Thursday 17 March 2011 14:15
Mercedes-Benz is the first truck maker to launch a Euro-6 engine. The OM471 12.8-litre straight-six, which has found 70,000 buyers in the US and Japan (albeit in a slightly different guise in order to meet emissions standards), is the first in a new generation of Daimler global engines.
Mercedes has reached Euro-6 with a combination of SCR, EGR and a particulate filter and says it will not be any thirstier than its predecessors. In terms of weight, it will fall somewhere between the current V6 and V8. Service intervals have been stepped up to 150,000kms, and overall longevity has been increased by 20%.
Although Mercedes remains tight-lipped as to where and when the OM471 will appear,CM suspects it will be available in the current Axor this summer. It will take longer to adapt it for the Actros (which currently uses V-configuration engines), so we expect Mercedes to wait for the all-new Actros, which will probably hit the roads later this year.
The new engine will be available as either Euro-5 or Euro-6. Although Mercedes remains optimistic that it will find environmentally-conscious operators to buy the Euro-6 version, CM doubts if there will be any significant demand without European-wide early adoption incentives.
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