19 minute read
SPORTAGE DEBUT
MASSIVE REVAMP FOR THE SPORTAGE RANGE IS ON THE WAY / LIEBHERR LAUNCHES NEW DUMP TRUCK AND IT’S A MID-RANGE BEHEMOTH
LAUNCHES
NEW LINE X-LINE TO DEBUT
The Sportage is reinvented
KIA UNVEIL A RADICAL NEW LOOK FOR ITS VENERABLE SUV BRAND
Kia Corporation has revealed the official images of the stunning all-new Sportage, an SUV, it claims, that has been carefully crafted to inspire customers with its interior and exterior design.
According to Kia, the exterior challenges design norms and “moves the Sportage identity into the next generation, while paying homage to its rich heritage. Tense and crisp lines ripple along the refined body, amplifying dramatic styling tensions. At the same time, clean but muscular surfaces join forces with intricate graphics to give the SUV a dynamic and assertive road presence.”
“Reinventing the Sportage gave our talented design teams a tremendous opportunity to do something new; to take inspiration from the recent brand relaunch and introduction of EV6 to inspire customers through modern and innovative SUV design. With the all-new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward but instead move on to a different level in the SUV class,” commented Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Center.
“When you see the all-new Sportage in person, with its sleek but powerfully dynamic stance, and when you sit inside the detailed-oriented cabin with its beautifully detailed interior and first-class materials, you’ll see we have achieved those goals and set new benchmarks. In the all-new Sportage, we believe you can see the future of our brand and our products.”
Kia’s new design philosophy – Opposites United – is at the core of the all-new Sportage, influencing every aspect of its appearance and character. The principles of Opposites United will influence all future Kia designs, giving them the same basic DNA. The thoughtprovoking and daring philosophy strengthens the connection between design and Kia’s new brand direction, ‘Movement that inspires’.
The front of the all-new features a detailed-orientated black grille graphic stretching across the width of the face. The design is intended to resemble an intricate web, with a technical graphic which pulls together the main frontal features of the all-new Sportage, “crafting an imposing front volume”.
The elongated grille links Kia’s modern signature Tiger Nose grille – that acts as the visual focal point of the car – to the distinctive futuristic-styled boomerang-shaped DRLs (daytime running lamps), which in turn create solid boundary lines for the striking head lamps.
The side profile of the all-new Sportage stays true to its sports utility DNA, with taut lines cutting across pure, clean but refined body surfaces that seamlessly blends the contrasting volumes together. Representing a first for the Sportage range, a black roof – a different colour paint option to the vehicle’s body – is now available with the new model, helping to accentuate the sporting profile and highlight the architecturally dynamic C-pillar that encompasses a deconstructed look. The addition of a chrome beltline kicks up onto the rear of the all-new Sportage and into the D-pillar, creating harmonious lines
COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
The all-new Sportage is the result of a collaborative effort between Kia’s main global design network in Korea, Germany, the US and China.
AT THE NERVE CENTRE
The high-tech touchscreen pad along with the advanced integrated controller act as the nerve centre for driver and passenger connectivity, functionality and usability needs.
with the rear spoiler that further adds to the sporting pedigree of the car.
For the first time in the Sportage’s history, a bolder model has been specifically designed to convey a more confident, vigorous and versatile character. The all-new Sportage X-Line features a unique bumper, side sill and curved roof rack. On the inside, customers can choose between a signature sage green or black seating, as well as bold quilting and black metal wood to further bring to life “the model’s confident persona”.
Due for global market launch later this year, more information on the all-new Sportage will be made available in due course but it is expected to feature petrol, diesel and hybrid versions.
SPECIFICATIONS
Engine Electric motor
Power
1.6l
59 hp 227 hp
Torque
350Nm
Zero emissions range 30 miles
LIEBHERR GOES BIG
Liebherr has launched its new dump truck, the T 274, a 305t machine that offers low fuel consumption and low costs per tonne while enabling faster cycle times and higher production. Describing the new introduction, Liebherr said in a statement that the T 274 is based on the company’s popular T 284 dump truck which has gained more than 20 million operating hours in the field. The new T 274 is also a perfect match with Liebherr’s mining excavators R 9800 and R 9600 and offers versatile solution for all applications, including extreme cold climate and high-altitude environments. It is also available with the Liebherr Trolley Assist System option to reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.
