Capital Equipment News June 2017

F USO, a Daimler Trucks & Buses Southern Africa brand, sees lots of opportunity to grow in southern Africa, and one of the pillars of its growth is its speed to market with new products. Jasper Hafkamp, executive director at Daimler Trucks & Buses Southern Africa, says the product strategy is not just driven by the desire to introduce new offerings to the market, but it is rather a carefully planned product expansion informed by the needs of the market, and is complemented by the company’s ability to swiftly respond to those customer needs. The launch of FUSO’s Canter Lift in 2014 has since been followed by a relentless product ex- pansion programme that has seen several other models arriving in a very short space of time, further articulating the brand’s speed to market prowess. After the Canter Lift, the FA 9-137, a light to medium-duty truck was launched in 2015, followed by the FJ16-230 in 2016. The FJ26-280C is the latest offering to roll off the production line, allowing FUSO to compete in a completely new market segment. “After our previous focus in distribution, the new FJ 26-280C takes us into construction, a whole new market segment for FUSO. We are opening a new chapter by answering the call for a FUSO product from our construction cus- tomers,” says Hafkamp. Despite the fact that construction constitutes only 10%of the local commercial vehicle market, Hafkamp believes it is still a key growth market for FUSO. According to Hafkamp, distribution is still the biggest market for commercial vehicles in South Africa, raking in 50% of the total sales, while long distance follows hot on its heels, with 40% of the sales volumes. “FUSO will focus on the 60% of the market – which is distribution and construction – and we will not compete in the long distance segment,” says Hafkamp. The arrival of the FJ26-280C has also seen an increase in the production of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) FUSO units produced at the Mercedes-Benz East London plant, accord- ing to Naeem Hassim, head of FUSO Trucks

Southern Africa. Mercedes-Benz South Africa invested in excess of R3 million into the plant to ensure it was ready for the increase in FUSO CKD production. “We are excited to be expanding our product portfolio to a point where we will see a significant increase in the CKD production of FUSO trucks within our shores. The FJ26-280C joins the FA9-137 and the FJ16-230 on the local FUSO production line,” says Gladstone Mtyoko, divisional manager for Commercial Vehicles at Mercedes-Benz East London plant. FJ26-280C in detail According to Harry Makitla, FUSO product specialist – Southern Africa, the brand’s value proposition to its customers stands on three legs – reliability, value for money and service. The FJ26-280C is exactly in line with the FUSO brand proposition with several features aimed at increasing durability and reducing total cost of ownership, complemented by the strong wide-reaching southern African dealer footprint. “The durable chassis, service intervals of 20 000 km and a wide-reaching southern African dealer footprint, all speak to the FUSO value offering,” says Makitla. “The FJ26-280C ticks all the boxes in the construction sector, especially with its 9-speed transmission with a crawler gear that provides the flexibility to negotiate complex terrain often synonymous with off-road applications,” says Makitla. In terms of reduced total cost of ownership, the FJ 26-280C is powered by a direct-injection diesel engine rated at 205 kW @ 2 200 rpm, with the torque levelling out at 1 100 Nm between 1 200-1 600 rpm. The engine utilises an Inline FIP with high injection pressure for better atomisation (better burning), resulting in higher fuel efficiency. “The engine is tuned to deliver high torque at low rpm for increased fuel efficiency. It also comes with six individual pumps, and in the event that even one pump stops, the engine keeps running,” says Makitla. The 6,4 ℓ engine is said to be significantly smaller, bearing in mind that construction is

The FJ26-280C ticks all the boxes in the construction sector, especially with its 9-speed transmission with a crawler gear that provides the flexibility to negotiate complex terrain.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JUNE 2017 21