Daimler has celebrated the delivery of the 100,000th Actros heavy-duty truck in the Middle East and in North Africa (MENA) over the past 20 years, as part of a 200-unit order by Al Khaldi Transport, in an event at Daimler Commercial Vehicles regional centre in Dubai.
The milestone truck, a 4×2 tractor-head Actros 2041S, equipped a Mercedes Power-Shift automated gearshift and FleetBoard Telematics system, was also assembled in Saudi Arabia, at the National Automobile Industry Company in Jeddah.
Sheikh Khaled Juffali, vice chairman of E.A. Juffali and Brothers, Daimler’s distributor in Saudi Arabia, handed the keys to the vehicle to Sheikh Hamoud Al-Khaldi, chairman of the Al Khaldi Transport group, which is based in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Al-Khaldi noted: “We decided to extend our fleet with a purchase 200 Mercedes-Benz Actros to 505 Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Low fuel consumption, reliability and a good support were key criteria for our latest buying decision – and with the Actros and Juffali we found the perfect partners.”
Presiding over the event was Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler board member and head of Daimler Trucks & Buses, alongside Roland Schneider, president of Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA.
Dr Bernhard commented: “Our Actros is the most successful heavy-duty truck in the world, and about every 10th Actors has been delivered to the Middle East and North Africa. This underlines the importance of this region for Mercedes-Benz Trucks.”
Saudi Arabia specifically is the core market in the MENA region for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, with nearly 44,000 Mercedes-Benz Actros Trucks delivered to the Kingdom since 1997.
This success is closely linked to Daimler’s close and long-lasting business relationship with Juffali Industrial Products Company (JIPCO), as the vehicle arm of Ebrahim A. Juffali and Brothers.
Sheikh Juffali noted: “We are delighted to deliver this special truck to our esteemed customer, and we truly thank Al-Khaldi for placing their trust into our premium products and customer services.”
Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA was established as an operation one year ago with the aim of tailoring the strategy of Daimler’s commercial arm to better improve its market share in the region.
Schneider added: “The 100,000th Actros represents the trust of our customers in the Actros. This milestone encourages us to continue delivering high-quality products and services across the region.”
