Capital Equipment News April 2017

UD Trucks’ executives (from left to right): Nobuhiko Kishi, Jacques Michel and Kamlarp Sirikittiwatn, during the official launch of the Croner.

in June this year. Production has already started in Thailand. As strong endurance is a key attribute of UD Trucks’ offering, testing is particularly important. The Croner has already been exposed to durability testing conducted for an equivalent of 3 million km across different terrains in the world. A further 1,4 million km of field tests in actual customer operations was carried out across six countries and three continents over an 18-month period. Croner is an all-new heavy duty truck which Nobuhiko Kishi, senior vice president, UD Brand and Product, UD Trucks Japan, says is a continuation of the company’s rich Japanese legacy of building the “truck that the world needs today”. It will specifically load into growth markets across Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America,

three wheelbase variants can offer up to 21 different basic configurations to suit specific needs of various industries. The Croner can be adapted for any heavy -duty role with an array of wheelbase selections to deliver greater productivity. There are six basic wheelbase choices ranging from 3 450 mm to 5 500 mm available for 11 t, 12 t, 14 t, 15 t or 17 t GVW variants. Longer wheel base choices of 6 000 and 6 500 mm are also available for 15 t and 17 t GVW variants. The MKE, with GVW ranging from 10,4 to 11 t, is a compact sized heavy duty truck optimised for urban usage, with better manoeuvrability in narrow roads and ideal for inner-city deliveries, according to Per Hanson, driver development manager at UD Trucks. It is powered by a GH5E

according to Jacques Michel, senior vice president of Group Trucks Asia. “The emerging markets are key growth areas where UD Trucks intends to capture more growth. After launching the Quester for developing markets in 2015, we have now rolled the Croner off the production line to capture more market share in the heavy duty truck market, which is a very important segment of the truck market globally,” says Michel. “We are excited about the launch of the Croner, which definitely comes with more standard features and benefits than its predecessor.” Truck in detail With versatility in mind, the UD Croner comes in three gross vehicle weight (GVW) models – MKE, LKE and PKE – and their

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