Daimler Trucks has announced a new millions-heavy investment package for the commercial vehicle plants of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil. Daimler plans to invest around one billion Brazilian real (the equivalent of around 300 million euro according the current exchange rate) over the next two years.

The financing will be placed mainly in research and development of new products and innovative technologies, as well as in process optimizations and modernization of the two production plants São Bernardo do Campo (Federal State São Paulo) and Juiz de Fora (Federal State Minas Gerais), according to the automaker.

This financing is part of an extensive investment project of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil, equipped with a total budget of around 2.5 billion Brazilian real (around 750 million euro after the current exchange rate) across a six-year term extending from 2010 to 2015. Thus far, around 1.5 billion real has already been invested in the production of trucks, buses and components at the Brazilian locations.

Daimler is represented in Brazil since 1956 and has established itself as a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in the country with a market specific product range of Mercedes-Benz trucks, bus chassis and vans. Fifty-seven years after the opening of the plant in São Bernardo do Campo, the two-millionth locally produced commercial vehicle rolled from the line in June of this year. This number is made up of around1.4 million trucks and 600,000 buses and bus chassis.

In the beginning of October, Daimler announced plans to extend the global car production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars by a new assembly plant in Iracemápolis near São Paulo. This is where the next generation of the C-Class and the GLA are to be made for the local market. According to the current planning, the first vehicles will roll off the line as early as 2016. An investment of around 170 million euro has been earmarked for expansion planned in the first stage, according to the automaker.