Kawasaki / Stuttgart – Daimler Trucks further improves its Japan-based subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and has officially opened the new Product Center building and Design Center at the Kawasaki Plant (K1) today. The new building encompasses the corporate headquarters, R&D and design functions of the company, and is part of a large-scale modernization at MFTBC. Daimler Trucks has invested approx. € 74 Million (94 Oku JPY) since 2017 into this building, known as Campus Plus. The new building offers a modern working environment on 10,000 sqm and is also home of the new, state-of-the-art Design Center.
“The FUSO brand is an essential and successful member of Daimler Trucks. In 2018, it contributed about one-third of total sales and plays a vital role when it comes to future topics such as electric driving. The new Product Center and Design Center in the Kawasaki Plant manifests that we are continuously investing in the future of FUSO and Japan” says Martin Daum, board member of Daimler AG responsible for Trucks & Buses, on the occasion of the opening in Kawasaki.
Investment in owned retail
On the occasion of this event, Daimler Trucks Asia announced that – additionally – up to € 40 Mio (50 Oku JPY) will be invested in 2019 in the FUSO own retail network. This investment kicks off a seven year initiative called Project Mirai (Japanese for ‘Future’). The company has set the goal to improve its owned retail and service network within the domestic market in order to tackle future topics of the commercial vehicle sector. Within this year, seven outlets across Japan, from Hokkaido to Tokyo to Kyushu, are set to be refurbished in order to assist electric and connected commercial vehicles more efficiently from a service perspective.
Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Trucks Asia: “The Mirai Project underlines our commitment to being number one in customer service in the Japanese commercial vehicles industry. With upgraded facilities, we will be able to offer faster, better service to our customers across Japan.”
The FUSO CODE
Within the new product center is the new FUSO Design Center, one of the most advanced Design Centers within the Daimler AG. About 50 experts in design, digital design and engineering work on the major task to define a common design strategy to all future FUSO vehicles – called the FUSO CODE. The team currently is active on the next Canter and eCanter generation. Another objective is to work on the specific challenges of an e-truck. As an e-truck is part of a bigger ecosystem the FUSO designers constantly think about all touch points and create one experience for the customer, e.g. with charging stations.
