MERCEDES -BENZ
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1. With rising standards of living, road transport is going to be called upon increasingly to distribute goods and services to a more affluent population. Greater vehicle utilization, however, is likely to lead to little change in the total vehicle "park", but the ton-mileage will increase. My guess is that it could go up by as much as 10 per cent per annum over the next 10 years.
2. Clearly the answer to the second part of this question must be Great Britain: with Britain's entry into the EEC only a few days ago the UK overnight became one of the most important markets in Europe for the Continent's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. In the year which has just finished they increased their export deliveries of commercial Vehicles, including HanomagHenschel, by around 15 per cent to 85,000 units out of a total worldwide production of Daimler-Benz vehicles which for the first time exceeded 200,000 units. Certainly we, together with Daimler-Benz AG, will be making a supreme effort to establish the marque on the British market during 1973. We plan to sell some 2000 units worth in Britain.
3. The trend towards larger production units and rationalized product ranges, already evident, will continue and will step over the old nationalistic borders so that we can expect to see European multi-national companies marketing rationalized ranges across a wide range of countries, perhaps with plants in a number of key countries outside Europe serving huge international catchment areas.
4. I would like to see 40-ton and 11-ton axles because: a). I don't believe that with proper route planning there is any danger to the environment of this country from such weights. In fact the tolerance on axle weights would be far more practical. lb). Mercedes-Benz is well equipped to satisfy the demand for such vehicles from its existing product range.
5. With the ever increasing — and in my view absolutely necessary — emphasis on environmental protection, I think the impetus towards making commercial vehicles safer,. quieter and less obtrusive will be the most important task for development engineers in the next 20 years. It is in these areas that We must look for the most significant breakthrough. I do not think we shall find an alternative power plant to the diesel engine in this time, .but there may be some significant progress in electric delivery vehicles for city centre use, hybrid diesel-electric vehicles and natural gas engines.