The new 305 t Liebherr T 274 bridges the gap between the 363t-capacity T 284 and the upgraded T 264 with 240t capacity, said the company’s statement, which added: “Designed and adapted from years of experience in mining truck development, the T 274 is a true 305t machine that provides fast cycle times, higher production rates, low fuel consumption and a low cost per tonne.
This new truck follows the same base design as the T 284, benefitting from its decades of field experience. Operators and technicians can expect to experience first-class comfort and safety while driving and servicing this truck. A wide range of options are available, not only providing maximum productivity even in the harshest conditions, but also catering to the evolving requirements of customers and mine sites.”
The Liebherr T 274 is powered by a 3,650hp engine, and Liebherr’s Litronic Plus AC Drive system. Speed on grade is a major contributor to fast cycle times while the Litronic Plus AC Drive System improves cycle time efficiency by providing continuous uphill speed, differing from traditional mechanical drive trucks that require shifting of gears.
The T 274 is also equipped with 6,035hp dynamic braking power to operate safely and efficiently on downhill hauls. Pairing the T 274 with the R 9800 hydraulic excavator provides customers with a highly versatile and productive fleet. The fast swing times of the R 9800 will load the T 274 with four bucket passes ensuring quick loading times.
SPECIFICATIONS
Capacity
305t
Power
3,650hp Driveline Litronic Plus AC Drive Gross vehicle weight 528t Empty vehicle weight 223t Breaking power 6,035hp
FULL-ON POWER 3,650HP ENGINE
OEM experts from Daimler CV MENA, MAN Truck & Bus Middle East, Scania, Schmitz Cargobull and UD Trucks discuss the state of the industry in 2021, and beyond
Standing tall, a question is fired over from Engineer Fahed from Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre to a panel representing many of the world’s biggest commercial vehicle manufacturers. Asking about the direction of local manufacturing, he both addresses the gathered experts and sums up where the sector is heading as we pass the mid-way point of 2021: “Finally, we come back from a virtual life to real life.”
It has been a protracted return for the Truck and Fleet Conference UAE, after the event which mixes time in the hall with demonstrations and test drives of new trucks faced a COVID-19enforced delay. The OEM Roundtable proved that it has been worth the wait.
Moderated by Vishal Pandey, partner – Automotive and Mobility Business, Glasgow Analytics Consulting Group, the panel featured heavyweights from the local supply chain, including: Olaf Petersen, general manager – Truck Sales, Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA FZE, Erik Bergvall, managing director, MENA, Scania, Joerg Mommertz, SVP & head of sales, Middle East, Africa & Latin America, MAN Truck & Bus, Mourad Hedna, president of UD Trucks Hub MEENA and Fabian Bahlmann, managing director, Middle East & East Africa, Schmitz Cargobull. For all, the session was an opportunity to share how they had stood firm in a challenging year.
Erik Bergvall is responsible for Scania’s operation in the region and he explained that he believes there have been positive outcomes for the Swedish manufacturer and the way its local partners have worked with fleets during the pandemic.
“Having everyone work from home; learning more about our teams, and so on, has got us used to interacting with customers through digital media. I would say that this
has opened up great opportunities to have more discussions with the customer,” he began. “We now have what we call digital value selling which is basically aimed at supporting the front line to our sales organisation in a better way through the regional office, with us bringing in expertise from the factory and competence into the discussions with the customer. Digital media opens up great possibilities in this regard.”
In his career, MAN Truck & Bus’ Joerg Mommertz has worked his way up the corporate ladder from workshop mechanic to overseeing the German OEM’s business across four continents. He described Covid-19 as a challenge but an opportunity at the same time.
“For us, that means, living in the customer’s proximity. Using modern tools of communication has helped a lot to stay close to the customer. We are using these tools actively in our sales and after sales activities,” he said. “I also see a trend in the market for more customisation to ensure vehicles are fit for a customer’s purpose and help give him the best fit for his business.”
The supply chain, the movement of raw materials needed to manufacturer the trucks we see on the road, has suffered major disruption since the start of the pandemic. Mommertz said that the industry has been under price pressure from its suppliers in the face of rising commodity prices and the lack of availability of some materials such as semi-conductors: “The entire industry is getting stuck in the supply chain a little bit. You will still see this backlog until Q4 and it could last a little bit longer.”
