Daimler Brings New Garbage Truck to North America Market

Daimler Trucks is bringing its Mercedes-Benz Econic special truck for municipal requirements (waste-collection) to the North American market, where it will be marketed as the Freightliner Econic SD. Sharing a common platform, the two vehicles will be produced in the world's biggest truck plant in Wörth, Germany. They use the same low-entry concept with a low, extra-large driver’s cabin and an almost 360-degree all-around panorama field of vision, which is very helpful in busy city traffic.

But unlike the Mercedes-Benz Trucks version, once assembled in Germany, the vehicle for the North American market will be heading to Gaffney, South Carolina, where the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation will carry out the final assembly with adjustments according to the local market requirements. Power comes from a six-cylinder inline diesel engine with a turbo and an intercooler, producing a peak power of 350 horsepower (261 kilowatts). For the ease of use, the power is channeled to the wheels through an automatic gearbox.

Daimler, with its Freightliner and Western Star truck brands, is currently the “undisputed” market leader in North America with a market share of around 40 percent in the medium-duty and heavy-duty segments. With the new Econic SD, the local division of the manufacturer is entering a new segment for the Freightliner brand.

Since 2006, Daimler has delivered more than 12,000 units of the Econic in its different generations to customers in Europe and Australia. The company assembled the ten thousandth Econic truck in February 2011. The truck has been part of the streetscape of cities and municipalities on the Old continent for nearly 20 years (production started in 1998) and is especially popular in Germany and Great Britain, where it’s also a market leader. (www.chinatrucks.com)

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