Page 29 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer - April 2019

Back to the world of CNG and LNG, Scania have con rmed as Transport News went to press that they will have on display at the Scottish Clean Air Roadshow held at Hampden Park, Glasgow on 26 March, their G340 CNG 4x2 urban artic plated
at 32 tonnes which by that date will
have fully completed its whole of vehicle type approval.
Not surprisingly, Martin Hay, while happy to talk about Scania’s moves into the relatively unknown future of alternative fuels, is conversely delighted to talk about the success of the new generation of trucks that won the 2019 Transport News Top Truck Award.
PROBLEMS FULFILLING DEMAND
‘We’re proud of the whole operation and the hugely successful launch.
Not only that, the full range is being welcomed everywhere thanks to fuel reduction and safety features. In fact, we
have had problems ful lling demand, however the last factory in the global Scania group has now moved onto
the S range, completing the full New Generation offering and already we are nding that the S 500 is good on fuel and torque with its six cylinder diesel engine, however the 520, 580, 650 and 730 range with a V8 engine is already highly sought after.’
Martin Hay recalls the early days of Euro 6 development when the discussion was all about increased prices and higher fuel consumption, however this has
been disproved in Scania’s new Euro 6s, says Scottish regional director James Colbourne who con rmed that the two most popular options north of the border are the 500 and 650.
This Transport News ‘View From The Top’ interview took place at Scania’s newly opened Dundee depot which looked resplendent on an unseasonal balmy, sunny February day. It houses
NEWS FROM THE NORTH ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
Martin Hay receives the 2019 Transport News Top Truck Award from editor Alistair Vallance.
three 30 metre lanes, a safe bay with pit, six tractor unit bays, a wash bay and it will soon become tted out as a Pet Reg site. ‘Which in fact is key to our success
in Scotland, with Pet Reg and Scania becoming almost synonymous,’ says James.
The Dundee depot will also be geared for the supply of LNG and CNG gas fuel, only the second Scania outlet to offer this facility, the rst one being the newly opened Bridgewater dealership down south.
The Dundee depot also will become
an integral part of Scania Assistance and a van can be scrambled to a VOR in the area. Interestingly, and conscious of the fact that a large percentage of callouts are for trailer problems, Scania’s VRS parts holdings in Dundee have a large number of trailer supplies.
In the used vehicle market, Scania say they will have a number of early Euro 6s coming back in Scotland which will form the backbone of their offerings. The old Euro 5s with a million miles on the clock have gone!
USED VEHICLE APP
In Scotland, Scania used trucks are stocked at Renfrew and Bellshill and full details are available in their newly launched used vehicle App.
According to James Colbourne, the three fast movers are; ‘anything with a V8 engine, which sells now, also tag axles and an SCR 450. We would expect that towards the end of 2019 even some New Generation vehicles will be coming back into our used truck domain.
‘We are also expecting another big market to open up for us with the new, low L cab which will be of interest to local authorities. A factory-built chassis is currently being bodied and will be available as a demo vehicle.’
Naturally, Martin Hay is happy with Scania’s performance in the 16 tonne and over marketplace. ‘In the UK we are selling to long term customers on retail deals and 25% of everything we sell is powered with our V8 engine, led by Scotland.
“We are also expecting another big market to open up for us with the new, low L cab which will be of interest to local authorities. A factory-built chassis is currently being bodied and will be available as a demo vehicle.”
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER > APRIL 2019 29