Daimler previews new vehicles

Andreas Renschler, member of the Daimler AG Board of Management responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses welcomed guests to the company’s IAA preview in Stuttgart, Germany last week.

Volker Mornhinweg, executive vice president,-- head of Mercedes-Benz vans, introduced the audience to the new van line-up. The company expects commercial all-electric vans to become more important in the future.

The creation of a modular strategy for powertrain components worldwide is part of Daimler’s strategy for achieving economies of scale, according to the company.

The world premier of the Mercedes-Benz Antos, a truck developed especially for short-radius distribution duty, took place at the IAA preview last week.

The Citan small van urban delivery vehicle is based on the panel van. According to Andreas Renschler, the company has “ambitious sales targets” for vans overall, expecting unit sales to increase more than 50 percent from 2011 to 2015 to more than 400,000.

Some 270 journalists from around the globe came to see Daimler’s IAA preview in Stuttgart, Germany. Shown: lunch break in the exhibit hall.

Sustainability and efficiency were two sides of the same coin at Daimler’s IAA preview. The new Fuso Canter Eco Hybrid, for example, was reported to use 23 percent less fuel than its diesel counterpart, with a payback period of “only a few years.”