ERF sees the lights with an MAN range from 1.5-11 tonnes
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III by Robin Meczes
ERF has finally announced details of the 7.5-tonne model for its range alluded to by MAN when it took the company over a year ago. The new ECL—a rebadged MAN—will be unveiled at the CV show, with UK sales starting in June or July.
A 12-twine variant will also be offered, though it's expected that 70% of lighter truck sales will be at 7.5 tonnes. There will be day and sleepercabbed versions, all powered by four-cylinder Euro-3 units, Cosmetic changes to MAN's models for ERF will include the grille and door and seat trim, which will be restyled to reflect ERF's ECS and ECX ranges. All other features will remain identical.
It's not clear how the new lighter trucks will be priced against the equivalent MANs, but ERF chairman and chief executive John Bryant says the company is not expecting to set the market for lighter trucks on fire—it just wants to be in a position to supply them to existing customers who ask for them. "We're not going to take the 7.5twine market by storm," he admits. "But we do want to provide customers with a full range of trucks."
So what aspirations does he have for the new 7.5-tonners? "I'd be happy if we sold more than 150 a year," he says.
The new trucks will be produced abroad, rather than in ERF's new E28m UK plant (CM1-7 March). "MIddlewlch will have no Input," says Bryant. "The new trucks will be built by our sister company and imported. It might be in Poland or Austria—that decision hasn't yet been taken."
• For more on the CV Show, see preview, page 14.