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REDFORD, MI. Building on its powertrain integration strategy, Daimler Trucks NA announced today that it will begin manufacturing medium-duty diesel engines at its Detroit Powertrain plant here. The 5-liter DD5 and 8-liter DD8 are Daimler’s new generation medium-duty diesels introduced in Europe three years ago.
As Fleet Owner first reported last year, the engines will hit the North American market next year.
The proprietary diesels will be available in the Freightliner M2 starting next year with initial engines built in Daimler’s Mannheim, Germany plant. Full U.S. production of the MD engines is scheduled for the end of 2018 and availability will then be expanded to DTNA’s Western Star, Freightliner, Custom Chassis and Thomas Built Bus brands. Currently Cummins supplies all of DTNA’s medium-duty engines. Once the Detroit engines are introduced, the company will continue to offer Cummins engines as an option, according to Martin Daum, president and CEO of DTNA.
The expansion into MD engines represents a $375 million investment in the company’s Detroit-area powertrain plant and will create 160 additional jobs, according to the company.
The medium-duty engine announcement was made during ceremonies inaugurating production of Daimler’s DT12 heavy-duty automated transmission (AMT) at its Detroit Powertrain plant. The company said it had invested $100 million adding the AMT line to its heavy-duty Detroit engine facility and created 170 additional jobs.
“The success of our integrated powertrain for heavy-duty vehicles in the US is phenomenal, said Werner Bernhard, head of the Daimler Trucks and Bus business during the inauguration ceremonies. “Already, over 40% of the Freightliner Cascadia models are supplied with the DT12 automated manual transmission. So, naturally, it makes sense to now also produce this bestseller locally. … And I am really excited, that in the future we will also produce our medium duty engines DD5 and DD8 here. This is a major step in executing our global platform strategy.”
