TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - More details on collaboration between MAN and Scania

Munich,Germany -Truck Europe, by Julie Widart -17 Nov 2010: -- In the light of the amount of speculation surrounding a possible collaboration between MAN and Scania, MAN has communicated the shared desire of the two companies to ‘develop a closer industrial partnership’ but that ‘the two companies firmly intend to retain their respective current production facilities along with their specific brand capital’. MAN adds that at ‘this early stage of discussions, the result of the negotiations remains to be seen’ and that ‘no decision has yet been taken’...

* USA - Profits up at Paccar

Bellevue,WASH,USA -Truck Europe (Belgium), by Michel Buckinx -2 Nov 2010: -- The Paccar group has announced an improvement in its turnover and profits for the third quarter of 2010. Net profits reached 119.9 million dollars (13 million in the third quarter of 2009) with consolidated turnover for the third quarter achieving 2.54 billion dollars in the third quarter (2.01 billion in 2009). In Europe, DAF now holds a 15.8% market share in the over 15 tonnes segment. As the economy recovers, sales of heavy trucks are expected to stand between 200,000 and 220,000 units in 2011... (Photo: A Paccar MX engine)

* South Africa - Car importers more bullish than 
local-brand dealers as rand strengthens

Pretoria,SA -Engineering News, by Irma Venter -26 November 2010: -- Results from the latest WesBank Vehicle sales Confidence Indicator (WVsCI) show that confidence levels among dealers trading in imported vehicles (six out of ten) are stronger than those of dealers selling locally made brands (5,6 out of ten)...  Wesbank sales and marketing head Chris de Kock says that there has been strong growth in the sale of imported vehicles in recent months, as a result of the rand’s strength-ening against a basket of major currencies, and of the fact that local production lines experienced disruptions in the second half of the year owing to labour action in the automotive industry, which caused a delay in the delivery of these vehicles to customers and a degree of import replacement...  According to De Kock, there are a number of factors that point towards positive sales growth in the vehicle market – commercial vehicles included – in 2011...   These include lower debt servicing costs owing to the favourable interest rate environment, low expected new-vehicle price inflation, and an upward trend in business and consumer confidence...

* Iceland - Bakkie converter considers setting up shop in SA

(Video from Eurotuner -3 Apr 2010: Here's behind-the-scenes footage of Arctic Trucks engineering the same Toyota Hilux pickups used by Top Gear for its adventure. The Reykjavik-based Icelandic company prepares the Hilux with special parts such as its 38" tires to cope with extreme conditions. It even is offers trips of between two- and five-days or longer expeditions through the wild landscape of Iceland. You can read the full story at eurotuner.com in the News section)

Reykjavík,Iceland -Engineering News (South Africa), by Irma Venter -26 November 2010: -- Icelandic outfit Arctic Trucks, which modifies Toyota Hilux bakkies to cope with the most extreme environments on the planet, hopes to set up shop in South Africa...  Arctic Trucks research and development head Gísli Jónsson says the company aims to establish a local operation to do modifications to the Durban-made Hilux bakkie, turning it into the AT35, boasting 35-inch tyres...  Jónsson and a team of specialists from the Icelandic company spend just three months in the country to convert a number of South African Hilux bakkies into machines capable of dealing with the extreme Antarctic environment...  Arctic Trucks opened its doors in the late eighties, modifying vehicles for an Icelandic market, which is very fond of trekking cross-country...  Its biggest order to date has been building a few hundred vehicles for the Norwegian Peacekeeping Force, with another 2 000 to 4 000 units to be built over the next four years...

* UK - Rising to the recycling challenge

Derbyshire,UK -HGV UK -November 27, 2010: ...  One company that's risen to the recycling challenge is H.W.Martin Waste Ltd... Part of the Derbyshire-based Martin Group, the company specialises in delivering environmentally-responsive waste and recycling services to operators, private and public, nationwide... Already, H.W.Martin's divert more than half a million tonnes of recyclable materials every year. Recycled materials go back into the manufacturing process to be re-used safely and cost-effectively... Yet today, only 60% of the rubbish that goes in our bins is being recycled. Re-using our raw materials remains a developing science – and like it or not, some cannot as yet be recycled. For that, landfill remains the only practical alternative... With that in mind, H.W.Martin's have recently taken delivery of two Iveco Trakker 340K36 chassis with Multilift hookloader bodies (fitted by the Martin Group)... (Photo from hgvuk: HWMartin's IVECO truck)