TRUCKMAKERS NEWS WORLDWIDE* Germany - The merger MAN / Scania would lead in the wing

Munich,Germany -Truck & Business, by Claude Yvens -2 Feb 2011: -- According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the takeover of Scania by MAN under the auspices of VW faces two serious obstacles. On the one hand, the sale of MAN Ferrostaal (industrial solutions) in state funds could be IPIC Saudi canceled as a result of prosecutions against Ferrostaal by the court in Munich as part of a vast corruption scandal . According to newspaper, VW would not present an undue risk to Scania. The other reason is related to investigations conducted by the European Commission since January on an unlawful agreement between manufacturers on the prices of their trucks. In one case as in the other, whether judicial decisions should be expected before any merger, it may still take several years, says Handelsblatt...

* Germany - MAN SE Seeks Bavarian State Help to Avoid Plant Closures in Scania Merger

(Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg: Visitors pass a Scania AB truck prior to the opening of the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover)

Munich,Bavaria,Germany -Bloomberg, by Andreas Cremer (Berlin), Ola Kinnander (Stockholm), and Kenneth Wong -Feb 18, 2011: -- MAN SE, the German truckmaker that may merge with Scania AB, has asked lawmakers to step in to help prevent job losses and factory closures in the event of a combination with the Swedish rival... MAN is talking with the Christian Social Union, Bavaria’s ruling party, about the impact of a merger with Scania on local production, three lawmakers said. The CSU has proposed a motion in the regional parliament urging the state to help protect Munich-based MAN’s 17,000 Bavarian jobs... MAN and Scania have been exploring ways since last July to cooperate and possibly combine to cut development and purchasing costs... Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, is MAN’s biggest investor with a 29.9 percent stake and controls 71 percent of Scania’s voting rights. A combination of the truckmakers, with annual revenue of $29 billion and a combined market value of $33 billion, would create the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in Europe...

* Germany - Daimler Posts 4Q Profit as Global, North American Truck Sales Improve

Stuttgart,Germany -Transport Topics (USA) -16 Feb 2011: -- Daimler AG said its fourth-quarter truck operations were profitable compared with a loss a year ago, as worldwide truck sales jumped 41%... Truck operations posted fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes of 393 million euros, compared with a loss of 224 million euros a year ago, the company said Wednesday... Daimler AG, which includes Mercedes-Benz automobiles, posted a fourth-quarter operating profit of 1.56 billion euros...   It is the parent company of Daimler Trucks North America, which makes Freightliner and Western Star trucks... North American truck sales rose 13% for the quarter to 19,616, and 21% for the year, to 73,859 units... Worldwide truck sales rose 41% to 104,184 units for the quarter, and 33% to 352,009 units for the year... Total truck orders jumped 37% for the quarter and 50% for the year, while North American orders rose 69% for the quarter and 24% for the year... (Photo from upload.wikimedia.org.: Freightliner Casacadia)

* Germany - Daimler launches truck brand in India

Stuttgart,Germany -The Journal of Commerce (USA), by Brian Straight -Feb 17, 2011: -- Daimler has officially unveiled a new line of trucks for the growing commercial vehicle market in India, where the OEM hopes to cut into the large market share that Tata Motors holds in that country. The BharatBenz brand will offer a range of trucks from 6 to 49 tons, Daimler said...  Tata currently holds 65% of the market in India according to Automotive Horizon, although Andreas Renschler, head of Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, said the company expects the market to explode by as much as 80% by 2020...  The Germany-based OEM said the truck range, which will be built at the company’s manufacturing facility in Oragadam, near Chennai, will be sold under its Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) subsidiary. The first trucks should hit the roads in 2012, Daimler said...  The Oragadam facility includes a state-of-the-art test track. DICV has invested approximately $700 million in this venture, it said...

* Germany - Powertrain design & space efficient chassis to mount equipment easily: Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Stuttgart,Germany -Road Transport -10 Feb 2011:  --  The robust frame of the new Actros is weight-optimised and ideal for mounting bodies. It’s packed with innovative touches like easy-switch bolted components to help make every task run smoothly...  The Actros Lowliner features a dedicated powertrain design and space-optimised load area for those whose priority is capacity rather than payload...  The integral rear provides a versatile solution for mounting additional equipment on air-sprung semitrailer tractors. Thanks to space-efficient organisation of the key chassis components, an attachment area behind the cab on the left hand side can be used to mount a variety of auxiliary equipment such as additional fuel tanks...


* USA - Volvo’s North American Deliveries Jump 83% in January

Greensboro,NC,USA -Transport Topics -16 Feb 2011: -- Volvo AB’s North American heavy-duty truck deliveries jumped 83% in January from a year ago, the company said Wednesday...  Deliveries rose to 2,587 trucks, from 1,413 a year earlier, Sweden-based Volvo said in a statement...  Volvo AB is the parent company of Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks. Worldwide, it includes Renault Trucks, UD Trucks and Eicher...  Global deliveries improved 62% to 15,277 trucks for the month, most of which were heavy-duty units, Volvo said... (Photo from volvotrucks: Volvo's VHD 430, truck model)

* Sweden - Volvo gets heavy with FH16

Gotheburg,Sweden -HGV (UK) -February 17, 2011: -- The Volvo FH16 is now being launched in a version for heavy haulage involving gross combination weights of up to 295 tonnes dependent upon gradient... The combination of massive power, agility and robust technology take Volvo to the very top of the heavyweight class... Volvo’s new heavyweight is a Volvo FH16 with a 16-litre engine producing 600 horsepower and 2800 Nm of torque. The engine is matched by a seven-speed automatic transmission with a torque converter, a combination that allows the truck to start off smoothly and improves its manoeuvrability at low speeds. The transmission also offers benefits on the highway. The tall seventh gear makes it possible to maintain a high average speed at relatively low engine revs. The 16-litre engine is equipped with Volvo’s VEB+ engine brake, which offers braking effect of up to 425 kW. The transmission features an integrated retarder which on its own offers braking power of up to 450 kW... The Volvo FH16 for heavy haulage operations is available as a tractor with leaf springs or air suspension and comes in a wide range of wheel and axle combinations...

