Daimler Trucks to Make New Medium Duty Engines in Detroit

DETROIT, MI — Daimler Trucks North America on Friday announced that it’s making a big financial investment to enable production of the new Detroit DD5 and DD8 medium-duty engines at Detroit’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Redford, MI.

JThe Detroit DD5, coming next yearoined by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and nearly 2,000 United Auto Workers employees, the company celebrated the announcement of the new lines of DD5 and DD8 medium duty engines and officially launched production of the company’s Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission in Redford, previously manufactured in Germany.

The new engines, first announced at the 2014 American Trucking Associations annual conference, will be available in select Daimler Truck North America vehicles starting in 2016.

The engines will be initially built and shipped from Daimler’s powertrain facility in Mannheim, Germany. Full production will take place in Detroit by the end of 2018.

“This is an exciting day for Daimler Trucks and Detroit. Our investment is a tangible example of how we maximize the use of our global platforms optimized for regional markets,” said Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for trucks and buses.

The new DD5 and DD8 lines will add approximately 160 new jobs to the Detroit Headquarters facility and requires a minimum investment of US$375M. 

DTNA’s entire product line-up, including vehicles equipped with the DD5 and DD8, will meet Canadian and U.S. 2017 emissions standards early.

For sale in limited quantities, the Detroit DD5 medium-duty engine will be available in 2016 on the Freightliner M2 product line with extensive availability in 2018 across DTNA’s product portfolio including Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, and Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation vehicles.

The Detroit DT12 transmission, built in the U.S.These two new engine and the DT12 transmission are included in the Detroit integrated powertrain, part of Daimler Trucks’ strategy to have uniform production standards and processes worldwide, resulting in what the company says are the most efficient, highest quality and lowest cost of ownership products in the industry.

“Detroit medium duty engines will provide what no other manufacturer in North America can offer, a total vehicle solution that matches Daimler’s global engineering prowess with the most complete lineup bar none in the industry,” said Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America.

According to Daimler, the Detroit DT12 combines the operational ease of an automatic with the efficiency of a manual transmission, resulting in enhanced fuel economy, vehicle performance and safety. It is available in the Freightliner Cascadia and Western Star 5700 XE tractors.


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