In a bid to freshen the Fuso brand, through its Japan-based subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation (MFTBC), Daimler Trucks officially opened the new Product Center building and Design Center at the Kawasaki Plant (K1) today.

The new building encompasses the corporate headquarters, R&D and design functions of the company, and is part of a large-scale modernisation at MFTBC. Daimler Trucks has invested approximately 74 million (Rs 576 crore) since 2017 into this building, known as Campus Plus. The new building offers a modern working environment on 10,000 square metres and is also home of the new, state-of-the-art Design Center.

Within the new product center is the new Fuso Design Center, one of the most advanced Design Centers within Daimler AG. About 50 experts in design, digital design and engineering work on the major task to define a common design strategy for all future Fuso vehicles – called the Fuso Code. The team currently is active on the next Canter and eCanter generation. Another objective is to work on the specific challenges of an e-truck.

“The Fuso brand is an essential and successful member of Daimler Trucks. In 2018, it contributed about one-third of total sales and plays a vital role when it comes to future topics such as electric driving. The new Product Center and Design Center in the Kawasaki Plant manifests that we are continuously investing in the future of FUSO and Japan,” said Martin Daum, board member of Daimler AG responsible for Trucks & Buses, on the occasion of the opening in Kawasaki.

On the occasion of this event, Daimler Trucks Asia announced that – additionally – up to 40 million euros (Rs 311 crore) will be invested in 2019 in the Fuso retail network. This investment kicks off a seven-year initiative called Project Mirai (Japanese for ‘Future’). The company has set the goal to improve its owned retail and service network within the domestic market in order to tackle future topics of the commercial vehicle sector. Within this year, seven outlets across Japan, from Hokkaido to Tokyo to Kyushu, are set to be refurbished in order to assist electric and connected commercial vehicles more efficiently from a service perspective.

Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Trucks Asia: “The Mirai Project underlines our commitment to being number one in customer service in the Japanese commercial vehicles industry. With upgraded facilities, we will be able to offer faster, better service to our customers across Japan.”