* India - Mahindra Navistar Developing New Medium Truck Platform

Mumbai,India -Dow Jones, by Anirban Chowdhury -17 Feb 2011: -- Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s joint venture with U.S.-based Navistar International Corp. is developing a new platform for medium-level trucks, as it seeks to expand its commercial vehicle portfolio in the fast-expanding Indian market...  The company will make multiple models on the medium-truck platform at Mahindra's west-India facility in Chakan and the first of them will likely be introduced in 2014...  Mahindra, India's biggest sport-utility-vehicle maker by sales, holds a 51% stake in the joint venture, while Navistar holds the rest...  The venture, called Mahindra Navistar Engines Pvt. Ltd., currently makes 7.2- litre engines, which fit into its heavy trucks. It is also developing a 4.8- litre engine for its medium commercial vehicles... (Photo from indiancarsbikes: Mahindra-Navistar, MN31 tractor truck)

* Japan - Isuzu to build truck assembly factory in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah,Saudi Arabia -The Saudi Gazette -15 Feb 2011: -- Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd said it would build an assembly factory in Saudi Arabia, eyeing economic growth in the Kingdom - the first Japanese automaker to have a production base in Saudi Arabia... Isuzu aims to start assembling a medium-duty "F-Series" truck by the end of 2012 at the plant... Isuzu said annual production would start at about 600 units, eventually reaching 25,000... Like other Japanese automakers, the company has served the Middle East market through direct exports. The local assembly line will enable Isuzu to cater to the Middle East market in a more effective manner... The Middle East is an important market for Isuzu - it is estimated to have sold over 32,000 trucks there in 2010... (Photo from t3.gstatic: Isuzu trucks F series)

* Japan - Isuzu to roll out trucks in India

Tokyo,Japan -Reuters, by Swetha Gopinath (Bangalore) -Feb 12, 2011: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd will begin producing heavy-duty trucks in India from April, to make further inroads into the country's booming market... The automaker's joint venture with Sumitomo Corp and local firms-- SML Isuzu Ltd-- will make trucks with 12-ton payloads while engines and transmissions and other parts will be imported from Japan for local assembly, the business daily reported... Isuzu sees annual sales of around 1,000 units... The company, which has got an order from the Pakistani government to supply 300 trucks annually, will increase production in the country, the newspaper said...

* Belarus - To transfer up to 49 pct of MAZ to new JV. KAMAZ, MAZ to combine sales and technology

Minsk,Russia -Reuters, by Andrei Makhovsky/Olzhas Auyezov/Hans Peters -Feb 16, 2011:  --   Belarus will create a joint holding company with Russia that will own stakes in truck makers KAMAZ and MAZ rather than sell MAZ to KAMAZ, Belarus' First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said on Wednesday... The Belarussian government said this month it valued MAZ at $2.5 billion, a price tag that analysts said made a deal with KAMAZ unlikely... But Semashko said Belarus liked the plan, under which the two truck makers would combine their sales networks and exchange technologies... However, such a deal would mean Belarus gets no cash payments which could help it bridge the current account gap and plug the budget deficit... The IMF this month urged Belarus to take quick steps to reduce the current account deficit from last year's estimated 16 percent of gross domestic product and analysts say privatisation is one of the ways to improve the balance...

* France - Project Re-grading of Renault Trucks: 1st results

Lyon,France -Truck Business, by Michael Buckinx -11 Feb 2011: -- In 2008, Renault Trucks launched the Re-grading research project to explore the possibilities available to recover heat and lost in the exhaust and convert it into electrical energy through the thermoelectric. 'Re-grading'means' Energy Recovery in the exhaust of a motor thermoelectricity. The fact to recover energy from the exhaust and convert it into electrical energy can relieve the alternator and, ultimately, reduce consumption. The transformation of heat into electricity takes place through a heat exchanger placed in the exhaust line and equipped with small studs in thermoelectric materials. The current results show a gain of about one kilowatt, or 1% reduction in real consumption. This project will end in October 2011...

* China - CNG powered Foton MD 3000 medium-duty class 3-5 trucks

Changping,Beijing,China -Feed the Bull, by pennylynnomega -17 Feb 2011: -- EVCARCO, Inc. announced that it will sell CNG powered Foton MD 3000 medium-duty class 3-5 trucks at its green auto dealerships. Foton Motor Co. is the largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in China, its existing assets are in excess of 5 Billion Dollars U.S. and they have a staff of 28,000 employees. Foton has the capacity to produce up to 26,000 units of the Foton MD 3000 medium-duty class 3-5 trucks a year... The MD 3000 and LD1000 are versatile for multi-use applications and are equipped with cargo delivery bodies. The vehicle's chassis and Euro-style cab design allows for easy multi-conversions for uses such as street sweepers and refuse collection. The truck will allow businesses and municipalities to have a high quality, environmentally friendly, domestically produced clean natural gas solution for all of their truck needs... (Photo from upload.ecvv: China's Foton Auman Truck)