Whether it’s efficiency, safety or comfort: the Mercedes-Benz Actros has been setting high standards for heavy trucks since 1996. Its most recent generation, from 2018 onward, has constantly been setting new milestones with a multitude of innovations. In addition, Mercedes Benz will be bringing the new Actros F to market in January 2021 in 24 EU countries and selected non-EU markets, a model specifically designed for pure functionality.
The new Actros F is a perfect fit for customers who, for example, are simply looking for a functional truck apart from all the complexities concerning the logistical and organisational processes of their fleet. These customers are consciously opting for a commercial vehicle with the three-pointed star but don’t necessarily need all the innovations present in the most recent Actros generation. They want a truck with an attractive price-performance ratio and the authentic Mercedes-Benz Trucks DNA. In other words: a vehicle that embodies the defining Mercedes-Benz values such as top quality, reliability, efficiency, functionality, safety and high utility value.
Available in 17 assembly model designations and as a left-hand drive only, the Actros F is ideal for conventional and regional long-distance traffic, especially as a swap body vehicle, dump truck or silo transporter. For this purpose, particular emphasis was placed on high comfort for the drivers, in addition to maximum functionality for fleet operators. The newly designed cab in the StreamSpace or BigSpace variants with its 2.5-metre width and 120-mm engine tunnel height offers excellent spaciousness for its class and also allows the driver easy entry and exit with only three steps.
In terms of equipment, the new Actros F comes with a Classic Cockpit as well as conventional glass side mirrors as standard. In combination with the navigation system, climate control and several choices of optional equipment, there’s also the addition of the new, user-friendly 10-inch Multimedia Cockpit with multifunction steering wheel in the current Actros generation. The new Predictive Powertrain Control is another optional feature that calibrates the automatic gear shift according to a topography-adapted driving style and therefore enables additional fuel savings in combination with a precisely tuned shifting strategy.
In addition, there are also safety features such as the fifth-generation Active Brake Assist, which has been a standard feature, where required by law, of Actros vehicles, throughout Europe since January 2020, and Lane Keeping Assist. Optionally the new Actros F can also be equipped with Sideguard Assist.
As Mercedes-Benz explains in its launch notes: “With groundbreaking innovations, the newest Actros generation from Mercedes-Benz Trucks takes everything to a very high level with more efficiency for hauliers, better comfort for truckers and improved safety for all road users. Innovations such as the Multimedia Cockpit, MirrorCam, further developed safety systems and partially developed driving functions ensure that the Actros excellently fulfils the continually increasing demands in both long-haul and heavy-duty distribution transport while sustainably supporting the driver in handling his or her tasks. Many awards including the “International Truck of the Year 2020” award confirm that Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ new flagship raises the bar in many ways.”
There can’t and won’t be a standstill in the commercial vehicles sector, especially because haulage companies and truck manufacturers are facing major challenges in a highly competitive environment. For this reason, and in order to serve the most diverse customer requirements even better, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is adding two models to its Actros range: the new Actros F and Actros Edition 2.
With Fleetboard, the standard connectivity solution, the Actros F aims for a high level of efficiency. With real-time data, hauliers are always kept up to date about their vehicles and are able run their fleets even more economically thanks to the intelligent cross-linking of driver, fleet and assignment. This is even more true for the optional upgrade to the expanded Fleetboard services with a new user interface.
In everyday operation, it’s also decisively important for fleet operators to identify and resolve any possible disruption in time, says Mercedes-Benz. Therefore, when it comes to connectivity, the Actros F also enables intensive customer support via Mercedes-Benz Uptime. Thereby the fully automatic telediagnosis continuously monitors the status of several vehicle systems in the truck in real time. In case of maintenance and service requirements, Mercedes-Benz’s service immediately offers individual support.
Individually configurable service packages as well as perfectly tailored leasing, financing and insurance solutions round off the service spectrum for the Actros F and contribute to additional planning security in these areas. In this regard, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has always been relying on innovative solutions.
