CNH Industrial has launched variants of its 6×4 Iveco Trakker range with ZF Eurotronic automatic manual transmission.
The launch took place during a test drive event with its UAE distributor, Saeed Mohammed Al Ghandi & Sons (SMAG), attended by Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, MD of SMAG, and Graham Turner, CEO of SMAG.
Long-adopted by fleets in Europe and commanding a market share of up to 70%, automatic manual technology delivers demonstrable cost savings by extending the clutch life, preventing over-revving, holding the vehicles on hills and freeing the operator to always keep two hands on the wheel.
Luca Sra, business director for Iveco in the Middle East and Africa, noted: “I personally faced the introduction of the automatic transmission in off-road applications in the Italian market some ten years ago. There was reluctance in the beginning because of the belief that manual was better.”
“However, at the end of the day, this is a way of contributing towards your bottom line: First, the durability of an automatic transmission; secondly, in terms of cost of operation, in terms of service and repair, and thirdly in safety and comfort. In some cases you will have an experienced driver, but others you will have a driver who is fairly new to the truck, and this is the perfect solution.”
The Iveco Trakker is not the first instance of an automatic manual transmission on a heavy truck in the region, but it is a first for the brand and it is hoped that the introduction will continue to contribute towards the company’s already strong growth.
Over the past three years, Iveco as a whole has achieved a combined annual growth rate of 30%.
