New Autocar DC-64 Conventional Truck

[autocardc]

25 minutes ago, kscarbel2 said:

They are......already confirmed, with X15 power.

Do you have a link to this?

[kscarbel2]

Just now, autocardc said:

Do you have a link to this?

No, spoke to them on the phone.

[Bullheaded]

Now we just need to see them get a bigger sales network. Not many dealer around here.

Who'd have ever thought we'd lose Mack and gain Autocar, LOL.

[kscarbel2]

6 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

Now we just need to see them get a bigger sales network. Not many dealer around here.

Who'd have ever thought we'd lose Mack and gain Autocar, LOL.

You're right of course. The problem is this dealer network will need to reboot itself (get pumped up) so as to effectively take this ball and run with it.

I assume they have been doing direct sales to Waste Management and the larger fleets (as the Mack factory branches did). For that reason, the dealers have been doing more after-sales support than selling. Now, this business model will have the change.

[kscarbel2]

Houston, they have a problem.

Many of their dealers aren't qualified to be successful heavy truck dealers. They could only suffice to provide after-sales spare parts support.

https://www.autocartruck.com/find-service-location-distributor/

For example:

Dallas - http://www.iptruck.com/

Chicago - https://www.standardequipment.com/

[DailyDiesel]

I echo Kevins statement. In all of Upstate and Western NY, with the exception of two dealers, Autocars are distributed solely by International Truck dealers. Where will their true loyalties lie when an undecided customer walks through door? Of course if the truck is as popular as social media indicates any dealer would be a fool to not sell what the customer wants.

I'll give Autocar the benefit of the doubt, they seem to have tackled their first problem, actually making a truck, with a solid plan.

[41180]

Yeah i looked up the dealers near me and looked like wallingford ct is only dealer in new england ?

[41chevy]

46 minutes ago, 41180 said:

Yeah i looked up the dealers near me and looked like wallingford ct is only dealer in new england ?

I recall Manchester N.H. had a dealer selling them New England Kenworth??

[j hancock]

Bracken (now gone) was a long time Autocar dealer in Manchester, NH.  I believe McDevitt purchased what was left which included Western Star.

Anderson Motors in Rhode Island was also a long time Autocar dealer and they are now Valvo Trucks.

The new Autocar is going to look good in white with a Waste Management decal on the door!  Somebody in Sweden better wake up!

[james j neiweem]

VW/Scania is awake. Funny how Volvo's boss is ex Scania. Must be something in the water at Volvo headquarters

[james j neiweem]

41180: Looks like Acar dealers are scarce as turkey teeth. Could not find anything in Wallingford ct. But did find-O'conner GMC Volvo, Augusta Me., Dario diesel Worcester Ma.,  Taylor and Loyd Bedford Ma. and Bruno Truck sales Brooklyn NY. Supposedly there are 63 Autocar full line service and sales dealerships.

[Bullheaded]

I just had a look for Ontario, Canada. I knew there was a trailer sales dealer that was selling the shunt trucks because there are a lot of those in use in southern Ontario.

But I just saw that Tallman (my old International dealer) sells Autocar. And they just sold their dealer chain to Rush Truck Centers.

So I can see them expanding the Autocar sales line. They are a huge dealer network, and Tallman was excellent to deal with.

So Autocar may be in good shape for sales after all?

[gxbxc]

I like the grill , and the "nostrils" could give more cooling to a larger radiator . As for the 1930's cabover grill  it adds a piece of Auto Car heritage to it and it also had the "nostrils" but they were just panels  .I give it a 100% like. And as for Acars of old I don't think they made a decient grill sense the 50"s The heavy trucks with there open shutters and big brush guard were tough looking  but who could say the flip phone plastic hood and grills of the end of the production were inovative. And come on guys give them there due ,you aint never going to get a new Superliner  from Volvo

 

[kscarbel2]

Over the next couple of weeks, Autocar is holding meetings with its major refuse customers on the DC-64R.

After that time, they will present more information to the general public.

Response to the truck has exceeded their expectations. They're handling this launch very carefully. They are a smaller truckmaker who can't afford to make costly mistakes and waste money. Each step must be calculated. I'm impressed.

The truck "passion" at Autocar is driven by majority owner Andrew Taitz. He bought out Carlisle Group's stake in 2005 and has been stubbornly growing the company every since.

“Our approach is different because we take orders from the customer and start from there, customer-engineer it, and build it for the application taking into account exactly what it’s going to be used for. That’s a pull model, and everyone else in the business has a push model, where they focus on high-volume production for over-the-road and delivery and then modify those vehicles for severe-duty applications. That doesn’t work as well.”

Andrew Taitz

[Bullheaded]

Like I have said, I like it. I'd like to try one as a dump truck. I'm dying to see the dash and interior.

It's funny though, they must do a lot of direct sales to customers, because I never see the Xpeditor's on lots or in the truck papers. But I see lots on the road working.

