Page 74 - Demo

Above left: Auckland operator Kerry Bowman operates the crane on one of the ve 330 ATis he ended up owning. He remembers them fondly
Above right: DAF’s 1976 take on a driver-friendly long-haul cab – with the F2800 Supercontinental model
Right: e XF105 won the Euro Truck of the Year title in 2007
established service and parts network.
The tipping point for the make in NZ, he says, “was when we
crept up in horsepower – started getting 500 and when we went to the Euro 3 cab. We went from the earlier square headlights, we had all that comfort and a more modern cab. Everything was just streets ahead.”
Breakthrough fleet sales in the first few years included TR Group – “they took a lot of rental trucks and longterm lease trucks – and Halls: They took a lot of early Euro 1s and 2s.
“And gee, those early ones, they did millions and millions of Ks. I remember they pulled some bearing shells out at two million Ks and they went ‘slap those back in – they’re still going.’ They had a great run out of them.”
DAF launched the new LF, CF and XF series in Europe in 2001 and 2002 – the LF taking the European TOTY honours in 2002. It followed up with the introduction of the XF105 model in 2005, and the Euro 4 and 5 programmes in 2006. They were followed by a complete range of new Euro 6 models in 2013.
In NZ, DAF sales climbed to 72 in 2001 and 87 the following
year – only to then fluctuate between 32 and 67 over the next eight years.
In 2005, the truckmaker unveiled the PACCAR MX engine that’s now installed in all of its heavy-duty trucks – and in over 40% of all Kenworths and Peterbilts.
The latest generation MX-13 and MX-11 engines are, says DAF, “extremely efficient” downsped engines, with intelligent drive lines and efficient rear axles – resulting in high torque being available at low engine speeds for “unmatched fuel efficiency and the highest driver comfort.”
The combination of advanced vehicle software algorithms, improved aerodynamics and a new, compact aftertreatment system, resulted in a 7% improvement in fuel economy, DAF says – “the largest fuel efficiency gain in the history of the company.”
In NZ, Southpac achieved a breakthrough with the make in 2008/’09, with the introduction of DAF’s Euro 5 models – with the all-important option of a Roadranger 18-speed manual rather than the ZF or AS Tronic standard spec transmission, plus Meritor drive axles.
Says Durent: “We started fitting the Roadrangers here – because they said it couldn’t be done. That’s the worst thing you can say to us!” Soon they became a factory option.
“The Meritors came in very early from the factory – as a result of South Africa, Australia and NZ looking for better tare weight. The hub reduction rear was good...for traction, but it was heavy.”
Southpac general sales manager Richard Smart points out that just as the Euro 5 Kiwi DAFs were being nicely refined to “exactly what we wanted...then unfortunately we had the GFC.” Only once the after-effects of the financial crisis had gone did DAF sales here really hit their straps.
In 2012, around 125 were sold – up from 74 the previous year... and 42 in 2010. Sales since have averaged better than 200 a year – hitting a best-ever 253 last year. This year, Smart hopes, they’ll hit 280. To the end of 2017 almost 1800 DAFs, including the light-duty LF, had been sold in NZ over 17 years.
In 2017, the new CF and new XF were named joint winners of the TOTY 2018 in Europe – “for their class-leading transport efficiency and impressive fuel efficiency gain of 7%.”
The LF also scored Commercial Fleet Truck of the Year honours in the United Kingdom.
In terms of where to from here....DAF has been actively developing future technologies – working with leading European electric and hybrid powertrain development projects.
It demonstrated its truck platooning capabilities in 2015: Its EcoTwin vehicle system saw trailing vehicles automatically follow a lead truck to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and to improve traffic flow. Its success, says DAF, led to the company
66 | Truck & Driver