OREANDA-NEWS. The Tramagal plant is commemorating its eventful 50-year history, during which it has produced more than 200,000 vehicles. Today the plant is FUSO's backbone in Europe. In a ceremony attended by Pedro Passos Coelho, the Prime Minister of Portugal, representatives of Daimler AG and the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), marked the 50th anniversary of the Tramagal plant and honored the facility as the central production location for the international best-seller FUSO Canter in Europe.

The Tramagal plant is located about 150 kilometers northeast of Lisbon and extends over a surface of 39,900 square meters. Its more than 300 employees produce FUSO Canter trucks for around 30 European countries and Israel. In the course of the year, Morocco will expand the list of export markets. Already today, almost 95 percent of the vehicles are exported. The key sales markets are Germany, the UK, and France. While especially the South European markets went through a volatile economic development over the past years, sales of FUSO trucks in Europe last year rose to around 4,500 units. Availability of the new FUSO Canter with a gross vehicle weight of 8.55 tonnes should lead the brand to a further sales increase in Europe this year.

To prepare the plant for the future, Daimler Trucks has invested a total of roughly EUR 27 million from 2011 to 2014 included, dedicated to the modernization of production operations and the further development of the FUSO Canter in Tramagal. Some EUR 5.5 million out of this sum will be spent this year on new equipment and the development of the battery-electric FUSO Canter E-Cell. The Portuguese government is also supporting these measures with EUR 3 million.

Since 2012, Portugal has also produced the FUSO Canter Eco Hybrid, the hybrid version of the truck. This fuel-saving light-duty truck has already won several international awards, including the renowned award "Irish Green Commercial of the Year 2013." In addition, the hybrid truck received the "European Transport Sustainability Prize 2014."

The Tramagal plant has had an eventful history. It was founded in 1964 as a joint venture of the family-run Portuguese firm Duarte Ferreira and the former French truck manufacturer Berliet. The plant began with CKD assembly (completely knocked down) for Mitsubishi Fuso in 1980. In the following years, the Tramagal plant assembled the FUSO Canter light-duty truck for the Portuguese market, as well as the medium-duty Fighter truck, the Mitsubishi L 200 pickup truck, the L 300 van, and the Pajero SUV. Ten years later, the business was acquired by the Portuguese import company Mitsubishi Motors Portugal (MMP). In 1996, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation took over the plant and decided to focus production on the FUSO Canter. It became part of Daimler AG in 2004 after the automaker acquired the majority share of Mitsubishi Fuso.