Freightliner Cascadia Evolution Passes 10,000-Order Mark
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Freightliner Trucks’ Cascadia Evolution passed the 10,000-order threshold after less than a year in production, and the company rebranded its Coronado model as the 122 SD, the company said here at the Mid-America Trucking Show.
Parent company Daimler Trucks North America also unveiled a series of service improvements and an in-cab exercise system. The Freightliner In-cab Training (FIT) system allows a driver to exercise inside with resistance bands that hook up to points in the cab.
And as part of a 75th anniversary celebration for its Detroit Diesel Corp. division, DTNA also offered an update on its manufacturing of components other than engines.
While the Freightliner Cascadia dates back to 2007, the Evolution version started in May of last year, and since then, the company has received orders for more than 10,000 units, company executives said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Retiring the Coronado name was the result of wanting to brand all severe-duty vehicles with the initials SD. Combined with two models from Freightliner’s M2 Business Class family, there is now a 108 SD, a 114 SD and the 122 SD, with the numbers representing the bumper-to-back-of-cab length in inches.
At the DDC division, the company is producing transmissions and axles in addition to DD 13-, 15- and 16-liter engines.
Currently, the transmissions are made at a Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Germany but are scheduled for U.S. production in 2015. As for axles, a company executive said more than 50% of DTNA’s axles come from in-house production.
