

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Mitsubishi Fuso regains customers’ trust. Trucks Asia – with
its Mitsubishi Fuso brand – is the second-largest manufacturer of
light, medium and heavy-duty trucks in Japan. Mitsubishi Fuso
also produces all types of buses, ranging from urban transport
buses to luxury travel coaches.
Trucks Asia sold 186,600 vehicles in 2006, a significant increase
(+4%) on the prior year. The unit performed particularly well
in our core market of Japan, where sales rose by 20% to 71,100
vehicles, primarily due to regained trust among customers and
advance purchasing in connection with the introduction of new
emission standards in the country. Market share in Japan in-
creased from 23% to 25% in the year under review. Sales outside
Japan decreased by4% to 115,500 units in 2006, largely due to
the marketslump in Indonesia, whichis Trucks Asia’s biggest
exportmarket.
In the summer of 2006, TrucksAsia presented the Mitsubishi Fuso
Canter Eco Hybrid, the world’s cleanest light-duty truck. The
vehicle has been available in Japan since July 2006, and its launch
in other markets is being considered. The Eco Hybrid’s pay-load
of up to 3.0 metric tons makes it ideal for various local delivery
applications. Its biggest advantage lies in the fact that it con-
sumes around 20 percent less fuel than a conventionally powered
truck of its size, with the biggest fuel savings achieved in stop-
and-go traffic and delivery operations. Mitsubishi Fuso is respon-
sible for the Truck Group’s Hybrid Technology Competence
Center, and thus makes a major contribution to safeguarding the
division’s technological leadership.
Many Global Excellence program measures implemented.
The Global Excellence program was launched in 2005 in order to
ensure the Truck Group’s long-term profitability and strengthen
the division’s competitiveness. The program is based on four strate-
gic initiatives. The “Optimizing the Business Model” initiative is
geared toward reducing the division’s susceptibility to cyclical fluc-
tuations and ensuring that it remains profitable even in years
when commercial vehicle markets are sluggish. A further goal here
is to achieve the highest possible level of flexibility in produc-
tion. To this end, we reached an agreement with the Works Coun-
cil to expand operations at the Wörth plant; this is the division’s
largest plant and was operating at extremely high output levels in
2006. The agreement calls for extending existing shifts and intro-
ducing shifts on Saturdays. Flexibility will also be significantly
enhanced through working-time accounts that enable the
division to scale backor increase production in line with cyclical
fluctuations.
“Operational Excellence” is the second initiativeand focuses on
implementing measures to increase efficiency at all Truck Group
units. Such measures include reducing material costs and fixed
costs and harmonizing processes throughout the Group in order
to create and utilize economies of scale across all truck brands.
For example, we will use only three rather than the current eight
engine families in our trucks in the future. We will also increase
the level of shared components in the areas of axles and trans-
missions.
The primary focus of the third initiative, “Growth in Global Com-
mercial Vehicle Markets”, is on intensifying activities in markets
withvery high growth potential. Accordingly, the Truck Group is
currently examining possibilities for entering certain emerging mar-
kets, with a particular focus on China and India.
The new Mercedes-Benz Unimog U20:
enormous mobility with permanent all-wheel
drive and power take-off for all kinds of
equipment guarantee maximum flexibility and
performance.