King of the world
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As the head of Daimler Trucks, Andreas Renschler has to take a worldwide view on all matters. We tackle him on Europe, Euro-6 and the US
Words: Oliver Dixon
THESE ARE INTERESTING times at Daimler. In Europe its truck business has launched Euro-6 products more than two years ahead of deadline; in North America its Freightliner brand continues to assert its leadership in the buoyant, post-EPA10 marketplace; in fast-growing Brazil it ran out of capacity earlier in 2011; and in similarly accelerating Russia its junior partnership with KamAZ is beginning to pay dividends.
On the downside, compliance issues continue to bedevil things with, in the past few weeks, the CEO Of Mercedes-Benz USA Ernst Lieb being removed, newly-acquired Tognum having its feet held to the ire in Korea over apparent bribes, and, closer to home, UK boss Ian Jones leaving the business.
However, head man Andreas Renschler seems pretty happy with things. “I think in North America the market will still be growing next year,” he says. “It may not be climbing to the heights that people thought they would see back in March or April, but there will still be growth, driven by the replacement needs of the leets.”
Clouds on the horizon
“In Europe there is a weakness in the overall economic situation. We need to see how this will end up. Today all of the signals we see suggest that there will not be a recession, but clearly there are a number of clouds on the horizon. The most important thing is that we are prepared: this year is ine, the order book is full, and next year we will see how the order intake book develops.
“We can react very quickly indeed should there be a downturn, as we showed in 2009. We managed the 2009 downturn very well and I was extremely happy with our performance. The industry today looks a lot better than it did in 2008, and from my point of view the industry – including ourselves – is far better prepared than it was in 2008.” While North American growth is being driven by the replacement of an elderly (seven years-plus) truck parc that rejected almost en masse the EPA07compliant trucks, European growth is, says Renschler, falling hostage to a bigger picture. “I think the European customers are waiting: they have a lot of demand from within their businesses, but they are feeling very insecure in terms of ordering trucks today.
“If you are fearful, you do not spend money and it is for the European governments to solve this. They need to prove to the inancial markets that they can solve the problems with the Euro, and if they can do this, then we have no reason to expect a recession.” Renschler believes the single currency is likely to survive. “From my point of view, yes, the Eurozone is salvable, but you have to ask the political guys what they want to do,” he says. “Will the national governments cede power to the centre? I think the advantages of the European Union and the Euro are big enough that they will ight for them. What they have in mind I don’t know, but I am convinced they will ind a so lution. My position regarding Eu rope is a simple one: there is still a chance for limited growth, but we have to wait and see how the political situation plays out.”
Fuel advantage
Much has been written about Euro-6, but Daimler is one of only two OEMs to have product to show for all the talk. And, many would argue, so far ahead of time as to be suspiciously premature. “Euro-6 is a nice system,” says Renschler. Why will people buy it? “Ask the customers,” says Renschler. “Thirty percent of the order intake for the new Actros today is for Euro-6 models. We have a fuel consumption advantage with the new Actros of up to 8% when you compare the previous model at Euro-5. At Euro-6 the new Actros has a fuel advantage over the previous Euro-5 model of between 4% and 5%.” But isn’t every other OEM saying this is impossible? “I told you a long time ago to prepare yourself as we have the solution,” says Renschler. “And it’s not just us telling you this: it’s proven by a test drive organised by Dekra. Some of our pre-launch customers who have been operating the new Actros for three months or so are reporting fuel consumption igures that we have dificulty believing, but we have to accept their point of view.
“If you only put a Euro-6 engine and driveline into an existing truck, it’s very simple: you will have a disadvantage. This is the reason for us saying that we needed to design a totally new truck, and the combination of both allowed us to deliver our aims.” Euro-4 and Euro-5 saw signiicant incentives in Germany: will this happen again? “I think there will be incentives in Germany, but the question is when? Different governments were always smart enough to ind the right incentive to avoid pre-buys and the introduction of Euro-4 and Euro-5 was smooth, unlike the introduction of EPA07 and EPA10 in the US. In Germany we are already seeing incentivisation in terms of investment contribution and, if it comes down to MAUT, then 2012/2013.
“Today, some countries are incentivising it much more: Switzerland, for example wants Euro-6 today and is incentivising it. The Netherlands has a big issue with particulate traps, so they too will do this. It is a better system if you are mindful of environmental issues. This is why we are happy with it, and why we have the widest and brightest product offering over the next two years than ever before.” If Euro-6 is so good, will you delist Euro-5 for Europe ahead of the deadline? “No.”
Daimler is playing a risky hand with its claims regarding Euro-6, and, like the rest of us, must live under the shadow of an economic environment that is far from certain. These are key months in a strategy designed to take Daimler Trucks forwards over the next few years. Only time will tell if it is the correct one. ■