Sustained growth for Daimler

Daimler Trucks says it increased its unit sales for the third consecutive year in 2015, achieving global sales in excess of 500,000 trucks despite some challenging economic conditions.

While the final figures will be presented at Daimler's annual press conference on February 4, the global trucking giant says that based on early December data, the group will exceed half-a-million units and eclipse its 2014 total of 495,700 trucks.

While the key markets of North America and Europe both experienced growth, the important markets of Brazil and Indonesia slumped.

Daimler Trucks chief Dr Wolfgang Bernhard said the result was exceptional given the patchy global economic landscape.

"In 2015 we have sold over 500,000 trucks and have increased our unit sales for the third year in a row," he said.

"Thanks to our leading products we will deliver one of the best years in the history of Daimler Trucks despite some very challenging markets. This is a great achievement by our global team. I thank all employees for their outstanding efforts."

Dr Bernhard said the challenges would continue in 2016 but that the company still had its sights set on achieving global sales of 700,000 trucks in 2020.

"To sit back is not an option for us," he said.

"We remain focused on the implementation of our strategy. For this purpose, we will again demonstrate our technology leadership in the IAA year 2016. For example, we will proceed with important developments in terms of vehicle connectivity but also when it comes to efficiency, active safety and autonomous driving. We are also expanding our global presence and will get even closer to our customers with six new regional centres. And I see large potential in expanding the global platform strategy beyond just the powertrain."

Daimler Trucks achieved sales of 176,100 trucks in North America over the first 11 months of 2015, the figure up 20 per cent on 2014. Over the same period in Europe Daimler sales grew by 11 per cent to total 56,000 units, while sales slumped by 37 per cent in Brazil, where 27,900 trucks were sold in the first 11 months of the year.

In Japan Fuso increased its sales by four per cent to tally 41,600 units, while Indonesian sales dropped by 43 per cent, with 29,400 trucks sold. In India, sales of BharatBenz trucks grew by 29 per cent to a total of 12,500 vehicles.

A highlight for Daimler in 2015 was advances made in semi-autonomous driving. Daimler's Highway Pilot system was tested in Nevada in May in the Freightliner Inspiration Truck, marking the first time a self-driving truck had been licenced for use on a public road, while Mercedes-Benz later demonstrated the first series-production truck to be fitted with the technology, an Actros, on a public road in Germany.

The system uses a front-mounted radar and a stereo camera to enable the truck to maintain a self-driving mode, while the driver oversees the truck and remains ready to resume full control.

Daimler says it's now conducted around 20,000 kilometres with the Highway Pilot on test routes in Germany and the USA, and that the technology could conceivably be ready to enter production in two to three years.