UPDATE 1-Daimler Trucks grows vehicle sales 1 pct in 2008

* Daimler Trucks posts drop in North American market

* Mitsubishi Fuso posts best result since consolidation

* Shares down 3.4 pct

FRANKFURT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Daimler (DAIGn.DE) increased sales of its light, medium and heavy-duty trucks by nearly 1 percent to 472,100 units in 2008 as the recent market boom cooled off, the world's largest commercial vehicle maker said.

"Daimler Trucks is well prepared for the current situation," the division's head, Andreas Renschler, said in a statement on Thursday.

The executive aims at expanding in new markets like India, Russia and China, as well as invest in alternative drive systems and sustainable fuels.

A sharp 12 percent sales drop at Daimler Trucks North America -- which includes its Freightliner, Western Star, Sterling and Thomas Built Buses brands -- weighed on results but the 104,300 vehicles delivered still outperformed the overall market thanks to strong demand for the Freightliner Cascadia.

Presented in May 2007 and built on an entirely new platform, the Cascadia Class 8 heavy-duty truck is Daimler's first to be equipped with an engine from the group's new family of heavy duty engines as well as with systems from a new joint electronic platform.

Mitsubishi Fuso, maker of the popular Canter, outsold the group's remaining badges and marked its best result since its full consolidation into Daimler in 2004.

The Asian truckmaker's sales rose 5 percent to 197,700 vehicles due in particular to a 58 percent rise in volumes in Indonesia, where 47,000 new Fusos were driven off lots.

Daimler's core Mercedes-Benz trucks brand posted record sales thanks to a surge in markets like the Middle East and Latin America as well as the launch of its third-generation Actros heavy duty truck -- last redesigned in 2002.

The Actros, which alone had orders of 100,000 units in 2007, sports new features like a fuel-efficient BlueTec engine, PowerShift standard and an orthopaedic bed for the driver.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)