'Driving Tomorrow' is the motto of this year's IAA Commercial Vehicles, which runs from 20 - 29 September in Hanover - and which no company embodies better than Daimler. Whether Daimler Trucks, Daimler Buses or Mercedes-Benz Vans, vehicles or services - Daimler is a true trailblazer when it comes to eco-friendly and resource-saving drive systems, safety, automated driving, the megatrend digitisation and networking, and digital services. As demonstrated at Daimler Trucks, for example, with the world premiere of the spectacular new Mercedes-Benz Actros, the all-electric-powered eActros, the Actros NGT with gaseous-fuel drive and the FUSO eCanter.
At Daimler Buses the focus is on the world premieres of the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro and the new minibuses, as well as on the IAA premieres of the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo and Setra TopClass S 531 DT.
With its emergency braking systems Active Brake Assist 4/5, Preventive Brake Assist for city buses and Sideguard Assist for trucks and buses, Daimler is setting the benchmark when it comes to assistance and safety systems, while Active Drive Assist in the new Actros paves the way to automated driving.
The new Sprinter and the all-electric eSprinter represent the state of the art among vans today, while the Vision URBANETIC provides a vision of a totally new kind of van.
Fleetboard, Uptime, Omniplus On or Mercedes Pro - digitisation and systematic networking have brought with them revolutionary digital services and helped to increase cost-effectiveness.
▪ Daimler Trucks: the revolutionary Mercedes-Benz Actros as the star of the IAA
The new Actros is the undisputed star among all the trucks at the IAA. Instead of conventional outside mirrors, the MirrorCam with numerous additional functions supports the driver while also improving aerodynamics. The way that the different assistance systems interact within Active Drive Assist paves the way for automated driving. The new active lane tracking feature intervenes with corrective steering movements if required. The new Active Brake Assist 5 system can now also react with full emergency braking if it identifies a risk for pedestrians. One of the key elements of the assistance systems for the new Actros is Sideguard Assist, successfully introduced two years ago.
The anticipatory cruise control system in the Actros, Predictive Powertrain Control, now also recognises junctions and roundabouts. This allows it to optimise the driver's driving style, even on winding long-distance routes. In conjunction with the MirrorCam, the new Economy+ driving mode in the Powershift3 automatic transmission and a new rear axle ratio, the new Actros' fuel consumption on motorways can be reduced by a further three percent and by as much as five percent on long-distance routes.
The controls have also been elevated to a whole new level. This applies to the MirrorCam displays in the A-pillars and particularly to the new Multimedia Cockpit. Its core is made up of two centrally positioned colour displays. Instead of the conventional instrument cluster with speedometer, rev counter and fuel gauge, the system features a primary flat-screen-look, high-resolution colour display. The second screen, the secondary display, is designed as a touchscreen. Most of the truck's functions can be conveniently controlled from this screen. As an enhancement of the Multimedia Cockpit, Mercedes-Benz Trucks offers the even more powerfully networked Multimedia Cockpit interactive. This features even more functionality.
Mercedes-Benz is marking the introduction of the new flagship model at the IAA Commercial Vehicles with the special "Edition 1" model, produced in a limited run of 400, with numerous extras that offer maximum comfort and safety for the driver. Its select design features give the vehicle a high recognition factor.
In the course of developing the new Actros, the engineers at Mercedes-Benz Trucks also extensively redesigned the Arocs. Almost all the innovations in the new Actros are also available for the Arocs. This is true, for instance, of MirrorCam, Active Brake Assist 5, the Multimedia Cockpit and the enhanced Predictive Powertrain Control. The sole difference: whereas, as a rule, the new features form part of the standard specification for the Actros, the Arocs is most often individually configured.
The new features in relation to the drive system are just as important. Having celebrated its world premiere two years ago at the IAA, the all-electric eActros is now - following extensive further development - in real-life operation as part of customer driving trials. The new gas-powered Actros NGT marks the beginning of a further new chapter for low-emission vehicles at Mercedes-Benz Trucks.