Renault Trucks Officially Opens new Dublin depot

A FANTASTIC DAY AS RENAULT TRUCKS IRELAND OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW DUBLIN HQ

A new state of the art facility that has been home to Renault Trucks Ireland since March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic struck has been finally and officially opened at Setanta House at Ballycoolin in Dublin.

Export & Freight was able to join in the celebrations on what was described as ‘a fantastic day’ and also got to talk to President of Renault Trucks Global Bruno Blin and Setanta’s Managing Director Harry Nash. Other VIPs there included Managing Director, Renault Trucks UK & Ireland Carlos Rodrigues – and the Irish Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton, who performed the official tape cutting opening ceremony. She commented: “I would like to congratulate Renault for their decision in making this investment, given how important suppliers are to the freight, transport, distribution and logistics sector here in Ireland.” “This new facility is really impressive,” Bruno Blin told us. “There’s excellent attention to detail everywhere you look; the needs and demands of our customers will be very well looked after here. Harry Nash and his team have done a truly great job.” He added: “This new dealership HQ compares very favourably with dealerships across the UK and in our home country of France. The standards employed here are very high and that’s not only good for the brand but for our customers here in Ireland.” The new facility was certainly needed to meet the growing success of Renault Trucks in Ireland. When the manufacturer introduced its totally new model line-up in 2014, it proved to be a shot in the arm for the business with workshop capacity soon at full stretch. “It was a nice problem to have,” says Harry Nash, “so we decided to expand and develop this new additional site in North Dublin – and today we are already running at nearly full capacity once more.” The new model line-up he was referring to, of course, was the Range T, C, K and D which has been hugely instrumental in consolidating Renault Trucks’ share of the market in Ireland. Earlier this year, the range was further upgraded, bringing major improvements in terms of driving comfort, on-board comfort, safety and productivity. “In its day, the Renault Magnum and Premium were a great success for us, but this new lineup has given us a huge boost,” said Bruno Blin. “Our new flagship Range T High, for example, has been very popular with operators across the UK and here in Ireland, with many favourable responses from drivers and operators. “When first designing the new range we listened to what our customers wanted and took note of their feedback. We made major improvements to give the trucks a ‘car-like’ performance, plus a better working environment that is both spacious and comfortable. With driver shortages an ongoing challenge, we feel that being able to give drivers what they want from a truck should go some way to helping to retain drivers and attract much needed new recruits to the industry.”

Going Electric

Turning to electrification, Bruno Blin told us that Renault

Trucks were aiming to have at least 10% of its sales being

generated by its electric powered trucks within the next five years. Currently, Renault Trucks is further developing its range of electric vehicles to meet the wide variety of urban applications: an 18 tonne D Wide Z.E. joins the 16 and 26 tonne Renault Trucks D Z.E. and D Wide Z.E. models. At the official opening of the Dublin HQ, Renault Trucks dealers and invited guests not only enjoyed a guided tour of the building, but were also able to take part in a ride and drive experience in the newly launched Renault Range D Z.E. electric trucks and Master Red Edition Z.E zero-emission vans; also making its debut here on the day was the new Renault Range T High Evolution. Serial production of the 18 tonne D Wide Z.E. is starting at Renault Trucks’ Blainville-sur-Orne plant (Calvados), where the D Z.E. and the D Wide Z.E. have been manufactured since 2020. Equipped with a two-axle chassis for improved manoeuvrability, the 18 tonne D Wide Z.E. is the ideal vehicle for temperature-controlled distribution, with an optimised payload. In addition, Renault Trucks has designed a new system to increase the energy efficiency of allelectric trucks equipped with a refrigerated body. All Renault Trucks D Z.E. and D Wide Z.E trucks are now available with a fridgeconnection option, which supplies the energy required for the refrigeration system directly from the vehicle’s 600 V traction batteries. For improved manoeuvrability, Renault Trucks has also extended the range of wheelbases available for its D and D Wide Z.E. from 3900 mm to 6800 mm, optimising load distribution to cover more applications. As well as distribution, Renault Trucks expects strong interest from light construction, building supplies and skip operators keen to offer the best possible service to their urban customers. “There’s much work being done to create a new generation of batteries and better storage which will extend the driving range of trucks. While natural gas power remains an important bridge between diesel and

Addressing the gathering is Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton.

electric, we believe electric is the way forward and we are looking to 2023 to begin electrifying our long haul trucks,” said Bruno.

Bright Future

As for the here and now, the future for Renault Trucks in Ireland is certainly bright, despite the manufacturer’s ongoing difficulties regarding component shortages, a problem that every truck maker around the world is experiencing. It is having an impact on lead times, but Renault Trucks are working hard to overcome that situation which, they say, is also recognised and appreciated by its customers. “We have a healthy order book going forward,” says Harry Nash, “and we are finding that customers are taking on board the fact that lead times might be longer than before, so they are placing orders months in advance to compensate. Next year is looking very positive and we are confident component shortages will be resolved in due course.” Turning to Covid-19 and the ongoing social distancing measures, Bruno Blin said it was challenging to plan ahead. “The truck business is essentially based on face to face relationships, but over the past 18 months we have had to reinvent our approach, introducing more online contact and product presentations. As the situation gradually improves we hope to get in front of more customers, but there’s no getting away from the fact that we are now in a new ‘norm’ so we have to adopt and even rethink about what events and shows we attend in the months ahead.” Nevertheless, he added: “We look forward to seeing what the future holds for the Setanta Group and Renault Trucks and we hope you all can follow and join us on the next steps in our Renault Trucks journey. We look forward to celebrating our 15 year partnership with Setanta Vehicle Sales in 2022.”