Mercedes-Benz Actros to Be Produced Also in Brazil from 2011

São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil

* Production of the heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz Actros truck will commence next year also at the Juiz de Fora plant in Brazil
* Further efficiency boost thanks to expansion of Mercedes-Benz truck production network between Germany, Turkey, and Brazil
* Brazilian Mercedes-Benz Accelo light truck to be produced in Juiz de Fora as well in the future

Beginning next year, Mercedes-Benz Trucks will expand its production network to include the Juiz de Fora plant in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where it will manufacture heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks for the Latin American market. As a result, Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ flagship vehicle will be produced in the plants at Wörth in Germany and Aksaray in Turkey, as well as in Brazil. The move will enable Mercedes-Benz do Brasil to respond more quickly and flexibly to the growing demand for trucks in Latin America.

Beginning in 2011, the plant in Juiz de Fora will also manufacture the Brazilian Mercedes-Benz Accelo light truck. Investments in construction, mining, agriculture and the oil industry caused demand for heavy-duty trucks in Brazil to increase by 95 percent in the first five months of 2010, compared to the same period last year. Stimulated in particular by an upswing in retail commerce, demand for light-duty trucks rose in the first five months of the year by around 45 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
Brazil is Mercedes-Benz’s largest truck market. In the first five months of the year, Mercedes-Benz Trucks sold a total of 45,174 units. Of these, 18,047 units were sold by Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Brazil, putting the country ahead of Germany, Turkey, and France.

The decision to produce the Mercedes-Benz Actros in Juiz de Fora is part of the concept calling for an expansion of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil’s production capacity. In view of the rapidly growing demand for trucks and buses in Brazil, Mercedes-Benz Trucks announced back in March that it would expand commercial vehicle production in the country to include the facility in Juiz de Fora.

The demand for heavy-duty long-haul trucks in the premium segment is currently developing as favorably in Turkey as in Brazil. Mercedes-Benz Trucks therefore announced in April that it would also begin manufacturing the Mercedes-Benz Actros at the Aksaray plant at the end of the year so that it would be able to respond quickly and flexibly to the increasing demand in Turkey.