DaimlerHyundai Aims at U.S. Truck Market

A new Hyundai-DaimlerChrysler deal will wed Mercedes Benz engines to Hyundai truck platforms worldwide, including the United States, where Hyundai trucks have not been sold before.

The two manufacturers announced formation of the DaimlerHyundai Truck Corp., in which each will have a 50% interest, at a ceremony at Hyundai's technology center in Namyang, South Korea, about 30 miles south of Seoul.

he first product will be the licensed production of Mercedes Benz 900 series -- the first time a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle engine has been built in a non-company plant, according to the company.

According to Edward Merrill, an attorney with McCutcheon, Doyle, Brown & Emerson LLP in California, Hyundai will install the series 900 engines in trucks similar to the vehicles it made for the defunct Bering Truck Co. of Front Royal, Va., and sell them through former Bering dealers.

Bering ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in June because, according to Bering General Counsel Yakir Lubowsky, Hyundai failed to provide key support as required by contractual agreements.

The company filed an antitrust lawsuit June 26 against Hyundai and DaimlerChrysler Corp.

ccording to Eckhard Cordes, a member of DaimlerChrysler's Board of Management, Daimler wants to penetrate the truck markets of Japan, Korea and China.

"These markets together offer greater potential

rowth in the commercial vehicle field than any of the established markets such as Europe or the (North American Free Trade Agreement) region," Cordes said.

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