Mercedes-Benz Trucks and the Chinese construction machinery manufacturer Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co. (Zoomlion) signed a letter of intent for the delivery of 2500 Mercedes-Benz trucks for Zoomlion pump truck application: the heavy-duty Actros 3341 and 4141 truck models.

Zoomlion, one of China's leading construction machinery manufacturers, will receive the vehicles later this year from the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Wörth, Germany, that will manufacture the 2500 trucks and adapt them to Zoomlion’s special applications for concrete pumps. In 2011 Daimler sold almost 5800 Mercedes-Benz trucks in China. As a result, China is now the world’s six-largest market for the sale of Mercedes-Benz trucks.

Premium trucks adapted to special applications are particularly needed for China’s rapidly growing construction sector, Daimler said. China is currently planning to invest around 7 trillion RMB (more than €800 billion) in building and expanding urban infrastructures between 2011 and 2015.

Daimler Trucks said it is pursuing two strategic goals for the Chinese market. In addition to promoting the sale of Mercedes-Benz trucks in the premium segment, the company will also participate in China’s promising volume market in the future. Slightly more than a week ago Daimler announced the launch of BFDA (Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd), its joint venture with the Chinese truck manufacturer Foton, that is expected to reach a production capacity of 160 000 units after the ramp-up phase is completed.

According to Daimler, China’s market volume for medium and heavy-duty trucks has doubled to more than one million units over the past five years. Last year the Chinese market accounted for around 40% of the total worldwide sales of medium and heavy-duty trucks.