First Time for a Truck Made Outside of Europe

[kscarbel2]

Diesel News Australia  /  September 19, 2018

The announcement of the winner of the International Truck of the Year has the prize awarded for the first time for a truck made outside of Europe. The new F-Max, produced by Ford Trucks in Turkey, has been elected International Truck of the Year for 2019 by a jury of 23 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing 23 major trucking magazines from throughout Europe. 

The prestigious award was handed over to Haydar Yenigün, Ford Otosan General Manager, during the press day of the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Germany.

With a winning score of 126 votes, the new F-Max heavy-duty prime mover fought off the challenges posed by Scania’s recently-launched L and P Series and the FH/FM truck range powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Volvo Trucks.

In terms of the International Truck of the Year (IToY) rules, the annual award is presented to the truck introduced into the market in the previous 12 months which has made the greatest contribution to road transport efficiency. Jury members take into account several important criteria including technological innovation, comfort, safety, drivability, fuel economy, environmental footprint and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

During a recent extended test drive in Turkey, the IToY jury members praised the efficiency and advanced characteristics of the F-Max’s driveline, including Eco-Roll, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and GPS-based Predictive Cruise Control functions. Equally impressive was the pairing, and quietness, of the in-line six-cylinder 12.7-litre Ford Ecotorq Euro 6 engine rated at 500hp in combination with the ZF 12-speed Traxon automated gearbox.

The Truck of the Year journalists also appreciated the key features of the new long-haul cab, which offers a comfortable, ergonomic, user-friendly working and living environment, with a flat floor, a width of 2.5 m, an interior height of 2.16 m, excellent storage capacity and cockpit-style dashboard featuring a digital instrument cluster (which is both easy to read and navigate). Jury members also commented favourably on ConnecTruck, the connectivity platform of the vehicle.

“With the introduction of F-Max, Ford Trucks has delivered a fine engineered truck that can be a meaningful new player in the highly competitive segment of long-haul transport,” said Gianenrico Griffini, International Truck of the Year Chairman in summing-up the jury vote.

Also at the IAA event, a new annual Truck Innovation Award has been awarded by the International Truck of the Year organisation (IToY) for the first time. The award reflects the ongoing energy-transition taking place within the automotive industry towards new, unconventional, low-environmental footprint trucks.

Entries for the Truck Innovation Award have been nominated and judged in parallel with the long-running International Truck of the Year award. The main criterion for the nomination and election of a truck for the Truck Innovation Award are based on its likely contribution to increasing the efficiency of transport of goods by road in the foreseeable future, as well as the potential reduction of its environmental footprint within the countries involved in the International Truck of the Year Organisation.

MAN Truck and Bus has won the inaugural Truck Innovation Award for 2019 in recognition of its aFAS Level 4 automated driverless safety truck. The Truck Innovation Award was handed over to Joachim Drees, Chief Executive Officer of MAN Truck & Bus, during the press day at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show.

The aFAS, this acronym stands for ‘automated driverless safety vehicle for jobs on Federal motorways’ is a highly innovative safety solution developed by MAN over a period of four years, with the support of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and with the involvement of technical institutions and several key component supplier-partners.

With a winning score of 93 votes, MAN’s aFAS fought off competition from the Mercedes-Benz eActros, Volvo Trucks’ FL/FE electric trucks, Renault Trucks’ second-generation electric trucks, DAF’s Ecochamps and ZF’s Innovation Truck.

During a recent exclusive press event in Linz , Austria, the IToY jury members were given an in-depth overview of the aFAS project. Furthermore, the jury had the opportunity to assess the Level 4 unmanned protective truck. The highly innovative vehicle, a MAN TGM 18.340, automatically follows another truck engaged in maintenance works on highways.

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[RoadwayR]

Will the new Ford be sold in Western Europe?  If so, by whom?

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