Daimler Trucks North America is to start manufacture of its DD5 and DD8
medium duty diesel engines In Detroit, Michigan for sale in 2018.
The new DD5 and DD8 engines are part of Daimler AG's strategy to develop engines in Germany for worldwide use, then adapt them for local use.
The new DD5 and DD8 engines are part of Daimler AG's strategy to develop engines in Germany for worldwide use, then adapt them for local use.
Both DD5
and DD8 engines are from the Medium Duty Engine Generation (MDEG), which
Daimler Trucks has developed in Germany to comply with Euro VI emissions
standard.
As of
market launch in 2016, DD5 and DD8 engines will also comply with NAFTA standard
for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG17) a year before it comes into force.
The
medium-duty four- and six-cylinder diesel engines use standardized components
such as the cylinder head, cylinder block, connecting rods and camshaft.
In
future, both engines will be used in the entire product portfolio of Daimler
Trucks North America. Until production can begin in Redford, Detroit in 2018, engines
will be supplied from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim, Germany.
As part
of this development, Daimler Trucks will invest $375 million and expects to
create 160 new jobs in Detroit.
Meanwhile,
Daimler Trucks has invested $100 million in new production facilities for the
DT12 automated manual transmission (AMT) in Detroit. For this, Daimler Trucks
has created around 170 new jobs in the local area, making a “major contribution”
to the revitalization of Detroit.
Dr. Wolfgang
Bernhard, member of the board of management, responsible for Daimler Trucks
& Buses, said when he gave the starting signal for localized series production
of the DT12: “This is a major step in executing our global platform strategy.
The decisions we announced today will make us even more competitive tomorrow.”
Daimler
Trucks claims that one of its three strategic pillars is the use of intelligent
platforms. This gives proven platforms and modules like engines or
transmissions are used in many different markets with vehicle-specific
adaptations – across all commercial vehicle brands.
Daimler
Trucks & Buses’ portfolio includes Mercedes-Benz trucks & buses, Setra,
Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, and Thomas Built Buses.
Under
its “Detroit” brand, Daimler Trucks has been offering American customers a “harmonized
powertrain” comprising in-house engines, transmissions and axles.
Having
started this business in 2012, Daimler Trucks claims it has been the first
manufacturer in the North American market to offer an integrated powertrain
manufactured under one roof.
Already,
over 40 per cent of the Freightliner Cascadia models are supplied with the DT12
AMTs. This level now justifies local production.
“I am
really excited, that in the future we will also produce our medium duty engines
DD5 and DD8 here,” said Bernhard. “This is a major step in executing our global
platform strategy.”
Founded
in 1938 as Detroit Diesels, the “Detroit” aggregate plant in Redford has been
owned by Daimler AG since 2000. In an area covering more than 280,000 square
meters some 2200 employees produce engines, transmissions and axles for Daimler
Trucks' American commercial vehicle-brands.
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In Europe the DD5 and DD8 carry Mercedes-Benz OM934 LA and OM936 LA type numbers, being four- and six-cylinder mid-range engines sharing common bore and stroke dimensions, with swept volumes of 5.1 and 7.7 litres respectively.
Currently, Business Class Freightliner middleweight trucks are powered by outsourced Cummins 6.7 and 8.9 litre ISB and ISL diesels. Daimler says those engines will remain available, in the same way that Cummins heavy-duty 12 and 15 litre ISX units continue to be listed in class 8 Freightliner tractor models in response to customer demand, as alternatives to the in-house DD13 and DD15 depicted as first line fitments.
The Cummins and DD offerings will present Business Class truck buyers with a choice, one obviously influenced by price, with the in-house engines certain to be made as attractive as possible in that regard. But, unlike the heavier-duty DD engines, the new Detroit-branded options cannot be seen as direct substitutes for the existing Cummins listings, which may be regarded with some relief in Columbus, Indiana.
American buyers are likely to be wary of the DD5’s modest 5.1 litre swept volume, in terms of performance and durability. Till now the smallest diesel listed in Business Class chassis has been the six-cylinder Cummins ISB which was itself increased in swept volume from 5.9 to 6.7 litres in 2007.
They might also question the DD5 having ‘only’ four cylinders. Cummins’ 4.5 litre four-cylinder ISB is not offered in any North American vehicles, not even in heavier pick-ups such as the Dodge Ram, which would seem an obvious application.
In European Mercedes Atego trucks the 5.1 litre engine from Mannheim comes in ratings up to 231hp, falling well short of the 325hp maximum output available from the Cummins ISB in Freightliner models. The 7.7 litre DD8 is 15% larger in capacity than the ISB but, with a top rating in Atego chassis of 299hp, it looks unlikely to be preferred by performance-conscious Business Class buyers in North America.
Heavier Business Class Freightliners come into the US class 8 weight category, where currently the main engine specified is Cummins’ 8.9 litre ISL diesel, an altogether heavier and more expensive power unit than the ISB, but one available in ratings as high as 380hp. There customers look unlikely to be seduced by the vertically-integrated attractions of the DD8.
Nevertheless the imminent arrival of the two in-house mid-range diesels will have created more frowns than smiles at Cummins.
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