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21 May 2010
• Mercedes-Benz vans trucks and buses take six first places at this year’s readers poll
• The winners: Sprinter, Atego, Actros long-distance haulage and Actros tipper, the Tourino midi-touring coach and Citaro city bus
• Mercedes-Benz CharterWay was voted “best brand” in the “Rental/leasing” category
Stuttgart – Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles from Daimler AG have once again triumphed in the 14th ETM publishing house readers’ poll to find the “Best commercial vehicles of 2010” and the “Best brands”, scoring no fewer than seven first places. This year the winners were selected from 171 candidates by 7,700 participants in the poll, readers of the trade publications lastauto omnibus, trans aktuell and Fernfahrer. The official awards ceremony, held on 18 May at the Residenzschloss in Ludwigsburg, revealed Mercedes-Benz to be the major winner of the event.
“With six wins for best commercial vehicles and one win in the best brand category, the trucks, buses, vans and services offered by Mercedes-Benz have once again demonstrated the leading role they play,” said Andreas Renschler, Member of the Daimler AG Board of Management with responsibility for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses. “We are delighted with these awards and would like to thank ETM readers for their active participation in the vote.”
As in previous years, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter came first in the segment “Vans and trucks up to 3.5 t” – giving the Sprinter the title in this category for the fourteenth year in succession and making it the outright winner of every readers’ poll to have been carried out by the Stuttgart-based publisher of trade journals. Equipped with the OM651 diesel engine, the Sprinter meets Euro 5 emissions requirements as standard, and even offers EEV compliance as an option.
The Mercedes-Benz Atego once again took victory in the category “Trucks up to 7.5 t”. The Atego’s strengths include cost effectiveness from low fuel consumption and a sound resale value, high quality including the cockpit, plus outstanding reliability. The spectrum of vehicles available ranges from 6.5 t to 15 t, with increased load capacity up to 16 t gross vehicle weight.
Mercedes-Benz’s flagship truck model, the Actros, achieved a double victory in the 2010 poll. The 2009 Truck of the Year beat off the competition in the category “Long-distance transport”. The Actros was also voted best tipper.
First prize in the “Midicoaches” category this year went to the Mercedes-Benz Tourino. The Mercedes-Benz Tourino midi-touring coach offers seating for 38 passengers, meeting the growing demand for easily manoeuvrable touring coaches used for carrying smaller travel groups. No other midicoach boasts the Tourino’s winning combination of a rear engine and front axle with independent suspension, plus a full range of safety equipment that includes the Electronic Stability Program ESP.
Mercedes-Benz also won with the Citaro in the city bus segment again. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is one of the all-time bestsellers in the history of regular service buses. Now in its second generation, over 27,000 examples have left the production line since production start-up in 1998. Regular service in all Europe’s major cities and far beyond have helped bring the Citaro international celebrity.
Readers once again voted Mercedes-Benz Charterway the winner in the category “Rental/leasing”. This was the fourth win in succession for the commercial vehicle service provider.
The “Best commercial vehicles of 2009” readers’ poll was organised by the Stuttgart-based publishers of the trade magazines Fernfahrer, lastauto omnibus and trans aktuell in conjunction with engineers from Dekra AG.
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