Like Mommertz, Schmitz-Cargobull’s Fabian Bahlmann describes himself as a truck man and he said that the trailer experts had seen a strong flow of orders since the end of 2020 amid rising demand in the refrigerated market as countries leaned into their transport network to survive.
“Last year, there was certainly a dip but it’s a very busy period in terms of production right now,” he remarked. “The pandemic really has brought a focus on more localisation and more quality into that field and we bring in some answers in terms of increased quality and safety – not only in terms of road safety but also by meeting international standards in hygiene safety that can be applied to pharma distribution in the region.
“Our challenge has been to be as close as possible to fleet owners in the region without traveling but we are happy to have a strong digital set up, not only in terms of consulting fleet but also on the after sales side. Workshops have been an important part for us throughout the pandemic to keep increasing the service level. The customer needs are changing.”
UD Trucks’ Mourad Hedna said that COVID-19 has been an opportunity to address the key priorities for the now Isuzu-owned company.
“I think it helps everybody to think again that nothing is granted and that health and safety is priority number one for everyone,” he commented. “And this helped us to
reconnect more with our customers, to our dealers and to our partners. We put regular exchanges in place just to take care of check on families and colleagues. It was a good trigger to connect further in the network.
“Covid has helped to accelerate some transformation. You are now talking more about digitalisation. It was clear with telematics and the other tools that are available, that it was easier to connect to customers to talk about their application, even when there was no face-to-face contact.”
Prior to the start of the pandemic, Hedna said the UD was on track with its own ambitious regional strategy: “If I take the volumes for sure, the market was slower than it was before: there was a lot of uncertainty when it came to demand especially in the first months,” he recalled. “But the region was not the worst one to suffer. We talk about a 10-20% market slow down but it’s not as major as in some other parts of the world. Covid slowed down our ambition, but still last year we did better than the year before.”
Like Mommertz, Hedna believes that raw material and its availability is a big challenge for the industry to face.
“We used to have uncertainty of demand but now it’s a combination of uncertainty of demand and the supply,” he remarked. “In general, you expect demand but the supply not being there, or vice versa. So, this is the challenge that I think we are all living and we need to be really agile. We need to be entrepreneurial and to work
GETTING CLOSER TO THE INDUSTRY
The OEM Roundtable panel agreed that Covid-19 has taken many customer discussions online which – in many ways – is helping to make specifications and support clearer and more fleet customer-oriented.
hand-in-hand with our customers to better protect and to better serve them.”
Daimler CV MENA covers 19 countries in this region from Morocco to Pakistan and looks after the German automotive giant’s buses and its two major truck brands for the region: Mercedes-Benz Trucks on the heavyduty side and MCV and LCV powerhouse Mitsubishi Fuso. General manager Olaf Petersen, who brought 23 years of experience with him into the OEM Roundtable discussion, described the global supply chain as currently vulnerable and under pressure.
“Covid-19 has shown that the supply chain is not as robust as we all think. We have huge delays in shipping and container handling, as well as longer travel times in trucks because borders are closed. We couldn’t have really imagined anything like this before because we only know the big crises (like this) from Hollywood films.
“We wouldn’t have thought that such a pandemic would hit us in this way. I think the world has become much more conscious in many aspects. We’ve seen that air travel was reduced tremendously and probably will not return to the same level again because businesses will go more for teleconferencing and for noncontact or non face-to-face meetings.
“I think this will also trigger the world, in terms of environmental concerns, and we have seen during the pandemic, a huge increase in Europe in electric vehicles,” he said, adding that this rise has partially been driven by extra incentives set by European governments.
“So for example, in Germany, coming from nearly knowwhere, we are now at 13 percent share for electric vehicles. This trend will most likely continue. So, we will see this electric drive and we need to be prepared for it. We have a clear roadmap on what we want to do. We launched the eCanter in the US, Europe and Japan in 2017 and now have four years of experience. We will launch the eActros in Europe this year and we will continue with more and more products coming. For instance, we will have a long-distance truck in 2024
A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a boost for greener drivelines, although the region will remains largely dependent on traditional engines in absence of incentives and infrastructure. and then we are moving to the hydrogen technology. So, I think zero emission vehicles will come and this will definitely be a challenge for the industry here.”
Elaborating on his point, Petersen predicts that the near-future for alternative drives faces relative uncertainty in the region compared to Europe and other markets.
