Daimler Trucks North America Washington DC event

Martin Daum, DTNA's president & CEO, provided his perspective on the direction of the North American truck market, the engineering and regulatory challenges facing OEMs, and his belief that a 10 mpg capable tractor-trailer is close to reality.

Curtains obscured the new 2014 model year Cascadia Evolution Class 8 tractor DTNA's Freightliner subsidiary plans to roll out in the first quarter next year -- a truck that averaged 7.67 mpg in recent highway tests the company said.

David Hames, DTNA's general manager of marketing and strategy, explained the many aerodynamic and mechanical improvements crafted for the 2014 Cascadia Evolution.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made a surprise visit to the DTNA event as well.

In the background is a modified 2014 Cascadia Evolution attatched to a special aerodynamic trailer DTNA used to achieve an average of 9.31 mpg over a recent long-haul highway trip -- while pulling 76,000 pounds.

Several products were on display from DTNA's Detroit subsidiary, which now builds rear axles (seen here) as well as engines and transmissions.

Detroit's new DT12 automated manual transmission (AMT) is going to join its product line in 2013.

New modifications to Detroit's DD15 diesel engine include the addition of a higher-pressure fuel injection system and turbo compounding package to reduce fuel consumption rates.

A new front suspension offering is also on the way from DTNA's Detroit division.