[kscarbel2]

Here's an article that gives you some idea about the man leading today's Autocar. Alike Elon Musk, he's from South Africa.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andrew Taitz

Chairman, CEO, Grand Vehicle Works LLC

Margaret Littman, Crain's Chicago Business

Without a college education — but with on-the-job training running a frozen-food business in his native South Africa — Andrew Taitz immigrated to the U.S.

"I wanted to buy and build businesses, and the States is the single largest, most accessible market," he explains. "At that time, South Africa did not have a great future to bring a family up in."

Two weeks after he and his wife, Dana, married, they came to the U.S., choosing Chicago for both practical and emotional reasons.

"It was 1990, and there was a recession then. I was looking for manufacturing firms, and Chicago was one of the least-affected regions," he says. "But it also felt right to start here. It is not hard to be a foreigner here."

That same combination of pragmatic and intuitive thinking helped Mr. Taitz turn beleaguered and bankrupt businesses into a $400-million niche. In 1993, he made his first purchase, Indiana-based Union City Body Co., a maker of bodies for delivery trucks.

His first job was to woo back the company's old customers.

"A lot of them were deserting Union City because (the firm) wasn't going to be around long," recalls Merrit Kinne, director of fleet maintenance for California's Aramark Services Inc., a Union City customer.

It was at this time that Mr. Taitz had a flash of insight. He realized it was inefficient to have one company make a truck body and another make the chassis — which had been the industry standard. Why not merge the two? "His vision pretty much caught the rest of the industry flat-footed," Mr. Kinne says.

By 1998, Mr. Taitz persuaded General Motors Corp. to sell the specialized chassis division he needed to produce the guts for Union City's body parts.

He moved the GM operations from Detroit to Indiana, renamed the business Workhorse Custom Chassis, and structured it under Grand Vehicle Works LLC, the Highland Park holding company that also encompasses Union City. He promised that the new plant would be up and running within eight weeks, and it was — surprising even his supporters.

"It was a difficult time. It was 20 below zero, and I am not used to winter. It was stressful because we had to stick to the timelines I had promised," he says. "But that's what's exciting about business — doing things that people think cannot be done."

.

[Lmackattack]

has anyone taken pics of this truck. I have seen 2 exterior photos and that's it....regarding dealer network. I dont see factory dealerships popping up right away unless its investor funded. sadly I see autocar dealers latching onto no name HD parts and service shops. kinda how mack dealers sold out after Volvo came in. if they can build the brand that could change quickly. 

x15 engine option?  sounds like a long hood heavy haul is around the corner?  what can you share kevin?

[kscarbel2]

9 hours ago, Lmackattack said:

has anyone taken pics of this truck. I have seen 2 exterior photos and that's it....regarding dealer network. I dont see factory dealerships popping up right away unless its investor funded. sadly I see autocar dealers latching onto no name HD parts and service shops. kinda how mack dealers sold out after Volvo came in. if they can build the brand that could change quickly. 

x15 engine option?  sounds like a long hood heavy haul is around the corner?  what can you share kevin?

They have engineered an entire range of models, what one would expect from professional truck people. Power includes the X15. To invest in a new cab, chassis and so many components, the "plan" had to include a full portfolio. As I learn more, I will share.

[kscarbel2]

Here's something you won't see at VTNA..........

[Bullheaded]

Mr. Kscarbel2, again thanks for all the info. Is Workhorse Custom Chassis still part of the GVW/Autocar group?

[kscarbel2]

21 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

Mr. Kscarbel2, again thanks for all the info. Is Workhorse Custom Chassis still part of the GVW/Autocar group?

You're welcome old friend, my pleasure.

No, GVW sold Workhorse to Navistar in 2005, who dumped it in 2012.

 

[Bullheaded]

Oh, ok. I used to haul RV's and I remember seeing Workhorse Chassis. I didn't realize Navistar had them. I knew Navistar had Monaco.

It's getting hard to keep track of all these companies. I don't know how you keep up to all this news! LOL. But it is appreciated.

[james j neiweem]

Ditto appreciated!

[Red Horse]

KSC

I would hope that these guys have recruited someone like you who clearly understands how the old Autocar and OLD Mack as well did so well when it came to the heavy vocational business.  It is one thing to have good engineers who understand for example the meaning of RBM when it comes to frames etc etc.  It is another to market the engineers work.

I see so much evidence today that most of the truck manufacturers are clueless when it comes to marketing.

[kscarbel2]

Speaking of the Autocar launch, I can't remember when we had such an exciting week. I haven't felt this much energy since the HN80 was launched.

Non-truck people, realistically speaking, at Freightliner, Paccar and the Mack brand for example, try to hype the launch of the latest Cascadia, T680 and Anthem.......and completely fail, because they have never known the "pulse" of the heavy truck industry. There's something to be said for deep-rooted truck experience (politically correct "diversity" doesn't create and sell great trucks).