“We will still see that internal combustion engines will continue to a certain degree especially in the bigger countries. I think in Dubai, electric vehicles would work fairly well. But if I think about Saudi Arabia and the bigger countries, the infrastructure will not make it possible to enable either electric or hydrogen vehicles in the short-term.”
Turning to what the legacy of Covid-19 could be for the industry, Mommertz said he sees one major positive.
“Transport and logistics has been declared system-relevant and it has helped us to improve the image of our business and our customers business globally. Road safety and related technical solutions will not be your USP for any single car or truck manufacturer but the standard in the industry... the key is still behind the steering wheel – the driver.”
He says Covid-19 will improve the image of drivers in the sector but merely investing and relying on technology is not enough.
“This is why we have a strong focus on training, education of drivers because this is one of the key elements in the future besides all the technological development. We have a strong focus together in partnership with our customers to develop the necessary tools and instruments.”
Bahlmann says that while the trailer firm is a vital part of improving fleet efficiency it also wants to drive safety.
“On the trailer side, safety is very often is considered a cost. We really want to link to an advantage for the customer side. We’ve increased, or implemented, for instance, safety Systems, like electronic braking systems (EBS) for all trailers that we sell in the region. We’ve set certain standards on the trailer side, but we understand it comes at a certain cost and to constantly drive safety as well as efficiency is a constant challenge.
He continued: “The trailer industry is a really raw material-focused business, so we try to be close to our customers to give them really reasonable prices for reasonable products. At the moment, there is a quite a lot of uncertainty on the supply side which generates a certain challenge
SURVIVING THE DIP
The commercial vehicles industry experienced a dip in demand for new trucks in 2020 but the slump in sales was not as sharp in the region as it was in other territories.
for us to be reasonable on the customer side and we do this as good as possible.”
Customisation is a word that comes up often during their discussion and Joerg Mommertz believes there is plenty of room of improvement and growth in the region.
“Let’s say, in highly developed markets like Germany or Central European markets, highly developed markets, I would say 90% of the trucks are customised as a perfect fit for the customer’s purpose. In the Middle East, Africa and Latin America there is still a mixed stock built to order market but I see a trend towards customisation, let’s say in a degree of 50%.”
Another major trend in the automotive market is a move towards digitalisation. Vishal Pandey asked the panel how the truck sector compares to the passenger car market when it comes to selling and purchasing online.
“What we have found in the markets where we have launched virtual selling that customers are very, very open to this,” answered Scania’s Bergvall.
“They want to discuss it with us in this way. The biggest resistance actually comes from our organisation as it is used to doing things in a certain way. We have to work to change that because at the end of the day, if the customer is happy with this then we have to change.”
MAN Truck & Bus’ Mommertz adds: “But it depends also on the products. If you look at the vans segment, customers are getting used to configuring (vehicles) using tools for digital business, but if you have a highly specified, heavy-duty off-road combination, the customer still needs and wants to have the direct contact and the direct sales support and advice from the salesman and technician. This will not change soon, the truck is still a little too complex.”
Talking of complexity, vehicle finance remains an obstacle for fleets to navigate. Scania’s Bergvall said the firm has moved into providing its own financial solutions, and estimated that 65% of its deals are now channelled through its Scania Financial organisation: “It’s been very successful.
However a vehicle is financed Daimler CV MENA’s Peterson said that it is the task of manufacturers to work with the customers to optimise their operating costs.
“We have the Fleetboard telematics system that is connected to 200 sensors in the Actros truck and we get a big amount of data from this system. This can help us to inform the operator on how to optimise the operation in terms of driver. And if the drivers are not performing, we have driver training to optimise and to improve. We can then track how drivers behave and which is a good driver and which is not a good driver.”
Fleetboard can also be used to manage preventive maintenance, and Peterson said that this could potentially unlock savings to improve their operating costs.
“In a competitive logistic industry, a 1% better operating cost is a key between profitability and loss. Our task as manufacturers to help our customers.”
UD Truck’s Hedna added that a top-down approach taking a solution that works in other parts of the world is not enough on the local level.
“Taking what we are developing in Europe or in Japan and copying and pasting the solution will not work. This means we need to start from the customers specification. The truck is the first step, so if it is not specified well it means that everything will be wrong. So definitely, it’s very, very important that whatever we do, starts from the customer and the customer needs.”
