Daimler Trucks To Enter New Markets

Daimler Trucks, the world’s largest heavy trucks manufacturer is planing to expand its business to new markets, such as China, in order to maintain its market leader status. The producer is making efforts to compensate its falling market share - last year, the company’s market share dropped from 15.2 percent to 11 percent, as Bloomberg reports.

At the beginning of the year, the German company announced that it had won the Chinese government’s approval for a joint-business with China’s No. 1 commercial vehicle producer, Beiqi Foton Motor. The two companies had decided to create an equally owned joint venture in 2009. The new business is scheduled to build production sites in China, India, Russia and Brazil, and build trucks under both Daimler and Foton brands. The JV’s Chinese plant will start production in 2012.

Recently, Daimler released a global sales forecast for the current year - this shows a stable increase for the Chinese market, a marginal growth for the mature Western European market and a 15 percent increase in the U.S.

Daimler has developed a complex plan, aimed at increasing the truck producer’s market share. This states that the company will invest $2.74 billion to expand its vehicle range and to develop low emissions technologies. The developments are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.

Daimler recently announced its intention to enter the Chinese electric vehicles market, through a joint venture with BYD. The two carmakers plan to build a research & development center in the country and develop an electric vehicle for the local market.