COMMENT A HEALTHY BABY
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• Iveco Ford chairman Felice Cantarocco has a nice way of describing his company. "We are a baby, but people should not forget that this baby has two very strong parents," he says. This baby has achieved a lot more since its birth than any infant just approaching its first birthday that we can think of. Many of those achievements, and some of the plans being made at Watford to ensure that the company continues to gain strength as it matures, are described in this special issue of Commercial Motor.
The emphasis is heavily on the Cargo range because everyone we speak to at Iveco Ford makes it plain that those who imagined that this Ford-designed and developed range, which everyone knows had its share of teething troubles, would soon slip quietly away under the Iveco influence could not have been more mistaken.
Iveco Ford engineers tell us that far from coming to a halt as a result of the formation of Iveco Ford, Cargo development has in fact accelerated since 1 July last year.
There could hardly be clearer evidence of that accelerated development than the disc-braked Cargos and their revised heavier sisters which are described in detail in the pages that follow.
Then there were those who feared for the future of Langley. lveco Ford executives are unequivocal about their commitment to this plant, its workforce, and its future. "This is Britain's most advanced, efficient, highest quality, and highest volume truck plant; and it is Iveco Ford Truck's principal asset," they say.
If there is one activity that has sapped resources and energy more than any other in this baby's first twelve months of life it was the establishment of a single dealer network from the two which previously existed. Judging by the comments we have heard from dealers and operators alike, Iveco Ford can now even put those growing pains behind it.
The other children in the playground had better beware: this toddler is growing stronger by the day.