Firm Euro 6 prices from MAN

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Monday 23 September 2013

dawsonrentalsFirm prices for Euro 6 trucks have been set by MAN UK for the key models that combine to form the majority of its sales (see table below). While cash prices are quoted, MAN Truck & Bus CEO Des Evans said he expects that only a minority of deals will be outright purchases.

“The first question operators should ask is ‘do I need to buy one?’” he said, pointing out that cost per week or per km was where operators should focus their attention, and that leasing would be a better option for most.

manpricetableEvans pointed out that MAN was able to be transparent with its process because every MAN customer, large or small, was dealing directly with the importer through a locally-based salesman, and not through a dealer. The weekly costs included full repair and maintenance, leaving the operator only tyres, road tax, fuel and wages to pay.

He suggested one solution for cashstrapped operators who needed to expand or refresh their fleets: “Rent a Euro 5 truck from an MAN dealer. We have 2,144 trucks including 150 tractors available.”

On fuel quality, Euro 6 means the end for biodiesel, Des Evans warned.

“To meet Euro 6, all manufacturers’ engines require diesel to standard EN590,” he told Transport Operator.

“Both Delphi and Bosch fuel injection will reject any fuel with a biodiesel content of more than 10 per cent. This means that B20 and B30, as well as B100 fuels, are off-limits. We have found that running a diesel engine on pure biodiesel leads to a 33 per cent increase in NOx, with a consequent increase in AdBlue consumption as the exhaust system tries to cope and 50 per cent more ash being deposited in the DPF.”

He cautioned that cleaning particulate filters was a cost that would have to be factored into truck operations.

“It’s not cheap, but MAN trucks can run to 500,000 km before the filter needs cleaning. Other makes of Euro 6 trucks may require annual cleans, or at 300,000 km.”

Evans urged operators to take a long view when considering their fleet replacement strategy. The age of Britain’s national fleet was likely to become a real problem, Evans said.

“There are nearly 150,000 trucks still on the road that are 10 years old or older. At maximum weight they are likely to be doing 7 mpg where a new one would do 9 mpg. That’s a competitive disadvantage their operators can’t afford.

“Purchase and maintenance costs are not as important as fuel, drivers wages, tyres etc.

“Environmental performance is likely to become more important in the domestic market. There is increasing concern about NOx pollution and there are 18 cities across the UK considering introducing Low Emissions Zones. Euro 6 is five times cleaner on NOx than previous limits, so the incentive will be there.

“The downsides to Euro 6 are an increase in weight and greater complexity, but our tractor units are still the lightest on the market, as our success in the oil and petroleum sectors indicates and our contract maintenance prices are the same at Euro 6 as they are at Euro 5.

“We already have experience of maintaining SCR and EGR systems throughout our organisations: MAN was a pioneer of both technologies. Our message to operators is that going Euro 6 with MAN is something that is not to be feared.” 

The unveiling of MAN’s pricing strategy for Euro 6 has coincided with an order for 100 Euro 6 tractors from a major UK rental fleet. Dawsonrentals has chosen 440 bhp XLX tractors in a mixture of 4×2 and 5×2 formats.

John Fletcher, managing director of Dawsonrentals truck and trailer, said: “While these new Euro 6 trucks are going to be a very small part of the 10,000 trucks and trailers we operate across the UK, they are very significant. There’s been a lot of talk about Euro 6 and a lot of doom and gloom talked, but the fact is, for UK operators, life goes on, and come January next year Euro 6 becomes a fact of life.

“So we, and our customers, need to take an early opportunity to find out what operating Euro 6 is all about. None of us can really afford to wait and see forever, and Dawsonrentals has always tried to be at the front of positive change, so we have made this move.

“Apart from the fact that everyone is going to have to get involved with Euro 6 eventually, we have a strong element in our customer base that likes to keep abreast of any development that enhances their environmental profile, and there is no doubt Euro 6 should do that. So they want to start trialling Euro 6 in their own operations and building real-time experience and expertise; and rental is the economical way to start.”

Euro 6 has necessitated a chassis repackaging exercise for MAN that actually makes the tractors more suitable to a righthand drive market. The exhaust system moves to the off-side while the catwalk access, fuel and AdBlue tanks relocate to the nearside.

Externally, the trucks are distinguished by new side air deflectors and a three-piece bumper incorporating larger cooling air intakes.

The engine line-up remains as before, although peak torque is now produced at lower rpm, allowing higher gearing and better fuel economy. Emissions are reduced by a combination of EGR and SCR technology (at Euro 5 MAN used EGR-only at lower outputs and SCR-only at outputs over 440 hp). Twin turbos are used to reduce ‘lag’ and a continuously regenerating trap replaces the Emitec mesh particulate filter used on EGR engines at Euro 5.