New trucks for Spain's export effort
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Clamp-down on small hauliers has hit the home market hard
• TIte 40th International Trade Fair in Barcelona was the occasion for optimistic forecasts about the Spanish economy and the commercial vehicle industry, and for the display of some of the new truck models with which Spanish manufacturers plan to make a bigger impact on the European transport scene.
Both Chrysler-owned Barreiros and ENASA-owned Pegaso have new heavy truck ranges distinguished by very advanced cabs. The Barreiros CP-67 cab is intended for a 10-year production span, and design director Snr Gamarra de Artaza told me in Barcelona that each prototype had been tested over 500,000km and many examples had then been completely stripped to see if any points needed attention, This Barreiros cab has a reclining passenger seat, a sleeping-bunk, extensive noise insulation and wide-opening doors, and the fittings include two-speed wipers, radio, and easy-action door and window openers.
The cab was exhibited at Barcelona on the 42/38 Barreiros range which includes the 42 /38T tractive unit for 32 tonnes gew, weighing 5.9 tonnes unladen. This 'model has the turbocharged 11,946 cc B36 diesel developing 265 bhp at 2200 rpm and drives through a five-speed gearbox and two-speed Eaton axle.
The 42/38R has a longer version of the new cab, a version of the B36 developing 216 bhp, the five-speed gearbox and a single-speed axle. Its load rating is 13.6 metric tons.
Barreiros lorry output in the first four months of this year was 1479, compared with 700 for the same period of 1971, so last year's total of 3638 is obviously going to be greatly exceeded.
But the Spanish Chrysler company has finally received permission to sell its Zaragoza plant to Van Hool, the Belgian coachbuilder, and despite some protests from domestic coachbuilders the plant is now turning out Van Hool coaches mounted on chassis which arrive at Zaragoza by road.
Spain is becoming the base for several international cv production developments. As well as the Mercedes-VW plans for joint production of light commercials (CM July 14), the Spanish branches of Fiat and Citroen are to combine in the production of components for commercials. In the case of Fiat, this involves Seat, in which the Italian company has a 36 per cent holding.
Recovering from crisis Spain's biggest truck producer, Pegaso, .ost 250m pesetas (about £1.5m) last year, hie largely to the economic recession but also to new legislation which prevents Dwner-drivers from buying new vehicles. Because of excessive competition and a surplus of operators, the government introduced a law by which only firms, not individuals, can acquire new trucks. This alone caused a 20 per cent drop in Pegaso sales in 1971, but m.d. Snr Jorge Valls Quintana was, in Barcelona, looking Forward to a brighter future.
The company's new range has a spacious new three-seat cab, available with twin bunks. Instruments and fittings are to car standards. The new trucks will now be available with the 352 bhp turbocharged diesel first shown at Geneva, but the 38-tonne-gcw unit at present has a 260 bhp diesel with KKK (Kuhnle, Kopp and Kausch) turbocharger. This direct-injection six is of 10.5 litres and has a compression ratio of 15.5:1.
The 2080 tractive unit has a four-speed splitter gearbox giving eight forward ratios.
Two other new Pegasos are a twin-steer six-wheeler, the model 1083, and a big eight-wheeled rigid, the 1086. The six-wheeler has a load capacity of 18.4 metric tons with the 13-tonne rear axle currently permitted in Spain, but there is talk of bringing this down to the more common European figure of 10 or 11 tons. The vehicle has the 9105/15 diesel developing 200 bhp at 2000 rpm from a capacity of 10,518 cc.
The 260 bhp turbocharged diesel of the tractive unit is fitted also in the new eight-wheeler, which has the very high gross weight of 35.5 metric tons and can carry 26.6 tonnes — including container or bodywork.
Pegaso is exporting heavily, and has just sold 430 coach and lorry chassis to Cuba for $7m.
An independent firm manufacturing former BMC products under licence, SAVA, has now been brought into the ENASA group alongside Pegaso and Monotral. A new SAVA model shown at the Trade Fair is the 5.720 minibus, a 24-seater following Austin styling but having a rear-mounted Pegaso engine.