Is this the Forgotten Australian Truck Company?

In-depth

1 Jun

What first comes to mind if someone asks you about trucks made, or put together in Australia? I’d lay good money (if I had any) on you answering, “Kenworth”.

You may even add, Mack and Volvo. Are you good enough to include Western Star?

If I did have any of that aforementioned good money I’d possibly put half of it on you not including Iveco. I tried this out on my Rita and I won on both counts, although she refuses to pay up.

Iveco has been around in one form or another in Australia since the early 1900’s – originally as International Harvester, later called International Trucks – famous names in Australia’s transport history.

In 1952 the Dandenong plant opened – a big investment in Australia’s post-war expansion phase. Initially covering 34,000m2, two thousand trucks were produced in that first year. To date, over 230,000 trucks have been manufactured in Dandy.

Iveco has done reasonably well in the rigid business. If you see a concrete mixer on the road it’s more likely than not the grill will bear the famous ACCO name. Similarly their Daily model has had success as motive power for RV’s as well as delivery trucks and tradie utes.

These are but the tip of the on-road range which also comprise Eurocargo, Stralis and X-Way. It is fair to say that these products have fallen away from top of mind in recent years. Indeed the company has not had a B double rated truck in the last couple of years.

But take note: Iveco is on the move. After a 20 year career with Daimler Truck and Bus Australia – most recently as Director - Michael May has moved down the road from Mulgrave to Dandenong, bringing with him a wealth of experience. His appointment coincided with the business reporting directly to Italy, rather than CNH (Case-New Holland) in Sydney as was previously the case.

Paul Stanley is the General Sales Manager at Wacol, Qld for Iveco, and was on the stand at the Brisbane Truck Show. Training as a diesel mechanic at Cummins, Paul went to Iveco at age 20, working on the floor. Leaving the industry for a period he worked for Harley-Davidson and Nissan before returning to the fold some 18 months ago.

Pride of place on the Iveco stand at the show is the latest Stralis. “I probably shouldn’t call it a Stralis. We’re actually thinking about a re-name but this is a soft launch on our new B-double rated prime mover.

“We haven’t had a B-double truck for the last couple of years. We obviously had our X-Way and single trailer and we had a lot of success with that. This has been behind-the-scenes in development. We’re just making sure that the product is right before we launch it. The Brisbane Truck Show seemed like a good place to kick off.”

The engine is a Cursor 13 litre made in-house by Iveco putting out 550hp.

“The cursor engine has been around in one form or another for some time. I think it kicked off in the late 90s, when I first came off my apprenticeship. It has been a stablemate ever since and has been a good power source for us.”

550 horses is not bad out of 13 litres. I ask what the truck will be rated for and Paul isn’t answering that question at the moment. “We’re still playing around with the configuration but the ultimate goal would be somewhere up around the 85-90 ton mark.”

The power is transferred via a ZF EuroTronic transmission. ZF make great ‘boxes and Iveco is very happy with the one in this truck. Whilst specs are not finalised the company expects it to be a 15 speed which puts it ahead of Scania’s 11 and Mercedes Actros 12 speed boxes.

This is a nice-looking truck and a real step forward for the company in terms of design.

“Understand that this is not our final release yet. The number plate says ‘Highway’ which could be the new name of the vehicle. The truck is euro six compliant. You’ll see and hear a lot more about it in the coming months. This one is just a bit of a show vehicle for now, but it is coming!”