Environmental Groups Protest Unimog

D E T R O I T, Feb. 22 -- Talk about road hogs! Have you driven a Unimog lately?

That's the name of the new four-wheel-drive, 9 feet tall and 7 feet wide vehicle that DaimlerChrysler's Freightliner unit announced it plansto start selling in the United States.

The vehicle, which will come with an $84,000 price tag and has its roots in the German military, is basically a medium duty commercial truck that just happens to have off-road capabilities, according to spokesmen for the U.S. unit of the truck maker.

But they cautioned that the Unimog — which weighs in at a massive12,500 pounds and is two feet wider than an average car — was not aimed at buyers of traditional sport utility vehicles.

Targeting Buyers in the 'Burbs

Rather, the SUV is targeted at people living in America's suburbs: Affluent off-road enthusiasts, fire departments and businesses needing to haul some 13,000 pounds worth of passengers and cargo, according to the New York Times.

The original version of the Unimog, which entered production in Germany 50 years ago, had been used by the U.S.and Swiss armies in the past and was essentially built for heavy lifting.

"This is just the new and improved version that we're going to bring back into the U.S. market as a commercial vehicle," said Debi Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Freightliner at its main U.S. office in Portland, Ore.

"It's used for fire and emergency rescue work," said Nicholson, who added that the rugged truck could also suit municipal buyers for use in snow plowing, among other functions.

The Unimog, which dwarfs the military-inspired Hummer SUV now owned by General Motors, only seats three people including the driver.

And adding to its likely lack of appeal to people out shopping for a family-style SUV, Nicholson and Bruce Barnes, the Unimog market manager at Freightliner, said it takes an experienced truck driver to navigate its manual transmissionwith eight forward gears. It also takes three steps up just to climb into the Unimog driver's seat.