Green trucks hog limelight in Geneva
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by Bryan Jarvis and Toby Clark • Despite Swiss affluence, its CV market over 15 tonnes fell by 8.6% to 2,000 units last year. But the good news from the Geneva Show is that one way or another all truck makers will soon be meeting the Euro.2 emission limits—some Euro-2 models are already in service—and Euro 3 is also well in sight With next-door neighbour Austria awarding penalty points to operators using its roads whose truck engines have NOx emmission limits above the 6.8 g/kWh lirnit,the stakes are high.
Engine developments by lveco, Mercedes. Volvo, Daf, Scania, Renault and Steyr are gathering pace: smaller manufacturers like ERF and Liaz at the heavier end will depend on the likes of Cummins. Perkins and Detroit Diesel.
Current Daf engines all meet Euro-2, but in the big power stakes it is relying on Cummins' N14-500E engine in its 95.500 with the Space Cab which will be on display at the RAI Show in Amsterdam next month.
Iveco used Geneva to launch a 4x4 EuroCargo range which complements the latest developed for the US army. The contract is worth 11,000 units.
Mercedes replacement cab is still in the pipeline (see Vehicle News, page 19), but its 1117 models with 5.9-litre 121kw (162hp) Euro-2 engines are ready now. Mercedes also chose Geneva to demonstrate a 4x4 version of the 1838 chassis.
Along with the new option of front air suspension on the Magnum, Renault is seeking to woo UK fleet operators with a 313kW (420hp) version of the 12litre engine for its Major tractive unit.
Scania's latest inducement takes the form of emergency credit cards. The Silver Plus24 card offers upto 3,000 D-marks for emergency repairs; the Gold Max24 guarantees a £150a-day rebate on repair work at a Scania workshop if the vehicle is off the road more than 24 hours.
Scania's 9.0, 11 and 14 litre Euro-2 engines will be ready by the spring; in the meantime it has a new front air s us EuroTrakkers. They are due in the UK by the summer so they could be here ahead of righthooker EuroStars.
MAN is on course for Euro-2 with all its engines, including the 118 and 162kW (160/220hp) inline fours and sixes in the L2000 range which made its show debut at Geneva.
The L2000's cab is made by Steyr, in return the Austrian firm will be using MANs F90 cab to replace its ageing heavy truck cab; an early version of this could be at the RAT show.
Steyr's 194k \.% and 268kw (260/360hp) 9.76-lit Euro-2 engines are due out in April. The 239kW (320hp) version is available now and reaching the tougher standard has not spoilt the engines' performance: the 268kW block produces 92% of its maximum torque at 1,000rpm.
Steyr is also busy producing trucks for China in a four-year deal for 4,000 units a year, and a Steyr-cabbed vehicle is being pension for its tractors that couple at 950mm.
ERF, which was represented by its Swiss agent (curiously entitled BMC Truck Trade AG) waved the Perkins flag. It exhibited an E12 6x4 with a Euro-1 Perkins Tx 335 engine, Twin Splitter gearbox and AJK Hydrolift skip equipment. The company says it has reached 25% of its 1994 forecast in just two weeks. "Swiss interest in ERF trucks will grow, says managing director Peter Jaggi, "and when the new cabs arrive we will soon pass our target," Volvo is spearheading its awardwinning FH family with the FH12 which is due out in the Spring. Its D12A Euro-2 engine is rated at 253, 283 or 313kW (340/380/420hp) .
F1116,FL7 and FS7 chassis will be available in the autumn.
Despite Switzerland's unique light vehicle market in Europe, Geneva was chosen to launch the new Sevel van (see page 29). This overshadowed the introduction of Hyundai's H100 panel van, which looks like a warmedover Mitsubishi L300 but undercuts it by around 20%. The Korean vehicle has a three-year warranty and, for the Swiss market, a 2.4-litre petrol engine.
The environmental lobby makes electric vehicles a serious proposition in Switzerland: Renault showed its electric Express (marketed in the UK as the Extra); Mercedes offered the 308E 3.5-tonner.
Alpine conditions demand specialist road-clearing equipment, and the show featured snowploughs and gritters fitted to everything from a Mitsubishi L200 pickup to a four-wheel-steer Unimog. The Mercedes HZL sys
tern (known for short as Hinterachszusatzlenkung!) is electronically controlled and allows for opposed, parallel or two-wheel steering.
• For bodywork at the show see next week's Bodybuilding News.