The next ten years are going to see major changes in the trucks on offer from the major truck manufacturers, so PowerTorque got a chance to ask some questions about how Daimler is taking Fuso forward in the next few years.
he first of the global truck manufacturers to get an electric truck into the Australian market was Daimler, with the Fuso eCanter. The entire thrust of the Daimler Truck organisation is to move away from fossil fuels and towards zero carbon emissions and the eCanter release was the first step on a long road.
In a statement the Daimler group has announced its aim is to get to zero emissions from its products in all of the major markets, presumably including Australia, by 2039. The Fuso eCanter is already down under and the eActros is set to follow in 2023.
The man in charge, regionally, of this transition for us here in Australia, is Karl Deppen, who is CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Bus and Truck Corperation and Head of Daimler Truck Asia. He is also a member of the Board at Daimler Truck.
“In the last three decades, I’ve been working with Daimler and have spent about two thirds of my career in the truck industry,” says Karl. “I have worked in Japan and China before, so I’m somewhat familiar with the region and some of the special requirements from customers and markets there and really pleased to be part of this dynamic development.
“Especially in urban areas, the push for e-mobility is quite substantial and we are confident that we have a great product to offer for those markets. eCanter, really stands out in terms of versatility, in terms of range and in terms of affordability. We not only offer a modern battery electric truck here, but it comes along with a trusted network and service support.”
The eCanter has already covered more than 6 million kilometres in customer operations around the world. This real world experience and feedback, has informed the design of the latest eCanter, unveiled in September 2022 and heading to Australia some time soon. Don’t forget, we have Brisbane Truck Show coming up.
“We are really excited to bring the next generation along and demonstrate how we have listened and how we have taken that into the product specs to make it even better to really offer reliable, dependable and competitive battery electric mobility for urban transport,” says Karl. “We see a need to support customers to switch from current technology to better electric mobility and make it as easy and smooth as possible for the operations.
“We will continue to face some challenges, we still see some headwinds, from the supply situation and raw material costs, which has been an ongoing issue, which we have experienced for more than a year.
“This has created some shortcomings on vehicle delivery, we were not able to fulfil all customer needs, but we are confident that this situation will start to improve soon. We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with our suppliers and Daimler, to best allocate our resources.”
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