ParkRoyal2100:
See also this thread from a while ago: trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=100089
Very interesting P R. Do the Japanese allow lorry imports, does their haulage industry have something else to compare to? Cheers coomsey
An old thread PR, but not much has changed. The Japs dominate until the street lights peter out and the speed limit climbs above eighty, then they flounder.
Once into the domain of multi trailer interstate/long distance roles, the Swedes and Yanks, with their Australianised prime movers dominate.
Mercedes are becoming more common on linehaul and regional routes, simply because they are able to supply.
Scania is increasing in popularity amongst those budget conscious buyers. Apart from price, there is little difference between Volvo and Scania, hence the latter’s increasing popularity.
Mack, a once much revered brand had been pushed down to merely a low spec, bonneted Volvo.
Western Star and Kenworth still reign dominant in the heaviest duty, remote roles.
Kenworth are standard with Daf motors, but ■■■■■■■ are a premium price option.
Western Star are owned by MB so obviously Detriot is the standard offering, except interestingly, in the top of the range 6900, which comes stock as 15 litre ■■■■■■■■
Freightliner, another Mercedes marque, offer an American style spec, flash cabs and a reputation for falling apart quickly.
coomsey:
ParkRoyal2100:
See also this thread from a while ago: trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=100089Very interesting P R. Do the Japanese allow lorry imports, does their haulage industry have something else to compare to? Cheers coomsey
I imagine they’d have to, as most “Jap” automotive products are now manufactured in Thailand, South Korea or China these days. All in the quest to use the cheapest labour.
Japan
Japanese rigid truck 6×2
The other major source of trucks in the Australian market is Japan.
Because Japan is made up of small, mountainous islands, it has relied traditionally on sea freight and still does. AIso, rail freight is highly developed. Truck transport is vital, but not in a bulk, linehaul way.
There are relatively few semi-trailer vehicles on Japanese roads and those that are, carry mainly indivisible loads. Prime movers are mostly single drive and trailers are tandem or tri-axle, with a maximum GCM of 36 tonnes. Most heavy truck traffic is in the form of rigid three- and four-axle trucks that are restricted to 20-25 tonnes gross vehicle mass (GVM).
Japanese 8×4 rigid volume body truck with 19.5-inch wheels
That makes it easy to understand why the strength of Japanese trucks in the Australian market has been with rigid trucks. It took many years for the Japanese makers to come up with higher-torque prime movers, because there is no major need for them in Japan.
The Japanese produced in the 2000s what was probably the biggest truck engine of modern times, fitted on the Isuzu Giga Max 600 EXD. An unblown 30,4 litre V10:
truckanddriver.co.uk/latest … u-giga-ma/
I guess that, with a bore and stroke of 159 x 155 mm, one had to be high up in the revs to get the power.
Froggy55:
0
The Japanese produced in the 2000s what was probably the biggest truck engine of modern times, fitted on the Isuzu Giga Max 600 EXD. An unblown 30,4 litre V10:
truckanddriver.co.uk/latest … u-giga-ma/I guess that, with a bore and stroke of 159 x 155 mm, one had to be high up in the revs to get the power.
I wonder what fuel consumption was like? I noticed the long window on passenger door. Looks like an urban truck designed to step up to motorway work? Would the V have been to keep heights down?
On the subject of Jap trucks, one of our local Essex contractors, V J Milman, ran some at the end of the 80s. IIRR the 8 wheel Hinos were Irish assembled and, for VJM, joined Constructors and replaced elderly Routemans.
Kempston:
Argos went over to them a few years ago for their home delivery work, the drivers hated them and iirc so did the Transport office.0
Most of the models we get here, from 4.5T up to 14T GVW, come with Isuzu’s 6-sp AMT (a sort of automated manual box). If you ever get the chance to drive one do so - you’ll never forget that gearbox.
Star down under.:
There are relatively few semi-trailer vehicles on Japanese roads and those that are, carry mainly indivisible loads. Prime movers are mostly single drive and trailers are tandem or tri-axle, with a maximum GCM of 36 tonnes. Most heavy truck traffic is in the form of rigid three- and four-axle trucks that are restricted to 20-25 tonnes gross vehicle mass (GVM)……
That makes it easy to understand why the strength of Japanese trucks in the Australian market has been with rigid trucks. It took many years for the Japanese makers to come up with higher-torque prime movers, because there is no major need for them in Japan.
Lighter GVW in their domestic market does partially explain why most Japanese trucks lack torque - even those with decent torque outputs are very peaky. What I don’t understand is why it took them so long to tweak engine/ gearbox/ axle specs for their export markets (Australia being but one). The predominance of Japanese rigid trucks here and in NZ isn’t simply that Hino et al have been doing it for years but the absence of any real competition. Yes, you could/ can buy US-designed rigids but they’re almost all heavyweight 6- or 8-leggers; you could/ can also buy European marques, but they all come at a premium price. Therefore, Japanese it is. Going back a year or two to the '60s and '70s, many rigids in Oz and NZ were Leyland (Albion), Foden and (in NZ) ERF, often modified and built locally. I don’t want to flog a dead horse here, but AFAICT Leyland (Truck & Bus) treated its faithful “colonial” export markets (AU, NZ, SA, Singapore, HK) with varying degrees of complacency; as a result, buyers had to look elsewhere: enter the (Japanese) dragon.
