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Jun 11, 2012

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA

* USA / Germany - VW plans to buy stake in US truckmaker Navistar

Wofsburg,Germany -InAutoNews (Rumania) -10 June 2012:  --  Volkswagen Ag, Europe’s largest carmaker is examining the possibility to take a stake in in troubled US truckmaker Navistar International, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Sunday... Without citing sources, the paper wrote that entering the U.S. market via Navistar would help it better compete with Daimler Trucks, the world’s largest commercial vehicle maker, which owns the U.S. truck brand Freightliner... If Volkswagen wants to take a stake in Navistar, it may need to get the support of Icahn, who previously is said to have wanted Navistar to be merged with heavy truck manufacturer Oshkosh Corp...

* NY - Navistar up as Icahn raises stake, Fiat flirts 

New York,NY,USA -Reuters/CNBC -8 Jun 2012: -- Shares of Navistar International Corp rose 16 percent on Friday, after Carl Icahn raised his stake in the U.S. truck and engine maker and the head of Italian truckmaker Fiat Industrial said he was interested in the U.S. truck market... The rebound reversed much of Navistar's stock plunge on Thursday, when an unexpected quarterly loss and word of another delay in regulatory approval for the company's new model of truck engine sent shares to a three-year-low...
 

* Michigan - Fancy add-ons boosting pickup sales

  (Photo from Chrysler: 2012 Ram Laramie Limited) 
Detroit,MICH,USA -Bloomberg/The Detroit News, by Craig Trudell -June 10, 2012: -- Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co. are testing the limits of truck buyers' appetite for pickups loaded with leather, chrome and heated seats at price tags that can top $50,000... It took just three days for dealers to snap up the full-year's allotment of Chrysler's new luxury-trim Ram Laramie Limited pickups, brand President Fred Diaz said in an interview. Ford, whose F-Series has been the top-selling vehicle line in the U.S. for 30 years, said last week it will add a range-topping Limited luxury model later this year... General Motors Co. added the Denali premium name to its GMC Sierra pickup line in 2010, and this year the sub-brand has made up 35 percent of heavy-duty Sierra retail sales, up from 15 percent in 2010...


* N. Caroline - Mack expanding natural-gas power to Pinnacle and Granite models

(Photo:  Mack Granite truck)
Greensboro,NC,USA -Fleet Owner -Jun. 11, 2012: -- Mack Trucks today announced it will offer natural gas-powered versions of its on-highway Pinnacle and vocational Granite models in 2013. Both models will be powered by the Cummins Westport ISX12 G engine...  The truck maker already offers natural gas-powered TerraPro low-entry and TerraPro cabover refuse-truck models... Like the TerraPro natural-gas models, the natural gas-powered Pinnacle and Granite trucks will have a maintenance-free aftertreatment system and require only a three-way catalyst to meet EPA 2010 and CARB emissions standards... The OEM also pointed out that its natural gas-powered trucks are available with either compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel systems... 


- ELECTRIC TRUCKS - 

* Kansas - Electric truck subsidies keep the lights on ...

 (Photo by Jim Barcus: Ed Donegan, a maintenance electrician for Kansas City parks, worked recently from an electric lift truck. The truck can go up to 80 miles before recharging)
 Kansas city,KS,USA -The Kansas City Star, by STEVE EVERLY -Jun. 09, 2012: ...  But KC manufacturer rejects the notion that costly vehicles can’t compete without federal grants... Sam Swearngin is a big fan of alternative-fuel vehicles, but he’s recovering from sticker shock after buying an electric truck... The fleet manager for Kansas City’s municipal government was in the market for a bucket truck similar to what electric utilities use to lift workers to fix power lines... A diesel bucket truck would have cost $132,000. One that used natural gas was priced at $182,000. The price of the electric truck bought from Smith Electric Vehicles of Kansas City was $330,000 — $198,000 more than the diesel version. Swearngin got a federal grant to cover the difference but is reluctant to buy another one until there’s a big price drop...

 - OPINION - 

* Indiana - Lack of confidence a drag on truck orders 

Columbus,IND,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Jun. 11, 2012: -- Some industry analysts believe that a major reason for the current slump in heavy truck orders and sales is due largely to a growing lack of confidence in the direction of the U.S. and global economy, rather than the in the fundamentals of the freight market – which, in many respects, are more solid than many think... Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst with ACT Research, contends that carriers large and small still need to buy new units due to the age of their current fleet, with such “replacement demand” continuing to drive both orders and sales this year. However, the higher cost of new equipment is making it difficult for those carriers seeking to purchase assets with credit versus cash buyers... Back in the day, Vieth said, a basic Class 8 truck cost $100,000. But now, with all the emissions technology, the base model is $125,000 or higher. On top of that, [diesel] fuel is more expensive, costing 37 cents more per gallon on average in the first quarter this year versus the same period in 2011...

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