Daimler Trucks Australia has announced it has appointed a new dealer for its Mercedes, Freightliner and Fuso brands in the NSW Illawarra region with the team behind STM Trucks and Machinery granted the franchise to operate the new Daimler Trucks South Coast, which will be located in the rapidly expanding Wollongong area, to the south of Sydney.
STM Trucks and Machinery already operates a Fuso dealership at Smeaton Grange and has won the Fuso Metro Dealer of the Year award for the last two years running.
According to Daimler Trucks, the new Daimler Trucks South Coast dealership will open in August and will sell and support the Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner brands initially, before adding Fuso on 1st January next year with the operation initially located in an existing facility in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra.
The company says that work will begin soon on the construction of a custom facility that it claims will set a new standard for commercial vehicle dealerships in the region when it is scheduled to open in early 2026 in Kembla Grange, with the development plans for the site, including an adjoining service station.
Daimler Truck Australia Pacific president and CEO, Daniel Whitehead, said the company is excited about the upcoming Daimler Trucks South Coast dealership.
“We are thrilled to have such a dedicated outfit as STM supporting our customers in the booming South Coast region. The new facility is going to be remarkable and we’d like to thank Michael and Ralph Gerace, and Nick Papallo, for their investment that will be warmly welcomed by our customers in the region,” Whitehead said.
Daimler Truck Australia Pacific aftersales and network operations vice president, Antonio Briceño said the customer dedication of the STM Trucks and Machinery team is a huge asset.
“The fact that STM Trucks and Machinery has won the Fuso Metro Dealer of the Year award for the last two years indicates what the customers of the South Coast can look forward to,” Briceño said.
“Daimler Trucks South Coast will deliver the kind of customer support that the STM Trucks and Machinery team has been providing Fuso customers for forty plus years and we couldn’t be happier,” Briceño added.
According to Daimler, STM is a family-based company that has been operating in South West Sydney since the mid-1970s and has sold and serviced Fuso trucks since the early 1980s.
STM Trucks and Machinery dealer principal, Michael Gerace, said the team can’t wait to open its Wollongong facility and expand to include the Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz brands.
“Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner are market leading brands, and we are very keen to sell and support them, in addition to the great Fuso products,” Gerace said.
“We know the benefits that the technology in these trucks can deliver for customers, so we are excited to introduce a new dealership that will include all three of these fantastic brands,” he added.