Mercedes-Benz do Brasil has cause to celebrate as the two millionth locally produced commercial vehicle rolls off the assembly line 57 years after the company inaugurated its plant in the country. The impressive production figure breaks down into around 1.4 million trucks and 600,000 buses and bus chassis. The milestone also underscores the crucial position that the Latin American country plays in Daimler Trucks’ and Daimler Buses’ global development and production network.
“Daimler Trucks began operating in Brazil way before the country was considered an up-and-coming economy,” says Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Europe and Latin America, on the occasion of an event in the plant about the beginnings of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil in the 1950s. “The country is now one of our key truck sales markets. Brazil will continue to play an important role
for our company’s global growth in the future.”
Groundwork laid for further growth
Mercedes-Benz do Brasil laid the groundwork for this growth early on. Between 2010 and 2013, it invested more than R$1.5 billion (approximately €540 million) to increase production capacity, set up new engine assembly lines, and develop new products and pioneering technologies. These investments will serve as the basis on which the new leaders, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Philipp Schiemer and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wolfgang Hänle, will safeguard Mercedes-Benz do Brasil’s long-term success.
Schiemer and Hänle have begun working in their new positions at a time when Brazil’s truck market, in particular, is recovering. Daimler Trucks sold around 15,820 units in Brazil during the first five months of the year, or over 50% more than the approximately 10,300 vehicles sold in the same period of 2012. In addition, sales of complete buses and bus chassis rose by 46% in Brazil during this period, to around 4,520 units. Sales for passenger vehicles have been developing in an equally pleasant way. Since the beginning of the year, sales of Mercedes-Benz cars rose by roughly 80%.
The country’s truck and bus markets expanded substantially in 2011 because customers purchased vehicles in the run-up to the introduction of the Euro V emissions standard in 2012. As a consequence, Brazil’s commercial vehicle market then contracted because customers did not place follow-up orders in 2012. However, demand for buses and trucks started to rise once
again in the fourth quarter of 2012 after the government began to offer low-interest loans as an incentive for new investment. Not only are Brazil’s truck and bus markets expected to grow this year; they will continue to expand over the medium-term, thanks, in part, to major sporting events such as the World Soccer Championship in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.
About Mercedes-Benz do Brasil
Over a period of nearly sixty years, the plant in São Bernardo do Campo has become Daimler’s largest truck facility outside Germany. Located in close proximity to São Paulo, the plant produces trucks, bus chassis, and truck cabs, as well as major components such as engines, transmissions, and axles. The facility in Juiz de Fora produces the Mercedes-Benz Actros and the Accelo light-duty truck for the Latin American market, while the subsidiary’s third location, in Campinas, houses a training center, a spare parts warehouse, and a customer call center.
