Volkswagen Truck & Bus has remained firmly on its growth trajectory and achieved a substantial increase in the sale of its commercial vehicles* in the first half of 2018. MAN Truck & Bus, Scania, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus sold 112,130 vehicles, equivalent to a considerable improvement of 16% for the Group in a year-on-year comparison. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is making great strides in the implementation of its Global Champion strategy. The Company’s transformation into a stock corporation, which took place in June 2018, and the imminent name change to TRATON AG represent further key milestones.
Buoyed by economic growth worldwide, all three commercial vehicle brands had a part to play in the solid unit sales growth seen in the first half of 2018 as against the prior-year period. MAN Truck & Bus sales were up a healthy 18% year-on-year, coming in at 49,040 vehicles. Sales at Scania climbed to 46,780 trucks and buses, an increase of about 7%. The demand for Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus vehicles improved by 48% to 17,340 units thanks to Brazil’s economic recovery.
All three Volkswagen Truck & Bus brands recorded higher truck sales. Truck sales in the first half of 2018 totaled 97,710 units, a considerable increase of around 12% on the previous year. This improvement in sales is attributable, among other factors, to the growth seen across virtually all regions.
Having sold 56,990 trucks in the EU28+2 region (EU member states, Norway, and Switzerland), the Group was up around 6% on the previous year thanks to the European commercial vehicles market remaining consistently strong. With a market share of 30.7%, Volkswagen Truck & Bus remains the market leader for the EU28+2 region. The brands reported impressive growth in sales of around 45% on the previous year in South America, with 19,220 trucks sold. This was fueled by Brazil’s continued economic recovery and the rise in exports. After a difficult few years, there are plenty of indications that Brazil’s economy has reached a turning point, although the situation still remains tense. The Group also reaped the benefits of its strong position as number one in the Brazilian truck market, where it achieved a market share of 40.8% in the first six months. Boosted by Russia’s continued economic recovery, the Group increased its sales to 4,870 trucks in the first half of the year, a considerable improvement of around 32% year-on-year. Lower demand in China resulted in a moderate fall in the number of trucks sold in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of the year to 7,070 units, around 6% fewer than in the prior-year period. Sales in the Middle East were up approximately 8% on the previous year, coming in at 3,790 vehicles.
The three Volkswagen Truck & Bus brands continued going from strength to strength in the bus segment. 11,250 buses were sold worldwide in the first half of 2018, representing solid growth of around 33% year-on-year, to which all regions contributed.
“We were able to boost our sales considerably in the first half of 2018. In doing so, we have taken another step on our way to becoming a Global Champion. Our transformation into a stock corporation and the imminent name change to TRATON AG also represent key milestones,” said Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus AG and member of the Board of Management responsible for Commercial Vehicles at Volkswagen AG.
MAN: major bus orders, platooning cooperation with DB Schenker off to a good start, launch of electric eTGE van, partnership with Solera
MAN Truck & Bus reported a record order in June 2018. Between 2019 and 2022, the company is set to supply up to 1,000 of its new Lion’s City and Lion’s Intercity buses to 31 regional bus companies of DB Regio AG in Germany. The cooperation initiative also includes framework agreements for optional service agreements and for supplying spare parts. DB Regio is Germany’s biggest operator of buses and a long-standing customer of MAN Truck & Bus. MAN’s newly developed generation of buses boasts enhanced efficiency, comfort, and an ergonomic design and already complies with the Euro 6d emission standard, which will enter into force on September 1, 2019. 61 hybrid Lion’s City buses are set to be operating on the roads of the Polish capital of Warsaw in the future, helping to lower emissions. Thanks to the buses’ modern electric engine, each vehicle can save up to 30% of fuel. The buses will be put into service by Mobilis, Poland’s biggest bus operator.
June 2018 marked the start of the practical phase of the joint research project on platooning, which is run by MAN Truck & Bus, DB Schenker, and the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences. A platoon made up of two connected MAN semitrailer tractors drove from the DB Schenker center in Neufahrn, Munich, to Nuremberg for the first time. The regular test drives to take place on the A9 highway between Munich and Nuremberg are intended to put platooning to the test in practice. Within this framework, the focus is on the driver, who still has an important role to play, and on a sensible way to integrate this technology into the entire logistics chain.
