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Sterling Bullet set to enter full-size HD truck segment
Got eight tons of stuff to haul? Sterling Truck Corporation is taking a shot at it with its new Bullet-class 4/5 truck. The new mid-range worker looks to be based off the Dodge Ram chassis cab that recently debuted. Sterling is part of Freightliner, which is part of DCX, and if you look through the smoke in the teaser pic, it's pretty clear you're looking at a Ram-derived vehicle. Powering the Bullet will be the Mercedes diesels familiar to Sterling customers, driving either the rear wheels, or optionally, both axles. Regular and quad-cab configurations are available for hauling your entire crew, as well. This would make a nice command post for Autobloggers as we criss-cross the country to bring you the latest news. Look for the debut at the NTEA show on March 6th.
press release after the jump
[Source: Sterling]
PRESS RELEASE:
Sterling Truck Corporation Enhances Product Lineup with New Mid-Range Truck - February 13, 2007
Latest Vehicle to be Introduced at NTEA Work Truck Show 2007
REDFORD, MICHIGAN - Sterling Truck Corporation added velocity to its North American sales efforts today by announcing plans to introduce a new conventional class 4-5 truck: the Sterling Bullet™. This exciting addition to the Sterling family is a real work truck designed by the work truck experts, and will be introduced at the NTEA Work Truck Show 2007 on March 6.
The new truck is ideal for vocational applications including construction, residential services including landscaping, municipal services such as government and utility, and pickup and delivery applications.
"With the introduction of this tough new vehicle, Sterling is rounding out its extensive lineup of reliable work trucks," said Chris Patterson, president and CEO of Freightliner LLC. "Sterling dealers will now have an expanded selection of products across commercial vehicle classes 3 through 8, and customers will have a single source for all their truck and service needs. Nothing will stop this new truck."
Professional truck users demand an industry-leading product with an engine that's ready to work. The Bullet is powered by an EPA '07-compliant diesel engine found in other Sterling vehicles. The new truck will be available in both regular and quad cab configurations, as well as two-wheel and four-wheel drive.
This marks the third product introduction for Sterling within the last twelve months, making Sterling an ideal solution for any light-, medium-, or heavy-duty application.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Kerr 12:48PM (2/22/2007)
Wow, I didn't know Sterling was a part of Freightliner. I did know Freightliner was a part of DCX, though.
Weird, Sterling bought out Ford's medium/heavy duty line (look at older Sterlings, they are thinly disguised Fords) and now they are switching to a Dodge chassis.
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kanadian 1:03PM (2/22/2007)
This truck seems like to wear the from grill of the RAM truck with a desguise! look closely at the front grill!!!!
Is it a RAM 2500 or 3500???
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elt100 3:54PM (2/23/2007)
When Ford decided to leave the class 8 market (1997 or so), they bundled up everything; trucks, parts, plant tooling, intellectual property, everything, and sold it to Freightliner. The purchase amount was less than what they had spent developing the HN80 Aeromax cab (which is still being sold as the A-Line by Sterling to this day). Freightliner erased the blue from the ovals, inserted a stylized "S", and thus The Sterling Truck Corp was born. Mercedes owns Freightliner, so it also owns Sterling. Since they also own Chrysler, and by extension Dodge, and since Sterling wanted to expand down into Class 3-5, the decision was made to re-badge the Dodge medium chassis with an "S" on the front, and the result is what you see above. Sterling did not engineer this product, and it will NOT have Mercedes Benz diesel engines like its Sterling big brothers. (The MBE900 and 4000 engine will not fit in this application.) These chassis will sport 5.9 litre Cummins diesels, just like their Dodge brethren.
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Mason Hill 3:21AM (2/23/2007)
Remember when Sterling was a combined effort of Honda and Rover? Think it was like 1984 or so. I still have a sales brochure somewhere for that car company.
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bauhaus 3:53PM (2/22/2007)
Yeah, Sterling was the Ford big-rig line (everything above the F-650, basically). Ford spun them off in one of its earlier restructurings (maybe to pay for acquiring the initial bits of Mazda?). DCX's heavy-truck business (Sterling, Freightliner, and Western Star) competes more with PACCAR (makes Kenworths and Peterbilts) and Volvo rather than Ford, now. Looks to me like DCX Truck has decided that it needs to move down the range to compete with the TopKick and the F-Series HD range.
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John Cressy 7:18PM (2/22/2007)
And in Australia they will be sold as Freightliners.
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DanMan 8:17PM (2/22/2007)
Any bets on the fuel economy? Even with a diesel.
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NoNameDenton 9:12PM (2/22/2007)
Well, my curiousity is peaked, I want to see this even though I am a die hard Blue Oval fan
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Barney 9:47PM (2/22/2007)
Sterling's bigest competitors are Hino, Suzuki and Mitsubishi in that class. Freightliner also has the "Business Class" in the class 5 & 6 segment. International has also introduced a COE with the V6 diesel at about the time Hino began building a conventional cab in the US. The cab-over sold better in that class but Hino seemed to have made a smart move. Now Sterling/Freightliner wants part of the action.
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goat 12:56AM (2/23/2007)
I'm somewhat puzzled by this. First of all, I don't understand why DCX owns so many heavy truck brands. What is the point of the Sterling brand, anyhow?
Secondly, I would think they would brand this as a Dodge, to help build up the Dodge truck brand, and to match Ford and GM. But, I suppose since they're obviously trying to dump Chrysler Group, they don't much care about that.
I don't really understand why Ford and GM got out of the heavy truck business. I guess they just wanted the cash at the time.
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rainyday128 7:33PM (3/05/2007)
It's all about the dealer.
DCX figures they will add business if they market through their Freightliner Corp dealers (Sterling) without harming Dodge. In the same way, Dodge got the Sprinter van that had been brought in by Freightliner. Good timing, what with all the trouble Ford is having with its diesel V-8 from International. Also, it will be a 6.7L Cummins that will meet 2010 emissions.
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Reaper01 5:59PM (3/06/2007)
What some of you may not have considered is that now certain sales people will be able to offer municipalities class 3-8 trucks all from the same dealership and sales person.
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BigRam 3:13PM (3/07/2007)
Is it a RAM 2500 or 3500???
No it is based on the Cab Chassis 4500/5500 made in Saltillo Assembly plant in Mexico.
"Powering the Bullet will be the Mercedes diesels"
I assume this is the press release, but this will have the Cummins 6.7L diesel, and runs off of normal diesel fuel, not the ultra-low sulfur as required by the Dodge Ram 2500/3500 with the 6.7L Cummins.
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