The growing momentum in the region’s development of the transportation, trading and distribution sectors has been illustrated by a major milestone for Daimler Mercedes-Benz – the sale of the company’s 100,000th Actros lorry in the Middle East and North Africa.
Daimler Commercial Vehicles Mena and Mercedes-Benz Trucks celebrated the occasion at the German company’s new regional centre in Jebel Ali, Dubai, where the 100,000th heavy-duty Actros was ceremonially handed over to the client, the Al Khaldi group based in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
“About every 10th truck has been delivered to the Middle East and North Africa: this underlines the importance of this region for Mercedes-Benz Trucks,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, the head of Daimler Trucks and Buses.
“With our regional centre, established one year ago, we’re even closer to our customers. We can react faster to their demands. This will further improve our market share in this region.”
The 100,000th lorry was part a 200-unit order plced by Al Khaldi. “We decided to extend and modernise our fleet by another 200 Mercedes-Benz Actros, which will enlarge our fleet to 505 Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said Sheikh Hamoud Al Khaldi, the chairman of Al Khaldi. “Low fuel consumption, reliability and a good support were key criteria for our latest buying decision – with the Actros and Juffali we found the perfect partners.“
Also present at the handover were Sheikh Khaled Juffali, the vice chairman of EA Juffali Brothers Saudi Arabia, the country’s Daimler vehicles distributor, and Roland Schneider, the president chief executive of the regional centre in Dubai.
The kingdom is the core market in the Mena region for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, with nearly 44,000 Actros having been delivered since 1997. Sales have been spurred by the long lasting business relationship between Daimler and its general distributor in Saudi Arabia , Juffali Industrial Products Company, which began in 1958.
“The 100,000th Actros sold in the Mena region represents the symbol of our mutual success and the trust of our customers in the Actros,” said Mr Schneider.
The milestone vehicle, a 4x2 tractor-head Actros 2041S, is equipped with the Mercedes Powershift automated gearshift and Fleetboard Telematics system enhancing fuel efficiency, as well as Mercedes-Benz Accessories as design elements.
The Actros has been the flagship model in the product range of Mercedes-Benz Trucks since its production start in 1996 – and the company says it still is in the year of its 20th anniversary.
“The Actros has become the most successful heavy-duty truck in the world,” it adds.
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