One thing I am interested in is what’s going on in NZ. Perhaps it’s simply an effect of the people I follow/ outlets I read etc. but Hyundai released the Xcient prime mover a while ago and they’re developing hydrogen fuel cell trucks. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops, not least because the Hyundai-KIA chaebol isn’t frightened of taking on the Japanese makers. Hyundai are also big in heavy industry and their share of the car market here in Oz is significant. Time will tell…
Star down under.:
An old thread PR, but not much has changed. The Japs dominate until the street lights peter out and the speed limit climbs above eighty, then they flounder.
Once into the domain of multi trailer interstate/long distance roles, the Swedes and Yanks, with their Australianised prime movers dominate.
Mercedes are becoming more common on linehaul and regional routes, simply because they are able to supply.
Scania is increasing in popularity amongst those budget conscious buyers. Apart from price, there is little difference between Volvo and Scania, hence the latter’s increasing popularity.
Mack, a once much revered brand had been pushed down to merely a low spec, bonneted Volvo.
Western Star and Kenworth still reign dominant in the heaviest duty, remote roles.
Kenworth are standard with Daf motors, but ■■■■■■■ are a premium price option.
Western Star are owned by MB so obviously Detriot is the standard offering, except interestingly, in the top of the range 6900, which comes stock as 15 litre ■■■■■■■■
Freightliner, another Mercedes marque, offer an American style spec, flash cabs and a reputation for falling apart quickly.
M-B is part of the Daimler conglomerate, along with Freightliner, Western Star and Fuso (previously Mitsubishi), not forgetting Detroit Diesel.
Scania is part of VAG, as is MAN.
Kenworth and DAF (and Peterbilt) are brands owned by PACCAR (as was Foden before that marque got the chop)
Hino is a Toyota brand.
Market diversity? Do leave off.
coomsey:
ParkRoyal2100:
See also this thread from a while ago: trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=100089Very interesting P R. Do the Japanese allow lorry imports, does their haulage industry have something else to compare to? Cheers coomsey
It’s a very good question coomsey; I don’t know. I don’t imagine they import very much at all - as “star down under” points out, Japan has plenty of home-grown makers that meet its own quite specific freight needs, and I doubt they’re going to let Korean or Chinese rivals in without significant import tariffs.
Come to think of it, wasn’t there (once upon a time) another island nation that was entirely self-sufficient in making its own vehicles for its haulage industry? If only I could remember which nation it was…
ParkRoyal2100:
Star down under.:
An old thread PR, but not much has changed. The Japs dominate until the street lights peter out and the speed limit climbs above eighty, then they flounder.
Once into the domain of multi trailer interstate/long distance roles, the Swedes and Yanks, with their Australianised prime movers dominate.
Mercedes are becoming more common on linehaul and regional routes, simply because they are able to supply.
Scania is increasing in popularity amongst those budget conscious buyers. Apart from price, there is little difference between Volvo and Scania, hence the latter’s increasing popularity.
Mack, a once much revered brand had been pushed down to merely a low spec, bonneted Volvo.
Western Star and Kenworth still reign dominant in the heaviest duty, remote roles.
Kenworth are standard with Daf motors, but ■■■■■■■ are a premium price option.
Western Star are owned by MB so obviously Detriot is the standard offering, except interestingly, in the top of the range 6900, which comes stock as 15 litre ■■■■■■■■
Freightliner, another Mercedes marque, offer an American style spec, flash cabs and a reputation for falling apart quickly.M-B is part of the Daimler conglomerate, along with Freightliner, Western Star and Fuso (previously Mitsubishi), not forgetting Detroit Diesel.
Scania is part of VAG, as is MAN.
Kenworth and DAF (and Peterbilt) are brands owned by PACCAR (as was Foden before that marque got the chop)
Hino is a Toyota brand.
Market diversity? Do leave off.
And I believe Volvo, Renault and Mack are bundled together too. Is that so?
essexpete:
Froggy55:
0
The Japanese produced in the 2000s what was probably the biggest truck engine of modern times, fitted on the Isuzu Giga Max 600 EXD. An unblown 30,4 litre V10:
truckanddriver.co.uk/latest … u-giga-ma/I guess that, with a bore and stroke of 159 x 155 mm, one had to be high up in the revs to get the power.
I wonder what fuel consumption was like? I noticed the long window on passenger door. Looks like an urban truck designed to step up to motorway work? Would the V have been to keep heights down?
I think with 10 cylinders to layout it would have to be a v or a flat configuration. Otherwise the motor would be rubbing up against the 5th wheel!
Dipster:
ParkRoyal2100:
M-B is part of the Daimler conglomerate, along with Freightliner, Western Star and Fuso (previously Mitsubishi), not forgetting Detroit Diesel.Scania is part of VAG, as is MAN.
Kenworth and DAF (and Peterbilt) are brands owned by PACCAR (as was Foden before that marque got the chop)
Hino is a Toyota brand.
