Mercedes-Benz: 100,000 Actros trucks sold in MENA
German giant hands over milestone vehicle to Saudi customer at Dubai premises
Mercedes-Benz’s Actros truck has reached a milestone in the region with the delivery this month of the 100,000th truck in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The milestone vehicle was ceremonially handed over by the global automobile major to the customer, transport and distribution company Messrs. Al Khaldi from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, at the Regional Centre of Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA in Jebel Ali, Dubai, said a statement by the German giant.
Present at the event were Wolfgang Bernhard, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and head of Daimler Trucks and Buses, Sheikh Khaled Juffali representing E.A. Juffali Brothers Saudi Arabia and Roland Schneider, president & CEO of the Daimler Commercial Vehicles Regional Centre in Dubai.
“Our Actros is the most successful heavy-duty truck in the world. 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 Bernhard. “With our Regional Centre established a year ago, we’re even closer to our customers and can react faster to their demands. This will further improve our market share in this region.”
Saudi Arabia is the core market in the MENA region for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, with nearly 44,000 Actros Trucks having been delivered since 1997. The manufacturer’s statement attributed this to a successful and long-lasting business relationship between Daimler and its general distributor in KSA, Juffali Industrial Products Company (JIPCO).
Roland Schneider, president & CEO of the Daimler Commercial Vehicles Regional Centre in Dubai, said: “Together with our strong and trusted partner in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, E.A. Juffali & Brothers, we are always striving to exceed our customers’ expectations towards our premium products and services. 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. This milestone makes us proud and truly encourages us to continue delivering high-quality products and customer services across the region.”
The milestone truck, a 4×2 tractor-head Actros 2041S, is part of a larger 200-unit order by Messrs. Al-Khaldi, who is a long-lasting customer of Mercedes-Benz and JIPCO, the statement added. The truck handed over was assembled at National Automobile Industry Company Ltd. (NAI) in Jeddah and is equipped with the Mercedes Powershift automated gearshift and Fleetboard Telematics system enhancing fuel efficiency, as well as Mercedes-Benz Accessories as design elements.
Sheikh Khaled Juffali, vice chairman of E.A. Juffali & Brothers: “We are delighted to deliver this special truck to our esteemed customer Messrs. Al-Khaldi and we thank Al-Khaldi for placing their trust into our premium products and customer services.”
Sheikh Hamoud Al-Khaldi, chairman of Al-Khaldi, said: “We decided to extend and modernise our fleet by another 200 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks, which will enlarge our Fleet to 505 Mercedes-Benz trucks. Low fuel consumption, reliability and a good support were key for our latest buying decision.”
