Best commercial vehicles and best brands 2012 poll; Seven victories for Daimler

Daimler won seven awards at the ceremony honouring the best commercial vehicles and best brands 2012 in Stuttgart. More than 8000 readers participated in the poll and bestowed victories on five Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles and two Mercedes-Benz
service solutions.

“We are delighted about the seven awards and want to thank all the readers. This once more proves that our product line-up puts us in a perfect position," said Andreas Renschler, on the Board of Management responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses.

The readers voted the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter the winner in the category 'vans up to 3.5-t' for the 17th consecutive time. Since this spring the Sprinter has been the first van to be optionally equipped with the '7G-Tronic' seven-speed automatic transmission. The Sprinter has been highly successful in its segment for many years.

The category 'long-haul truck' was won by the new Mercedes-Benz Actros. The all-new truck celebrated its world debut in summer of last year. The new flagship of the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles division is economical, safe and very eco-friendly as its Euro-VI engine technology.

The proven Actros wins in the category 'dump trucks up to 32-t'. More than 700,000 vehicles sold since its market launch in 1996 make the Actros the most successful heavy-duty truck worldwide.

In the category 'urban regular-service buses' the Mercedes-Benz Citaro finished atop the winner’s podium. More than 30,000 units sold during 14 years of production mean that the Citaro is the most successful regular-service bus of all time. In early May it rolled off the assembly line as Europe’s first Euro-VI urban bus. The early introduction of Euro-VI gives transport operators the option of quickly spreading environmental protection on a broad basis with affordable investments.

The Mercedes-Benz Tourino offers operators a multitude of available options that permit a wide variety of uses – from inter-city operations to VIP shuttle services anything is possible for the customer. The readers of the ETM magazines vote the handy coach the winner in the 'midibuses' category. With up to 38 seats the Tourino has been successful particularly for smaller tourist parties for years.

Mercedes-Benz was also able to win over the voters in the poll on the best brands. Mercedes-Benz CharterWay wins the 'rental/leasing' award for the sixth consecutive time. The service brand celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. CharterWay has been selling services and mobility centred on the procurement, service and management of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles since 1992.

The readers equally value good service in the 'truck/trailer service' category. They vote the TruckWorks service solution from Mercedes-Benz the winner. TruckWorks is the point of contact for comprehensive services related to commercial vehicles. Under the TruckWorks service brand the company works together with renowned manufacturers of trailers, bodywork, axles, brake systems, tail lifts and refrigeration units.
The reader poll is conducted annually by ETM publishing company and its trade magazines ‘Fernfahrer’, ‘lastauto omnibus’ and ‘trans aktuell’. 'The best commercial vehicles 2012' and 'the best brands 2012' are determined in cooperation with engineers from Dekra. This year the 8,000 readers were able to choose the winners in 22 categories from more than 180 model series.

Posted in: 20th Anniversary,Actros,Andreas Renschler,Award,Daimler,Daimler AG,Daimler Buses,Daimler Trucks,ETM Magazine,Euro-VI,International,Mercedes-Benz,Mercedes-Benz Citaro,Mercedes-Benz Sprinter