PORTLAND, Ore. (June 26, 2000) — Hoping to capitalize on the e-commerce-driven home delivery market, Freightliner LLC announced plans to build and distribute a light-duty van currently sold in Europe and South America by corporate parent DaimlerChrysler AG.

The Sprinter, a class 2 and 3 van designed for a parcel and general delivery, passenger transport and shuttle, and a variety of service applications, will be built and distributed under the Freightliner name in the United States and Canada beginning the second quarter of 2001.

The Sprinter was launched in Europe in 1995 and in less than five years has become the market leader in Western Europe’s van segment. In 1999, the Mercedes Sprinter held more than 21% of the European market share.

With the addition of the Sprinter, Freightliner becomes North America’s only full-line commercial vehicle supplier, said Freightliner president and CEO Jim Hebe. “We expect the Sprinter to be the true enabler of e-commerce,” he said. “Due to new distribution logistics driven by e-commerce, we expect the class 2 and 3 van market to grow tremendously as goods ordered over the Internet are delivered directly to homes.”

Freightliner recently announced an $11.4 million, 58,000-square-foot expansion at its plant in Gaffney, S.C., for Sprinter assembly. The addition will be complete by the first quarter of 2001, with assembly start up following shortly after completion. The plant currently builds diesel chassis for the delivery walk-in van, motorhome, school bus and shuttle bus markets.