Profile: A look into Scania Trucks prospects for 2020

CBNME caught up with Erik Bergvall, Managing Director at Scania Trucks, to discuss about the company’s prospects for 2020 and how their new truck generation is a game changer for the industry. 

2020

Targets for Scania Middle East for 2020 are to grow in all markets, enter new segments and extend our product and service offering in the region. We aim to take the lead in sustainability by providing our customers not just with the product but complete sustainable transport solutions.

 New Truck Generation

The New Truck Generation is a result of ten years of development work and investments of over two billion Euros, Scania has made significant improvements in this and some of them are highlighted below-

• New design and shape of the front and chassis for improved aerodynamics
• Powertrain updates resulting in exceptional fuel efficiency and driving
  performance
• Extended storage options
• Enhanced driver’s seat adjustment options
• Maintenance based on your operation, increased uptime and profitability
• Unique safety features such as roll-over curtain side airbags, Stability
  Control, Active Emergency Braking (AEB), Electronic Braking System (EBS),
  Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
• More space behind the seats for wider beds
• New infotainment system with 7” touch screen
• The Scania Opticruise automated gearboxes now feature a layshaft brake
  for even smoother and much faster gear shifting, actually twice as fast when
  shifting up. And as option we also have a version with a clutch pedal that can
  be used on demand when you really need it, for example when manoeuvring
  in tight environments.
• We have also improved our road handling and the brake performance by 5%

We offer the widest range of alternative fuels in the industry – Hybrid, Bioethanol, Natural gas (CNG/LNG), Hydrogenated vegetable oil, Biogas and Biodiesel. Which one of them is the best alternative for you depends on the character of your business.

Apart from the New Truck Generation, in 2019 Scania introduced its first prototype Autonomous Bus and truck – the Scania NXT and AXL. The Scania NXT is the new battery electric self-driving urban concept vehicle designed to ferry commuters in the morning, deliver goods during the day and collect refuse at night. The Scania AXL is a fully autonomous cabless concept truck built for mining and construction sites.

With the Scania AXL and NXT, we are taking significant step towards the smart transport system of the future, where self-driving will play a natural part.

Technology and Innovation

Every Scania we’ve put on the road in the last decade has been full of smart technology, advanced sensors and wireless connectivity – which means that we have hundreds and thousands of constantly connected vehicles and engines in use all over the world today. The main reason to all of this is Data, there is no better way to improve something than analysing it real world usage. With the Scania Fleet Management system, you can get both information and insights – a lot more of it than our free monitoring reports. All constantly updated and available 24/7.

Safety is also another feature we heavily invested into, with the 360 degree HD view camera system you can park, load and manoeuvre through traffic much safer. The Adaptive Cruise control helps keep a safe distance from surrounding vehicle when cruising. This has been improved to handle speeds all the way down to stationary, making cruising safer and easier even in traffic jams. The side detection feature increases safety by detecting objects in blind spots. It consists of 2 systems – Vulnerable Road User Collision Warning and Blind Spot Warning.

Challenges

Most markets in the Gulf are still suffering due to the heavy fall in the construction sector which has affected all suppliers of heavy duty trucks. Also Oil & Gas segments are still under pressure. We hope to see improvements in the next year within these sectors as they represent a major share of the heavy truck sales.