Daimler Trucks Korea said Wednesday that the company would invest at least 72 billion won ($68 million) into building new parts delivery and employee training facilities in Korea next year.

According to the company’s sales and marketing vice president Rainer Gaertner, the Korean unit of the world’s largest truck maker plans to build a 52 billion won parts delivery center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in June next year.

He added that a separate training center for employee education on car sales and after-sales services is also expected to be set up, with a budget of 20 billion won. Its location has yet to be decided.

“The new investment shows our strong devotion to the Korean market and society,” Gaertner said during a launching event for its Actros Cargo heavy-truck at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

The Stuttgart, Germany-based company started its Korean business in 2003 and it is the market leader in terms of tractor sales among import brands. Currently, Korea is the second-biggest market in Asia behind China, he said.

“We have seen an annual 8 to 10 percent growth in Korea,” he said, hinting that the company would also pour more resources into providing tailor-made trucks specifically for Korean customers.

The company has also pinned high hopes on the newly-launched Actros Cargo truck, with which it aims to compete head-on with Hyundai Motor and Tata Daewoo, two dominant players in the nation’s 14-18 ton heavy-duty truck market.

The company said that the model, priced at about 150 million won, was competitively priced even compared to Hyundai’s 140 million won model. It has a conservative sales target of 100 units next year, the company said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)