TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - Profitable Growth at Daimler Trucks - Returns Target of Eight Percent Is Within Reach

Stuttgart,Germany -The FINANCIAL (Tbilisi, Georgia,Russia) -30 Nov 2010: -- The positive trend in the commercial vehicle sector, which last year had to cope with an average sales decline of 50 percent, was confirmed in the figures from Daimler Trucks for the third quarter of 2010... Compared to the result posted for the same quarter last year, Daimler Trucks’ sales increased by 44 percent to 94,800 units... By the end of September 2010, total sales at Daimler Trucks were up by 34 percent to 249,000 units, compared to the total sales of 185,600 units in the same period of last year... Daimler Trucks also expects the global truck markets to see further recovery by the end of the year. It forecasts market growth of five percent in Europe, ten to 15 percent in the NAFTA region, 50 percent in Brazil, and between 20 and 30 percent in Japan...  (Photo from mercedes-benz: Axor truck)

* Italy - Fiat to Make Utility Vans for Opel. The vehicles will be made in Bursa, Turkey

Milano,Italy -Agence France-Presse -Nov. 29, 2010: -- Fiat and Opel signed an accord on Nov. 29 for the supply of general utility vehicles to the German unit of General Motors... The vehicles will be made in Bursa, Turkey, at the Tofas plant run by Fiat and a Turkish firm, Koc Holding... The model, based on Fiat's Doblo, will replace Opel's Combo vehicle... It will be sold in Europe and other markets except those in North America... Deliveries in 2011 were put at 6,000 rising to at least 250,000 in time while Tofas will make 1.3 million of the vehicles... (Photo from t2.gstatic: A Fiat Doblo van)

* France - Groupe CAT inaugurates new facility in 

Lorraine,Saint-Ail,France -EyeforTransport (UK) -Dec 1, 2010: -- Groupe CAT has inaugurated a new storage compound for its centre in Lorraine, in the Saint-Ail region (Meurthe-et-Moselle), France... While the centre is one of numerous compounds Groupe CAT owns in France, the new site is the first to be 100% owned by the group... The acquisition of new sites enables Groupe CAT to offer services to additional customers in the region... Being located at the centre of Europe, Batilly provides a strategic location for vehicle flows arriving from the East, and enables Groupe CAT to offer optimised solutions for the vehicle flows throughout the continent...