Daimler Annual Report 2011 - Alle jaarverslagen

2 | Innovation and Growth
2,600
hours of wind tunnel testing
A truck in a wind tunnel For a premium
Mercedes-Benz truck that’s a given. The
new Actros was fine-tuned and its fuel
efficiency optimized during 2,600 hours
of wind-tunnel testing. Every detail
counts when you have a truck with a
frontal area of about 10 m 2 and around
150,000 km of mileage each year. The
new Actros now leads the way with a
perfect aerodynamic design that helps
make it the most economical truck.
50,000,000
kilometers of engine testing on rigs and on the road
20,000,000
kilometers of pre-series tests on the road
In focus
A good feeling: The new Actros is tough and reliable
Never before has a truck been so extensively tested; nor has
a truck from Mercedes-Benz ever been asked to do more to
earn the brand’s star. Developed in line with Daimler Trucks’
strict quality gates, the new Actros had to pass a wide range
of engine, drivetrain, chassis and cab tests. In addition to
proving its worth in endurance and rough-road trials, the truck
also showed what it is capable of in the climate chamber
and out on the road. The Actros will never face such extreme
conditions in real life — but it’s good to know it could handle
them if it did.
Launch of series production in Wörth
The first new Actros rolled off the assembly line at the
Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth in September 2011. Wörth —
the world’s biggest truck assembly plant — is not only efficient
but also flexible. In fact, it manufactures every new Actros
precisely in accordance with customer requirements. Statistically
speaking, no single new Actros from a specific year is
exactly like any other.
First new Euro VI Actros delivered to France
As part of a major order for 500 Mercedes-Benz trucks, the
first Euro VI-compliant new Actros was handed over in October
2011 to Transalliance, one of the leading logistics companies
in Europe.
More profitable operation with FleetBoard
With its new Actros, Mercedes-Benz has become the first
manufacturer to offer a fleet management system as standard.
Moreover, every FleetBoard customer can test the system
free of charge for four months.
At the peak of the heavy-duty segment
In November 2011, the new Actros claimed the European
Transport Sustainability Prize 2012 in the “Trucks over 7.5 tons”
category. The new flagship from Mercedes-Benz Trucks was also
named Truck of The Year 2012 by a panel of international experts.
It was the fourth time that an Actros has received this award.
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