From left: Mariusz Ptak, President of the Management Board, Jelcz; Arkadiusz Bak, Executive First Vice President, PGZ; Adam Leszkiewicz, Chief Executive, PGZ; Dennis Kinzelmann, Chief Executive, Daimler Truck Defence; Gerald Tropper, Head of Sales Mercedes-Benz Powertrain and Engine Production, Daimler Truck; Krzysztof Nosal, President of the Management Board, WSK PZL-Kalisz

Daimler Truck Defence has signed an initial agreement with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), Poland’s largest defence group, on assembling Mercedes-Benz truck engines in Poland. PGZ is expected to set up and run the operation, with a line at Kalisz due to start next year and eventually building a four-digit number of engines a year.

The engines will go into defence vehicles built by PGZ Group companies serving the Polish Armed Forces. Medium-duty and heavy-duty families are the initial focus, spanning seven to 15 litres and outputs of 240 kW (326 hp) to 460 kW (625 hp).

Local content is set to rise in stages, starting with largely pre-assembled units and moving to completely knocked down kits of more than 700 parts. The partners also intend a Polish competence centre covering maintenance, repair, overhaul and modernisation, taking the arrangement beyond a supply contract.

The same engines run in the Mercedes-Benz Unimog and Zetros. Daimler Truck will supply technical consulting, training and support on line design, testing, painting and quality assurance.

Gerald Tropper, Head of Sales Mercedes-Benz Powertrain and Engine Production at Daimler Truck, said: “Our engines are distinguished by their robustness, efficiency and reliability. They are used in agricultural, forestry and construction machinery, mining applications and other demanding industries. We are now transferring our global strength in the production, sales and servicing of truck engines to the defence business.”

Source: Daimler Truck