Archive, Industry News

IVECO BUS UNAFFECTED IN AUSSIE MANUFACTURING CHANGE

CHANGES to Iveco’s Australian manufacturing processes will not impact its bus and coach product range, the company has confirmed.

According to a company spokesperson, following its Customisation & Innovation Centre (CIC) development announcement – created as part of a global transformation process – they stated: “We are not building Iveco’s full bus chassis in Australia at the moment. Today’s announcement will not affect [our] Heavy Bus range,” when ABC magazine asked for further clarification of the changes and full ‘Heavy Duty range’ importation.

As part of a global transformation process, Iveco announced development of the Customisation & Innovation Centre (CIC) and related changes that will impact its Australian manufacturing arm, recently.

The CIC is a business unit that will further leverage Iveco’s local engineering and manufacturing expertise, “…transforming the company’s focus towards the customisation and innovation of its vehicles for local markets,” it says.

The CIC is being developed to better assist Iveco customers and body-builders – particularly those with complex body types – to achieve a more streamlined design and body fitment process for their vehicles, it explains.

Promoting innovation will be another key aspect of the CIC, with Iveco placed to work more closely with Europe and local partners to explore areas such as alternative propulsion solutions, digitisation, connectivity and autonomous driving, it adds.

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LOCAL CUSTOMISATION

In commenting on the new initiative, Iveco Australia and New Zealand managing director Michael May says that by focusing on the CIC, Iveco would strengthen one of its key selling points in the Australian and NZ market.

“Historically, our most unique value proposition has been our ability to customise and specialise vehicles for our market, leveraging the expertise of our local engineering team and the local facility,” he said.

“By further enhancing this service, we believe there is considerable potential to provide additional value to existing and prospective customers, while growing the CIC’s capacity and scope of work.”

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IMPORTED RANGE

Announcing the development of the CIC, the company also advised it would move to fully import its Heavy Duty range from Iveco’s advanced manufacturing facility in Madrid, Spain. This transition is anticipated to take place from the end of June, 2022, it confirms.

Iveco currently fully imports its Light Duty, Medium Duty, selected Heavy Duty, Minibus and Off-Road models, it states.

The decision to fully import its Heavy Duty range will allow Iveco Trucks Australia to more closely align model year introduction timings with that of its parent company in Europe. As an example, Iveco will be launching the new S-WAY model truck in Australia according to the global launch plan.

May says the decision to move to local customisation of fully imported vehicles was a natural progression of Iveco’s ANZ transformation.

“Given our brand’s long history of manufacturing in Australia, this next step towards customisation strengthens our ability to remain agile and responsive to demanding regional requirements,” he said.

“This move will also ensure that we are in a position to offer the market the very latest in Iveco performance, comfort and safety innovation, in the most timely fashion and, at the same time, capitalise on our design and validation engineering expertise and customisation capabilities.”

Over the coming months Iveco will continue to engage with its employees, whom may be impacted by the announcement, and will provide appropriate support to the involved workforce, it states.

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SPIN-OFF REBRAND

THE CIC creation isn’t the only change of late, with Iveco globally in the lead-up to its spin-off from CNH Industrial early 2022 being renamed to Iveco Group, unveiling an innovative new logo that showcases the eight brands under the Group’s ownership, it states.

The new logo positions Iveco Group as the holding company, employing an “…understated design and restrained colour selection to portray a humble yet hard-working ethos”, while the blue dot between ‘IVECO’ and ‘Group’ signals, “…a bright future, focus on sustainability and balance,” it explains. 

Below this logo are its brands written as: IVECO CAPITAL, HEULIEZ, IVECO BUS, IVECO, FPT, IVECO Defence Vehicles, ASTRA and Magirus, which stand out with bolder colours giving each an individual identity, it states.

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ABOUT IVECO

Iveco Trucks Australia is a proud manufacturer and importer of commercial vehicles spanning the light, medium and heavy-duty truck segments and also has a range of small-to-large buses, it explains.

The commercial vehicle range includes on- and off-road models from car-licence vans through to prime movers rated up to 90 tonnes GCM and buses from 11 seats to 61 seats, it confirms.

The Iveco product range is extensive and includes E6 Daily, Eurocargo, ACCO, Stralis, X-Way, Trakker and Astra models.

Designed and tested to meet Australia’s demanding operating requirements, Iveco vehicles are supported in Australia by a dedicated network of more than 60 dealerships and parts and service outlets strategically located nationwide – offering aftersales services that include extended warranties, breakdown support packages and personalised maintenance contracts, it explains.

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Photography: courtesy Iveco Australia + Fabian Cotter

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