Daimler AG to Close Sterling Trucks Division, Slash 3,500 Jobs

The German company, which is the world's largest maker of heavy vehicles, is shifting manufacturing to Mexico. Its move implies the closing of plants in the United States and Canada aiming to save as much as $900 million per year by 2011, Bloomberg reports.

Daimler Trucks North America will discontinue the Sterling Trucks brand in March 2009. However the group is planning to make additions to its Freightliner and Western Star ranges to cover market segments that the brand has supplied, according to the Associated Press.

Daimler is dealing with low demand in the U.S., where its deliveries slumped 30 percent in the first half of 2008.