Daimler plans to boost production of commercial vehicles because of rising demand.
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It told Financial Times Deutschland it is seeing signs of an end to the economic crisis in Canada, USA and Mexico as well as in Europe. Orders received by the truck division have been rising slowly since mid-year though the situation in Japan remains as difficult as before.
Daimler said it would hire 1,300 more people for its truck plant in Brazil, taking the workforce there to almost 14,000. The market there has improved thanks to government aid for agriculture and home construction.
The company is also benefiting from companies renewing bus fleets. In August 2009, sales of commercial vehicles over six tonnes in Brazil reached their highest monthly level since the beginning of the year.
Contrary to previous plans, Daimler said it would not close its plant in Portland, in the US state of Oregon.
Separately the company said Daimler Trucks and Kamaz are making progress in the implementation of joint projects under their strategic partnership, which includes Russian Technologies, and the investment bank Troika Dialog, signed in in December 2008.
Daimler has a 10% take in Kamaz. Its Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and the Russian truck manufacturer Kamaz signed a letter of intent in July this year to establish a joint venture for the importation, production and sale of Mitsubishi Fuso trucks in Russia.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Kamaz have now signed a letter of intent for a planned joint venture to build Mercedes trucks in Russia and a sales network for those trucks and Setra coaches.
Daimler Trucks chief Andreas Renschler said: “Our involvement and the implementation of the two joint venture projects between Kamaz and MFTBC as well as Kamaz and Mercedes-Benz Trucks are an expression of the consistent implementation of our strategic partnership.
“They are in line with Daimler Trucks’ growth strategy for the BRIC markets, which we have defined as part of our ‘Global Excellence’ programme. “It has brought us a giant step towards to the expansion of our presence in the Russian market. The know-how of all of the participating companies in the areas of development, production, and sales will flow into the two joint ventures.”
