MAN: we will meet demand for Euro 6 trucks

German truck manufacturer MAN has sought to calm fears about a shortage of supply of new and used Euro 6 trucks for the UK.

Speaking at the Commercial Vehicle Show last month, the company’s UK managing director Thomas Hemmerich (right) told Transport Operator that he was confident that MAN could match rising demand for Euro 6 trucks as the deadline for the London ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) and clean air zones in other cities grew closer.

“We can meet as much demand as is needed for new trucks in the UK with Euro 6 C and D engines,” he said.

“But not everyone is interested in a new truck. Used prices for Euro 6 trucks are picking up – especially for short-haul vehicles that will operate predominantly in urban settings.

“We are happy with our Euro 6 used stock levels – if necessary, we can produce more used trucks to sell from our rental fleet and then replace them with new.

“There are still used trucks of below Euro 6 in our stock, but at levels that we can cope with. However, there is little demand for Euro 5 trucks either here or in our traditional UK export markets: the problem for export is the availability of ultra-low sulphur diesel needed for these modern engines.

“We have developed solutions that allow us to downgrade Euro 5 engines to Euro 3 or 4 levels to sell into high-sulphur diesel markets in Africa.

“Historically, MAN has a good reputation in Africa; it is a good market for us.”

Hemmerich said attendance at the CV Show had been “absolutely a no-brainer for us”.

“Last year I could not understand why the only other manufacturer to attend was DAF with the new XF: this year I am delighted that we are the only manufacturer present,” he said.

“The whole industry shows up here: those we know as customers, and those we don’t.”

Last year, he had appeared at the show just six weeks into his appointment, and had a host of legacy issues to deal with including mechanical woes with Euro 5 EGR trucks, excessive stocks of used vehicles and falling new sales.

This year, he said, things were much more positive: market share had increased slightly, morale within MAN had improved, and feedback from customers was generally positive.

However, there was more to do.

“Market share is up from seven per cent to 7.3, but the brand deserves more. We need to put a lot of work in, especially with the retail customer base, and this means getting bums on seats. We are not afraid to show people the performance of our products, but I am aware that we let a lot of customers down in the past.”

Although the long-term objective is a market share of over 10 per cent, Mr Hemmerich is determined not to be panicked into increasing market share at any price.

“We won’t start any crazy actions. Our Munich headquarters agrees it’s about sustainability: there will be no crazy front-end prices or playing with residual values,” he promises.

“It is pointless to pump thousands of trucks into the market and then have problems with them clogging up your used truck yards three years later.

“We must have a balance in the market, and that means not just selling white 6×2 tractors.”

The construction industry has been targeted as a key market by MAN.

“Our key strength historically has been in multi-wheel-drive trucks: 6x4s and 8x4s; but we didn’t take care of our history,” he admits.

“Our sales in construction had become ridiculously low, but with our new 8×4 product we have significant arguments in our favour, including unladen weight and turning circle. The new truck can brake the inner wheels via the ABS, which gives a smaller turning circle. Our new hypoid drive axle gives us the benchmark weight in class.”

Other improvements are being rolled out across the range, including new SCR-only engines in the TGL and TGM.

“These make the trucks significantly more driveable, lighter and quieter.

“We’ve also got idle-speed driving: in traffic, you can just take your foot off the brake and the truck will gently pull away. There’s SpeedShift on the 12-speed transmission, and EfficientRoll which reduces fuel consumption by letting the truck freewheel on short downhills.”

He continued: “The new cab interior is significantly more appealing. There’s a colour information display, the gear control is now on the dashboard giving more usable space inside, and the cab heating and lighting can now be controlled from a single panel above the bunk in the centre of the back wall. The new cab interior is perfect for the driver.”

Some much for the present: what about the future?

“Well, we are almost there with the electric truck. The first nine will be delivered to nine operators at the IAA Show in Germany this Autumn. They will undergo two-year field tests, and then we go into production.

“E-mobility was chosen over the alternatives: hybrid and CNG/LPG all have some emissions at point of use. Significantly, there is no noise from electric vehicles, which allows operation 24/7. The loudest noise is loading and unloading, and that’s a challenge for the operator.

“The trucks will have a 200 km range before charging, which is sufficient for food distributors. These trucks will come to the UK, and our first target customers will be the big supermarket fleets.”