Daimler Truck begins truck production in China

Daimler Truck’s joint venture Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive (BFDA) has inaugurated its new production site in Beijing, China. Locally produced Mercedes-Benz Actros and Actros C models are expected to be ready for delivery to customers in China in November.

Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive (BFDA), the 50-50 joint venture between Daimler Truck and Foton Motor, has begun production of Mercedes-Benz trucks in China. (Photo: Daimler Truck)

The start of the series production as scheduled at a new plant in Huairou, Beijing, begins a new chapter for Daimler Truck in China. Ten years after the start of operations in China, BFDA is further expanding its business footprint with the 400,000 m2 facility that incorporates a highly-flexible and scalable production line following lean production principles.

“China is the largest heavy-duty truck market in the world and offers significant future growth potential for Daimler Truck,” said Karl Deppen, member of the board of management of Daimler Truck Holding AG and head of Daimler Truck Asia. “We are very excited to see the first Mercedes-Benz trucks manufactured ‘In China, for China’ now ready to hit the road. With Daimler Truck’s state-of-the-art technology capitalizing on our global platform strategy, we strive to exceed our customers’ expectations in the advanced heavy-duty truck market segment in China.”

The production portfolio of BFDA at the new plant in Huairou comprises of two tractor product lines, both developed based on the flagship Mercedes-Benz Actros, part of Daimler Truck’s global heavy-duty platform. Since the launch of the first generation of Actros in 1996, more than 1.5 million units have been sold worldwide, the company said.

The localized Mercedes-Benz Actros from BFDA is powered by a third-generation Mercedes-Benz OM471 diesel engine. Both localized product lines have been engineered according to Mercedes-Benz Trucks standards to reliably serve the needs of customers in China, the company said.

“To fulfill the growing market expectations in China, we need to understand and bear in mind how our products and services make our customers win,” said Dr. Holger Scherr, president and CEO of Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd. “To us, the truck is not a sum of features, but a comprehensive product to satisfy performance, reliability and functionality requirements, as well as to provide drivers a more attractive working environment that makes them less fatigue.

“Built upon our ‘build to solve’ mindset, we are confident that the localized Mercedes-Benz Actros and Mercedes-Benz Actros C will bring significant value and benefits to the customers and drivers, further contributing to the ‘customer first’ brand commitment of Mercedes-Benz Trucks in China.”

Parallel to the locally produced Actros and Actros C tractor models, the import of Mercedes-Benz trucks to China continues with focus on chassis business for special applications like firefighting, concrete pumps and even recreational vehicles. In addition, the existing Auman brand remains as part of the BFDA joint venture.