The service contract Mercedes-Benz CompleteMile, which is available from March 2021 onward for all Actros, Arocs and Atego models in many European markets, exemplifies this. Like Mercedes-Benz Complete, the flexible service contract encompasses all workshop work including wear parts, but its concept is different: the monthly rate depends on the actually driven kilometres. So it makes no difference whether the customer is active in a cyclical sector such as construction or agriculture or has stronger or weaker business months and therefore changing mileages. Mercedes-Benz CompleteMile therefore can contribute to cash flow optimisation. The mileages are automatically sent via Mercedes-Benz Uptime to Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ IT systems and are seamlessly processed for digitalised invoicing.
Whereas with the new Actros F, Mercedes-Benz Trucks especially focuses on customers who mainly want the greatest possible functionality from a commercial vehicle with the three-pointed star, the Actros Edition 2, which can be ordered from January 2021, caters to an entirely different target group: innovation-loving professional drivers and self-driving hauliers whose truck is their home and who place great value on individual style and high comfort. Actros Edition 2 drivers have a strong emotional bond with their vehicle, which is more than a working and driving machine to them. With the special model, hauliers enhance their company’s image while also holding a trump card against the current shortage of drivers.
Up to 40 additional options for interior and exterior as well as design elements from Edition 1 give the Actros Edition 2, limited to 400 vehicles, an unmistakeable character. The result: a premium Actros with a “wow” effect and features that highly distinguish it from the series models of the internationally successful model range.
A whole range of equipment features highlight the Edition 2’s sense of luxury. Among these, the interior boasts a dashboard and door handles covered in nappa leather, several interior parts in a carbon-fibre look as well as a roof hatch with ambient lighting. The new home screen in the Multimedia Cockpit’s primary display as well as the Edition logo out of polished and brushed aluminium on the passenger side are also real eye-catchers. The top bed comes with bedding and has a width of 900 millimetres. An all-around curtain – almond beige on the inside, black on the outside – ensures privacy in a stylish way. This equally applies to the curtain with the Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star in front of the bed.
The highlights of its exterior include, among other things, exclusive side wall decals with a star pattern, the “Edition 2” lettering in the lacquered sun visor, the Actros emblem in front, the Actros lettering on the upper side of the cab’s back wall, four additional LED spotlights in the sun visor as well as three LED working lights behind the cab. From the side, the stainless steel entrance steps are especially noticeable. The rear axle caps are also stainless steel, with protective wheel nut caps. Additionally, an illuminated Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star with black aperture and several decorative grille elements in dark chrome also comes as standard, while the headlamp surround is darkened.
The Edition 2 is offered for all two- and three-axle variants of the current Actros generation with GigaSpace and BigSpace cabs as a left-hand or right-hand drive. The cab paint is freely selectable and can be tailored specifically to the customer’s company colours, while the vehicle front is always painted in moonstone grey metallic, which ensures a high recognition value.
Mercedes Benz Trucks’ goal with the Edition 2 is the same as its goal with the current Actros generation: “to contribute to accident-free traffic and advance toward the vision of fully accident-free driving by utilising active safety assistance systems”.
For this purpose, the Edition 2 is equipped with the emergency braking assistant Active Brake Assist in its fifth generation (ABA 5), the optional Active Drive Assist (ADA) for partially automated driving (SAE level 2), the standard MirrorCam that replaces main and wide-angle mirrors as well as the Sideguard Assist with pedestrian and cyclist detection available ex-works. In conjunction with these assistance systems, the further developed Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) is also impressive. The system not only saves a lot of fuel, but is also a relief for the driver on rural routes.
The driver is shown the activities and functions of systems such as ABA 5, ADA or PPC in the user-friendly Multimedia Cockpit, with its two colour displays forming the centrepiece of the Human-Machine Interface (HMI). In addition, further HMI innovations such as the display of the next navigation event in the primary display or the total weight of tractor unit and trailer are also included. For PPC, the kilometre display is no longer shown as a bar diagram but in absolute values, and the battery status is also displayed.
Find out more on the tech-driven direction of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, including the new Arocs in the upcoming November issue of Truck & Fleet Middle East
