Associated Press reported a U.S. heavy trucks unit of DaimlerChrysler AG will begin selling a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive vehicle envisioned as a competitor to General Motors Corp.’s Hummer in the market for military spin-offs. Nine feet tall, seven feet wide and 12,500 pounds, the truck has a decades-old history of service with customers including the German military, logging companies and fire departments. And from October, DaimlerChrysler will begin taking U.S. orders for the Unimog through its U.S. unit, Freightliner. The diesel-fueled vehicle, which has a 52-gallon tank and covers about 10 miles per gallon, will still be produced in Germany, Stein said. But the new thrust is to target the American market: affluent off-road enthusiasts, fire departments and businesses needing to haul some 13.000 pounds of passengers and cargo. A report in the New York Times put the price at $84,000. The Unimog is a foot longer than Ford Motor Co.s’ Excursion and 3.5 inches wider than General Motor’s Hummer, a vehicle whose design is based on an American military transport. Freightliner hopes to sell about 1,000 Unimogs a year, Stein said.