The Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive joint venture involving Daimler Trucks and Foton is planning to build and sell Mercedes-Benz HGVs in China. Production is scheduled to begin in two years.
Daimler Trucks and Foton will build Mercedes-Benz HGVs in China and for China.
Daimler
Daimler Truck AG and its Chinese partner, Beiqi Foton Motor, intend to manufacture Mercedes-Benz-branded semi-trailer tractors for the upper market segment in China. The joint venture Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd. (BFDA) will base these vehicles on the global Daimler Trucks platform. These semi-trailer tractors will be powered by an engine from the global Daimler Trucks Powertrain range and customised to suit the specific requirements of Chinese customers.
"China, the world's largest truck market, is of utmost importance to us and has become one of our important markets for future growth. In order to make full use of this potential, we made the decision to locally produce Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty tractors in China for China," says Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck AG. Production of the Mercedes-Benz heavy-goods vehicles is scheduled to begin at BFDA's new HGV factory in Huairou (Beijing) in two years, by which time the local supplier industry should have been established as well.