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Following recent announcements by Volvo, Nissan, and Renault in Europe, and restructuring by U.S. car makers General Motors and Ford, utility vehicles are also being hit by slumping sales.Daimler, the world's biggest maker of heavy trucks, made the decision to shut down its Sterling Trucks brand in March "in response to continuing depressed demand across the industry and structural changes in the company's core markets," a statement said.
The German group is a rare European actor in the North American heavy truck sector, with around 28 percent of the market and sales of 320,000 vehicles in 2007.
"As the recession deepens, the heavy-truck market is hit harder," German auto expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer told AFP. "The sector will see a recession as well."
"It is falling back more sharply now," she noted however.
Finally, new U.S. regulations aimed at reducing pollution have also hurt sales, Daimler said.
Two plants are to be shut down, one in Ontario, Canada in March, and another in Portland, Oregon in June 2010, and production will move to Mexico.
After unloading the Sterling Trucks brand, Daimler will concentrate on Freightliner and Western Star models.
"Sterling and Freightliner occupy the same (market) segment. But Freightliner has stronger sales and is our top-of-the-line," the Daimler spokeswoman said.The group estimates its restructuring will cost around 600 million euros ($820 million), but will generate annual savings of 900 million from 2011.
"Daimler is trying to limit its losses in the United States," Dudenhoeffer concluded, adding that other heavy truck makers will cut production in Europe.But he said the market should "pick up again in 2010."
It is likely however to shift towards emerging economies in eastern Europe, India and China.In general, he concluded, "logistics is clearly a growth industry, it is expanding twice as fast as the market for personal vehicles."