Daimler Trucks foresees 50% market expansion by 2015

Daimler AG, Europe’s biggest truckmaker, said the world market for heavy vehicles will expand by more than half by 2015, driven by demand from emerging economies such as China, India and Russia.

Worldwide truck sales may swell to about 3 million vehicles by 2015, Andreas Renschler, head of Daimler Trucks, said in written remarks prepared for delivery today at the Hanover Trucks Show.

“The trucks business is recovering alongside the global economy,” Renschler said, citing a “considerable uptrend” in Asia and a “moderate” improvement in the U.S. “That’s why we can rely on stable tailwind from markets.”

The global recession prompted freight companies to put off ordering vehicles. Daimler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, makes Mercedes-Benz heavy vehicles in Europe, Freightliner models in the U.S. and Fuso trucks in Asia.

Daimler will increase its presence in the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, China and India as well as in smaller emerging countries known as the “Next 11,” Renschler said. Daimler will add two more brands and five factories in emerging markets, the executive said, without providing specifics.