São Paulo – In the year’s first two weeks, a batch of 25 garbage trucks Mercedes-Benz Atego 1729 4×2, produced in the plant of São Bernardo do Campo (São Paulo metro area), was shipped to Lebanon as part of an order for 54 trucks placed by a local client. The Arab country was, according to the company, one of the highlights among exporting markets last year: it jumped from six units ordered in 2016 to over 80 trucks in 2017.
“Lebanon resumed purchases in the last year, especially in the garbage truck sector,” said Mercedes do Brasil in a statement sent to ANBA.
The models were adapted to meet the client’s demand and local legislation: the wheelbase was shortened, from the traditional 4.8m to 4.2m; and an emergency strobe lighting at the top of the cabin. They will be used by the client in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
According to the company, the Middle East and North Africa countries received 200 Brazilian trucks last year. “This volume sold shows, more and more, that we have been gaining clients in the Middle East, a region that, alongside North Africa, has recognized the qualities of the Brazilian product,” said, in a statement, Philipp Schiemer, president of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil and Latin America CEO.
The products exported to these markets suffer adaptations in a Customization Center in the São Bernardo do Campo plant. After leaving the assembly line, the trucks are taken to this center and go through changes to fit the different legislation requirements of foreign markets and special demands of each client.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
