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Daimler Truck Pursues Vertically Integrated Autonomous Strategy

Daimler Truck is taking an integrated approach to autonomous trucking by building both the hardware and software in-house. CEO Karin Rådström said the company's strategy — with Daimler Truck North America handling chassis and vehicle architecture while subsidiary Torc Robotics develops autonomous driving systems — differentiates the manufacturer from competitors. Torc plans to operate trucks on public roads without safety drivers by year-end, followed by commercial freight operations in 2027 and scaled deployment starting in 2028. North America emerged as the logical first market, where long-haul trucks travel more than double the daily distances of European counterparts and driver scarcity remains acute. Daimler Truck's Freightliner and Western Star brands control 37.8% of the North American Class 8 market. The company has delivered more than 1 million Cascadia units since 2007.