Iveco mounts challenge to Japanese marques at 7.5t

Iveco is to launch a double-pronged attack on the 7.5-tonne sector in the UK this year with a revised Eurocargo truck, and seven and 7.2 tonne gross weigh versions of the new award-winning Daily van and chassis-cab.

Speaking at the manufacturer’s annual State of the Nation press conference, Iveco’s marketing director Ian Lumsden traced the decline in demand for 7.5 tonners. Total registrations of 7.5 tonners in the UK fell by 40 per cent to just 4,556 in 2014, he said.

In comparison, in 2008 the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders recorded that UK operators registered nearly 10,000 7.5 tonners.

There are many reasons for the decline, but two of the main factors are a reduced number of drivers holding C1 ‘grandfather rights’ driving licences, and the increasing unladen weight of European chassis-cabs, driven largely by safety and environmental legislation.

These are making alternatives such as trucks with higher gross weights or lighter vans an increasingly attractive choice for many traditional 7.5-tonne operators.

Others are turning to lighter, Japanese-designed, chassis-cabs with gross weights ranging from six to 7.5 tonnes. In 2008, Japanese-designed vehicles took about 15 per cent of the 7.5-tonne market: last year they took almost 35 per cent while market leader DAF had 28 per cent and Iveco, with its Eurocargo, 23 per cent.

Iveco now intends to take the fight directly to the Japanese marques, particularly Isuzu and Fuso, with seven and 7.2-tonne gvw versions of its award-winning New Daily vans and chassis-cabs which will be sold alongside a revised Eurocargo due later this year.

The Daily variants, it points out, will have a better payload than a conventional European 7.5-tonner.

It also highlights the success of its more conventional Eurocargo in the 7.5 tonne market. While, with the exception of Isuzu, all manufacturers suffered declining demand in this sector last year, Iveco’s market share rose from 17 to 23 per cent.

Lumsden attributes much of this success to Iveco’s SCR-only solution to emissions-control at Euro 6, pointing out that exhaust gas recirculation and the attendant demands put upon diesel particulate filters are not without consequence.

“It’s more of a problem with urban and inter-urban trucks, those that rarely get an opportunity to warm up, so the DPF clogs up more quickly and needs regenerating more often. But it’s less of an issue for us, of course… perhaps the strongest card in our Iveco product suit is what we don’t have… EGR!”