Speaking of which, today's trucks are not specially designed for use in construction projects. The mud trucks that can be seen everywhere on the roads in later generations have not yet developed.
Even before the war, the load capacity of trucks was generally between 1.5 and 5 tons. However, with the outbreak of war, due to the demand for military transportation, countries began to develop heavy trucks to carry heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery, which promoted the development of heavy-duty trucks.
Moreover, most of today's trucks are rear-wheel drive and are mainly driven on paved roads. They are not the 6*6 or 8*8 heavy dump trucks that are common in later generations.
Hearing Fang Lang's question, Janvito Blank was stunned, but he quickly reacted. Looking at Fang Lang's expression, he said hesitantly:
"Uh! Boss, our factory has only completed the first phase of construction, and the production lines put into production are still mainly for sedans. There is no truck production line yet.
If necessary, we will immediately start construction of the truck production line as the next step.”
Fang Lang sighed. It seemed that he still didn't pay enough attention to these industries! Surprisingly, he didn't remind them to start the production of commercial vehicles earlier.
You have to know that the next few decades will be a period of rapid economic development, and the demand for commercial vehicles will be astronomical. If you don’t get involved in this market early, you may be overtaken by others in the future! Fortunately, it is not too late to find out now.
Fang Lang glanced at the people behind him, many of whom were Germans, and it would definitely not be appropriate for them to talk about the European aid plan that would be launched in the future.
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After all, it is still just an experiment in Greece and Türkiye, and the actual announcement of the plan will have to wait until next year.
If the Germans here spread this news back to Germany, it would definitely cause some adverse consequences. And if the American people knew about it, would they start to oppose the plan before it was even proposed? That would only add to the trouble.
But fortunately, he is the major shareholder and has the right to decide when to start the construction of the second phase of the project. The worst that can happen is additional investment!
Therefore, he just thought about it for a moment and said directly to everyone:
"I am now working for a construction company in the United States and we need a lot of heavy trucks. I don't want to give this business to others at a lower price, so I want to know if our company has the technical strength to do this.
Being able to quickly produce the right heavy-duty truck for the construction company.”
Everyone looked at each other after hearing this. A middle-aged man wearing thick black-framed glasses looked at Fang Lang hesitantly and asked:
"As for the heavy trucks that you mentioned, our Mercedes-Benz company has relevant technical reserves. During the war, the maximum load capacity of the L6500 heavy truck we produced reached seven tons. I wonder if it meets your needs."
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this. He had been in this era for so long, and all he had seen were small trucks. He didn't expect that Mercedes-Benz had already built such a heavy truck with a huge load capacity as early as the war period.
This gave him an idea. Since Germany has such heavy trucks, then the United States must also have such trucks, and such trucks must belong to the military.
In other words, in the early stage, he could completely purchase a large number of second-hand trucks from the U.S. Army Logistics Department through Shata Company to meet his own needs, and even sell these second-hand trucks at a high price to local European contractors.
By then, we can reserve enough research and development time for our own factory to study new special dump trucks. When those second-hand trucks are almost ruined, we can start selling our new trucks to Europe!
This way there will be no gap at all, and other automakers will not be disadvantaged.
After realizing this, Fang Lang's impatience immediately calmed down, and he looked at the middle-aged man with a friendly expression and said:
"Oh! I wonder if this truck you are talking about can be used as an engineering vehicle?"
The middle-aged man paused after hearing this, and continued hesitantly:
"Boss, I don't know what specific requirements you have for the engineering vehicles you mentioned."
Yes! What are your requirements? Fang Lang heard this and began to recall what the mud trucks that everyone in the city avoided looked like. He thought about it and answered:
“First of all, this kind of construction truck must be able to travel on unpaved areas, so it must have strong off-road capabilities.
Secondly, what he needs to carry are soil and rocks, which will result in a huge load capacity, and he must have a sufficiently strong body structure.
Then, sometimes it even needs to be loaded with heavy cargo and climb steep uphills, which requires it to have strong enough power.
Finally, its cargo box must have the ability to automatically tip over backward or sideways.
I want it to be an all-wheel drive, heavy-duty off-road dump truck.”
This requirement is obviously not low, but Fang Lang believes that it can be achieved. At least there will be no problem with all-wheel drive. The Willys Jeep equipped by their army now is a four-wheel drive vehicle.
In Fang Lang's impression, there seemed to be four-wheel or six-wheel drive trucks among military trucks. With Mercedes-Benz's technical strength, it should be able to meet such technical requirements.
The middle-aged man frowned upon hearing this. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he discussed it in a low voice with his colleagues around him before looking up at Fang Lang and saying:
"Boss, I remember that in 1942, Mercedes-Benz developed a research and development plan for an all-wheel drive flat-head vehicle.
