Freightliner LLC says that the Unimog is intended for commercial applications where terrain or weather requires a high-mobility vehicle – not as a consumer product for the lucrative SUV market.
Built by Mercedes-Benz for more than 50 years, the Unimog, a Class 6 truck, is a highly specialized vehicle which Freightliner believes is particularly suited for plowing snow, fighting fires, and performing a wide variety of agricultural applications.
Unimog will meet all U.S. laws for emissions, size, weight and other commercial vehicle requirements and is designed for safe performance and environmental compliance.
Freightliner believes DaimlerChrysler’s Unimog Class 6 truck will find a healthy vocational market niche in the United States.
Portland-based Freightliner, which will take over selling the Unimog in the U.S., is targeting the vehicle at a variety of vocational markets, from utilities and municipal services to fire and rescue services.
Freightliner will sell and market the Unimog under its Freightliner Trucks and American LaFrance fire truck brand names. Unimogs will be built in Gaggenau, Germany and imported to the U.S. Production begins in early 2002 and Freightliner expects to sell about 300 Unimogs in the U.S. in 2002.