Market diversity? Do leave off.
And I believe Volvo, Renault and Mack are bundled together too. Is that so?
As far as my limited nollidge goes, yes. Until very recently, there was no such thing as a Renault truck out here cos they were all badged as Macks, even the G290. Things have got a bit complicated recently, not least because at the lighter end of the market, we’re now getting Renault Trafic vans badged as Mitsubishi Express: the Trafic was also known as the Vauxhall Vivaro, except that these days Vauxhall (which used to be a GM brand, along with Holden) is now owned by Citroen-PSA. Meanwhile, the tie-up between Renault and Nissan cars now includes Mitsubishi cars and vans (not to be confused with Mitsubishi trucks which are now Fuso which are part of the Daimler trucks group). BTW GM used to own Isuzu as well as Vauxhall, Opel and Holden.
I hope that’s cleared things up for you.
Dipster:
ParkRoyal2100:
Star down under.:
An old thread PR, but not much has changed. The Japs dominate until the street lights peter out and the speed limit climbs above eighty, then they flounder.
Once into the domain of multi trailer interstate/long distance roles, the Swedes and Yanks, with their Australianised prime movers dominate.
Mercedes are becoming more common on linehaul and regional routes, simply because they are able to supply.
Scania is increasing in popularity amongst those budget conscious buyers. Apart from price, there is little difference between Volvo and Scania, hence the latter’s increasing popularity.
Mack, a once much revered brand had been pushed down to merely a low spec, bonneted Volvo.
Western Star and Kenworth still reign dominant in the heaviest duty, remote roles.
Kenworth are standard with Daf motors, but ■■■■■■■ are a premium price option.
Western Star are owned by MB so obviously Detriot is the standard offering, except interestingly, in the top of the range 6900, which comes stock as 15 litre ■■■■■■■■
Freightliner, another Mercedes marque, offer an American style spec, flash cabs and a reputation for falling apart quickly.M-B is part of the Daimler conglomerate, along with Freightliner, Western Star and Fuso (previously Mitsubishi), not forgetting Detroit Diesel.
Scania is part of VAG, as is MAN.
Kenworth and DAF (and Peterbilt) are brands owned by PACCAR (as was Foden before that marque got the chop)
Hino is a Toyota brand.
Market diversity? Do leave off.
And I believe Volvo, Renault and Mack are bundled together too. Is that so?
Yes, Volvo, Mack and Renault are all under the same umbrella.
I think Hino and Toyota are separate entities now. Is Diahatsu still ■■■■■■■ with Toyota?
Star down under.:
I think Hino and Toyota are separate entities now
Still part of the Toyota Group AFAIK
Star down under.:
An old thread PR, but not much has changed. The Japs dominate until the street lights peter out and the speed limit climbs above eighty, then they flounder.
Once into the domain of multi trailer interstate/long distance roles, the Swedes and Yanks, with their Australianised prime movers dominate.
Mercedes are becoming more common on linehaul and regional routes, simply because they are able to supply.
Scania is increasing in popularity amongst those budget conscious buyers. Apart from price, there is little difference between Volvo and Scania, hence the latter’s increasing popularity.
Mack, a once much revered brand had been pushed down to merely a low spec, bonneted Volvo.
Western Star and Kenworth still reign dominant in the heaviest duty, remote roles.
Kenworth are standard with Daf motors, but ■■■■■■■ are a premium price option.
Western Star are owned by MB so obviously Detriot is the standard offering, except interestingly, in the top of the range 6900, which comes stock as 15 litre ■■■■■■■■
Freightliner, another Mercedes marque, offer an American style spec, flash cabs and a reputation for falling apart quickly.
Interesting post! I
In Europe I have seen Renault Kangoo vans (a tiny van based, I believe, the Clio car) badged as Renault, Nissan, Mercedes and Opel. Traffics I have seen badged as Renault, Nissan and Opel.
Oh, and I understand small Merc cars were recently, perhaps still are, powered by the Renault 1.5 litre diesel
Quite who build what where?.. Who knows.
Dipster:
In Europe I have seen Renault Kangoo vans (a tiny van based, I believe, the Clio car) badged as Renault, Nissan, Mercedes and Opel. Traffics I have seen badged as Renault, Nissan and Opel.Oh, and I understand small Merc cars were recently, perhaps still are, powered by the Renault 1.5 litre diesel
Quite who build what where?.. Who knows.
think you’ll find renault trafics,and their equivalent vauxhall, nissan, opel versions are built in luton , at the old IBC plant .
tony
Dipster:
In Europe I have seen Renault Kangoo vans (a tiny van based, I believe, the Clio car) badged as Renault, Nissan, Mercedes and Opel. Traffics I have seen badged as Renault, Nissan and Opel.Oh, and I understand small Merc cars were recently, perhaps still are, powered by the Renault 1.5 litre diesel
Quite who build what where?.. Who knows.
And I saw yesterday an Opel-badged Peugeot/Citroën van.
My brother’s father-in-law, on the day he retired, bought the Mercedes Class B he had been longing for. I didn’t dare to tell him it was Renault-powered.