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• Eastern Europe's truck manufacturing industry is years out of date. Yet a ready market and an eagerness by managers in the former Communist Bloc to update their working practices, means Western manufacturers are queuing up to buy their way in. Joint ventures with the East are not a new thing, however. Long before glasnost and the revolutions of last year, Western commercial vehicle giants were involved in those economies, mostly through licence agreements. In Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslavakia, Bulgaria and East Germany — Raba, TAM, Avia, Cavdar and IFA have been prominent users of Western technology. practices and vehicles lag far behind the West. But the biggest problem still facing joint ventures between East and West Germany is the alignment of the two marks. Under a Comecon agreement in 1956, the GDR's role was to produce light and medium CVs. This made it dependent on imports of heavy equipment from other Eastern Bloc countries. This is reflected in the numbers of Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Soviet vehicles on East German roads. Leylands also featured quite strongly in East German fleets until the mid-60s, but Swedish and West German manufacturers took over later.
This year (CM 15 March) Daimler-Benz concluded a memo of understanding on joint development with East German manufacturer IFA. Details were expected to emerge early this month. Daimler-Benz estimates that potential demand for commercial vehicles in Eastern Europe is almost two million a year. The company hopes the joint venture will mean it is well-placed to exploit that opportunity. First priority will be a facelift for the L-60, which, based on the W-45 introduced in 1962, has only had minor improvements.
The project will give the East German model a new cab and a number of driveline changes. Although the outdated design has not affected the demand — particularly from third world countries — it will be interesting to see how Cuba and Angola react to the new era of East-West co-operation. IFA currently produces 30,0000 trucks a year, of which 65% is exported. The Barkas one-tonner is sold in the West, as is the Multicar, 8,000 of which are produced each year.
Daimler-Benz has also appointed a used vehicle dealer in Dresden. East German operators cannot afford new coaches, so 40 to 50 secondhand models are being dispatched there. However, at least one Mercedes-Benz 0405 city bus has entered service in an East German city. Neoplan has been holding seminars for East German PSV operators in West Berlin which resulted in sales of used coaches.