Freightliner Trucks for Russia?
Rumours surrounding Daimler AG’s plans for Russia have been circulating for a while now, but here’s a new twist.
According to this report, none other than Andreas Renschler is suggesting that it might be Freightliner badged vehicles - rather than the more European Mercedes-Benz – that might form the company’s bridgehead into the CIS. Makes a lot of sense this; we assume that Sterling would go alongside the Freightliner brand, and, according to the report, assembly would be via CKD kits shipped presumably from the US. Priced in dollars, this would give a notable cost advantage over Euro-priced vehicles. Moreover, with the end of the Chrysler experiment, Daimler may be keen to do some brand protection as far as its passenger car business is concerned, one reason why MB Commercial Vehicles are not sold in the brand aware US market. Given the keenness of Russian buyers for MB cars, this makes some sense.