The eTGE, an electric van launched in March 2018, does its bit for electric mobility. With a range of up to 160 km and a load capacity of up to 1.7 tons, the eTGE is perfectly suited for urban and zero-emission distribution needs. The serial production of the eTGE began in July 2018.
MAN Truck & Bus’s activities in the field of digitalization also include a partnership with
Solera, which was set up in March 2018 with a long-term horizon and the aim of pressing further ahead with digitalizing after-sales connectivity. This includes the use of Digital Garage, a Solera platform, in the future.
Scania: bus system planned for Burkina Faso, project started for trucks powered by overhead lines, winner of the Green Truck Award, platooning cooperation initiative with Ahola
In June 2018, Scania signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Burkina Faso to set up a modern and efficient bus system in the country’s capital, Ouagadougou. The plan is to have 460 city buses and 90 coaches in use. Scania will also support the construction of a bus depot and training measures for drivers, as well as investigating whether alternative fuels can be introduced so that the fleet can run on biogas and biodiesel.
Two hybrid Scania trucks powered by overhead lines are being trialed on test routes in Germany as part of a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. Electricity is supplied to the truck from the overhead wire via a pantograph. The aim of this research project is to examine the ways to make long-haul transportation of goods more eco-friendly. The first vehicle will be tested on sections of the A5 highway south of Frankfurt from the beginning of 2019, with the trial runs then expanded to sections of the A1 near Lübeck and the B462 federal highway near Gaggenau. As part of the project, the BMU has partnered up with Siemens and Volkswagen Group Logistics, with the latter working closely together with Scania.
In March 2018, Scania won the prestigious Green Truck Award for its R 500 model, which was launched in 2017. This accolade is awarded every year together with German automotive magazines Verkehrs-Rundschau and Trucker. Returning fuel consumption of less than 25 liters for every 100 km, the R 500 was by far the most fuel-efficient vehicle in the lineup.
The cooperation initiative with Finnish logistics company Ahola, which Scania entered into in March 2018, is an important step toward autonomous driving and will see Scania platoons tested on public roads in Finland. The extensive tests to be carried out under extreme weather conditions are intended to provide insights into how platooning can be used to reduce fuel consumption and lower the risk of accidents on public roads.
Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus: major bus order, market leader in Brazil’s truck segment
A major order for over 1,000 coach chassis was received jointly by Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus and MAN Truck & Bus in Mexico and is testament to how exceptionally well the brands are working together within the Group. This puts the Group in an optimal position to meet its customers’ requirements. In April 2018, this specialist for emerging markets received an order for 3,400 school buses, to be supplied over a period of twelve months as part of Brazil’s school bus program. The vehicles will be used by municipalities and regions across the whole of Brazil. Boasting 25 years of experience in the production of buses in Brazil and a range of 17 different chassis, Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus is one of South America’s leading bus manufacturers and has once again defended its number one position in the Brazilian truck market. Back in the first quarter of the year, Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus won the prestigious Lotus Award of the Brazilian industry in several categories and was crowned Brand of the Year for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks.
RIO: RIO Marketplace successfully launched, product portfolio continuously expanded
The RIO Marketplace has been available online since January. RIO Essentials, a free-of-charge basic service, makes it possible for customers to use the deployment analysis and the fleet monitor providing information about the vehicle’s location, driver identification, kilometrage, and fuel level. The range of functions can be supplemented with services like RIO Advance, RIO Geo, and RIO Perform, which are subject to a charge. RIO Maintenance gives customers an insight into their vehicle’s maintenance and condition data, while RIO Compliance makes it easier to manage their legal duties when it comes to tachograph and driver map data.
Customers already have the option to access services like Synfioo Premium ETA, which supplies in-depth arrival time information, on the RIO Marketplace. MAN ServiceCare is the first OEM service available from RIO and offers proactive maintenance management. The plan is to also offer OEM services from Volkswagen Truck & Bus and other partner solutions on this platform in the future. International Transfer Center for Logistics GmbH has partnered with the Technical University of Berlin to examine the impact of using RIO services as part of a joint study. The first results of the study will be presented at the IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair in September 2018.