In 1945, Mr. Heinrich hand-drew a chassis design sketch and finalized the design concept, including a coil spring shock-absorbing axle, four-wheel drive with front and rear axle differential locks, and a sturdy frame.
These all seem to meet your requirements. As far as I know, the prototype of this vehicle has entered the testing phase at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Germany in October 1946."
Fang Lang was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked quickly:
"That's great. We can directly import this model and use it."
But when the middle-aged man heard this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and he said embarrassedly:
"But, as far as I know, the load capacity of this model is not large, and the cargo carrying area is only 1.5 square meters."
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard that the cargo carrying capacity was only 1.5 square meters. What was going on? It was a pickup truck! He was making fun of himself! His face fell immediately, and he looked at the middle-aged man with a cold look and asked:
"I'm talking about an all-wheel drive, heavy-duty off-road dump truck. What do you mean by recommending a pickup truck?"
The middle-aged man trembled all over when Fang Lang stared at him, and waved his hands repeatedly to explain:
"Boss, don't get me wrong, this model is not a pickup truck.
This is the model that I can think of that best meets your requirements. Although its carrying area is only 1.5 square meters, we can further upgrade this model and develop an all-wheel drive heavy-duty off-road dump truck that meets your requirements.
You know, when we first launched the project, the name was Unimog, which means universal self-propelled machine.”
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this German name, as if he had heard it somewhere!
"Unimog? Wait, you don't mean Unimog?"
If it was really called this, Fang Lang would be a little surprised. Wow, this is a real off-road magic weapon! You know, although it was originally developed as an agricultural machine, later, because of its strong off-road capabilities, it was modified countless times and applied to various occasions.
It also has great potential in the military field. If it can be introduced to Brazil for production and slightly improved, it can become a magical weapon for traveling through the Amazon rainforest!
Unfortunately, although it is an off-road artifact, it obviously does not meet its positioning as an all-wheel drive heavy-duty off-road dump truck, because the coil springs used by the other party determine the upper limit of its carrying capacity.
The middle-aged man obviously didn't expect Fang Lang to have heard of this project. He looked at Fang Lang with some surprise and said:
"Boss, do you know this project?"
Hearing the other party's question, Fang Lang coughed lightly and said:
"I have heard of this, but my impression is that it seems to be a farm machine!"
The middle-aged man nodded calmly upon hearing this:
"Yes, although it is just agricultural machinery, its design principle is very consistent with your requirements. We can refer to it to design a heavy truck that meets your requirements."
Although Fang Lang felt that the Unimog did not quite fit his idea of an all-wheel drive heavy-duty off-road dump truck, since the automotive industry professionals in front of him believed that they could develop a vehicle that met their needs based on it, Fang Lang certainly would not refuse.
Moreover, Fang Lang also hopes to add some of his own people to the R&D team to improve his independent R&D capabilities in the future. After all, the European aid plan is about to start.
The Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Germany will soon recover slowly. By then, if the researchers here miss the embrace of their motherland and want to return to work, he will not be able to stop them. He can only take advantage of this time to train more talents of his own.
Anyway, I can now purchase a large number of second-hand heavy military trucks from Shata Company and use them for now, leaving enough time for the successful research and development here.
Moreover, Fang Lang would not put all his hopes on Mercedes-Benz. You know, he now owns a Caterpillar company in the United States, which is a company specializing in the production of construction machinery.
Many heavy-duty mining trucks that broke world records have been produced in later generations. It should be a piece of cake for them to produce some all-wheel drive heavy-duty off-road dump trucks that meet their needs!
What Fang Lang didn't know was that the German Mercedes-Benz company later developed a military truck called the Mercedes-Benz Setos based on the Unimog. Its powerful off-road and load-bearing capabilities made it one of the main transport trucks of the German Army.
I just don't know whether this world, because of Fang Lang's intervention and the research he promoted at Mercedes-Benz Brazil, can produce another Setos truck in Brazil.
"Very good, then I'll leave it to you all.
Please start the construction of the truck production line as soon as possible. There is a huge shortage of trucks in the market. We must not give up the huge market of commercial vehicles.
If there is anything you need my support for, please feel free to ask! I will definitely give you my full support in your work. ”
All the company managers looked serious and nodded in agreement.
Fang Lang nodded in satisfaction and said to General Manager Gianvito Blank:
"Then let's continue our tour!"
Hearing this, Gianvito Blank hurried forward again and began to lead the way.
Next, Fang Lang visited the power technology laboratory and new technology research center of the Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil, and proposed a series of new technology directions such as three-point seat belts, car radios, car air conditioning, automatic transmission, power braking, power steering, electronic ignition, etc.
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