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A total of 80,000 Blue-Tec trucks are currently on the road,
with more than 95 percent of them already meeting the Euro 5 emissions limits
that will take effect from October 2009.
“Our Mercedes-Benz trucks make us a pioneer in this field as
well as the most successful supplier of this innovative diesel technology,” said
Andreas Renschler, DaimlerChrysler Board of Management member responsible for
the Truck Group.
“Mercedes-Benz was the first truck brand to systematically
switch to Euro 4- and Euro 5-compatible engines. We began this process with the
Actros, and followed it up with the Axor, the Atego, the Econic, and the Unimog.
The more than 100,000 orders we have received to date demonstrate that early
introduction of Blue-Tec has created considerable added value for our
customers.”
Since early 2005, Mercedes-Benz has been gradually
incorporating Blue-Tec into its product range, beginning with long-haul trucks.
The technology was available to customers long before the new emissions limits
became binding. Since then, most other European truck manufacturers have adopted
the Blue-Tec technology featuring SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) exhaust
treatment with the use of the additive AdBlue. And with an eye to the coming
implementation of Euro 5, all manufacturers are now using SCR.
Blue-Tec diesel technology offers a variety of benefits. In
addition to satisfying the Euro 4 emissions standards and the future Euro 5
limits, it also boosts profitability.
“Blue-Tec enables our customers to benefit from
government-sponsored incentives,” said Hubertus Troska, head of Mercedes-Benz
Trucks (Europe/Latin America).
“And when Blue-Tec is used in combination with advanced engine
technology, it ensures that all fuel is optimally utilized. Depending on the
actual engine variant, this results not only in increased power but also reduced
fuel consumption.”
Another benefit of Blue-Tec is that it can increase a truck’s
resale value, which means customers using this technology can operate more
economically overall.
The DaimlerChrysler Truck Group is a division of
DaimlerChrysler AG and the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles.
The Truck Group and its five leading brands — Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner,
Sterling, Western Star and Fuso — have more than 50 locations in Western Europe,
Asia, the NAFTA region, and Latin America. The Truck Group sold 537,000 trucks
worldwide last year.
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