Enasa prepares
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ENASA, the Spanish Stateowned manufacturer which earlier this year purchased Seddon Atkinson from International Harvester is busy preparing for the dramatic changes to Spain's commercial vehicle market that will result from that country's entry to the EEC that begins in 1986.
Those preparations will result in a new cab for Seddon Atkinson heavyweights by 1988, and may also result in light vans being sold through Seddon Atkinson distributorships.
Enasa is seeking a joint venture or licensing agreement to build a van to replace its ageing J4 model (derived from the BL J4).
Talks have already been held with such companies as Bedford, Isuzu and Nissan (which now owns Motor lberica in Spain) but no agreement has yet been reached.
But the contract between Enasa and Daf for the joint development and production of a cab for vehicles over 20 tonnes gross has now been signed. A company called Cabtech, owned jointly by the two manu
facturers, has been established at Eindhoven, Daf's home town.
Production of the new cab is expected to begin in 1988, with some panels pressed in Spain, others in Belgium.
Carl Levy, Seddon Atkinson's new chairman, recently described the new cab as "the opposite of the existing Seddon Atkinson cab in that initial tooling cost will be high, but the labour cost of assembly low."
The development cost of the new cab is estimated to be about £34m. Annual production is expected to total around 18,000 units a year, with Daf taking 12,000 and Enasa 6,000.
Enasa is also seeking partners for another joint venture to develop and build a new cab for its medium weight vehicles, below 20 tonnes gross.
Names of potential partners have not yet been published but a possible contender must be Leyland's new C44 Roadrunner cab.