Heavy Duty Trucking, December 2018

DECEMBER 2018 HDT 25 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM the first nine months of 2018 Traton said it remains the leader in the truck market of the EU28 2 region EU Norway Switzerland In South America the Traton brands boosted their deliveries by some 40 over a very poor prior year period The OEM added that it remains the clear market leader in the Brazilian truck market accounting for around 40 The number of vehicles delivered in Russia jumped by 17 to 8000 units In Africa the number of deliveries was stable at the previous years level But in the Middle East deliveries were down by around 10 and in the Asia Pacific region they dropped by around 6 year over year driven by factors such as weaker demand in China Traton noted that it has expanded its presence in Asia by entering into partnerships AROUND THE WORLD The biggest brewer in Brazil Cervejaria Ambev is expanding its delivery fleet with 228 new Mercedes Benz trucks 212 Atego models for local distribution to retailers and 16 Actros heavy duty models for long haul transport between breweries and major logistics centers The first trucks were handed over to Ambev in September and the other beer trucks will follow monthly until the end of the year The European Automobile Manufacturers Association called an October vote by the European Parliament to set the EUs first ever CO2 standards for trucks highly alarming The vote by the Parliaments Environment Committee came in reaction to the European Commissions proposal for CO2 standards for new heavy duty vehicles published last May The standards are planned to be implemented in just six years time Europes truck industry is willing to commit to ambitious CO2 targets provided that these are technologically and economically viable in the given timeframe stated ACEA Secretary General Erik Jonnaert However ACEA holds that the extremely stringent CO2 reduction levels for 2025 and 2030 that MEPs voted on simply do not take account of the realities and complexities of the truck market nor the long development cycles for heavy duty vehicles Hendrickson Truck Commercial Vehicle Systems is making available its Ultimaxx severe duty rubber suspensions for International brand trucks sold in Mexico Latin America and the Caribbean The company noted that the suspension is designed specifically for severe duty vocational markets and that its testing included running it in some of the most severe applications in Mexico and throughout Latin America since 2013 An agreement was made with Sinotruk establishing a joint venture to develop a heavy MAN truck for the Chinese market And in a deal with Japans Hino Motors the two OEMs will cooperate in the fields of procurement and e mobility The OEM also is partnering with U S software firm Solera on fleet management driver services and digital sales solutions Digital services are among the growth drivers of the future said Renschler We are already in a strong position in the digital environment and will follow this path consistently using our own resources as well with as our partners In addition Traton remains engaged with Navistar in the wide ranging strategic alliance the U S based OEM forged in 2016 with Volkswagen Truck Bus David Cullen