Swiss roll overseas
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AT next month's Geneva Show Saurer-Berna, usually thought of as the leading domestic supplier of Swiss heavy vehicles, will reveal more details of an aggressive new marketing strategy which for the first time since the war will take in overseas territories.
The combination of a recent enlargement of production capacity at the Arbon plant and the marked slowing dawn of investment in new vehicles—longevity, always a by-word of the
national product surely has something to do with this—has made it vitally important for the company to seek new outlets.
The strength of the Swiss Franc—some call it an over-valuation—in relation to other European currencies put Saurer exports at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, the successful re-introduction of the make in Austria, where the name is still remembered with affection, has encouraged the company to establish its own sales and service organisation. There are already three regional offices in Styria, Carinthia and Tyrol. Demonstration vehicles are presently at work in the Middle East, North and West Africa and South America.
Some vehicles have been sold to Pakistan but it is to South America that a major effort is directed. The name Saurer there still has some of the mystique gained in the twenties and thirties while topographical conditions, in some countries more demanding than in Switzerland, will give the Swiss-built chassis an excellent chance to prove their worth. Saurer management is well aware of the growing difficulty in trying to export fully built-up vehicles and the likelihood of local assembly and/or local production of some parts is already being examined.
Among the show exhibits at Geneva will be several units prepared for overseas markets, A new 6 x 2 attic tractor for a gew of 38 tons has been specially developed to meet the demand for units operated in international traffic although in Swiss domestic traffic the gcw limit stays at 28 tons. The new tractor, powered by the 12-litre D2KT type diesel engine of 246kW (330bhp), has two steered axles. Air suspension is used for the drive axle and the second steered axle. Saurer supplies the new tractor with a welded sub-frame to take the fifth-wheel loads. A choice of standard or sleeper cabs is available.
Another show exhibit, the Saurer eight-wheeler, was first introduced at the 1974 Geneva event. It has now gone into production, some 140 units having been ordered so far by Swiss operators. Of particular interest on this machine is the fitment of an auxiliary steering pump, permanently engaged and driven off the leading bogie axle.
Saurer mechanical units and axles will be used in a speciallybuilt light-weight 16-tonner to be exhibited by Alusuisse. This vehicle, on air suspension, has a bcilted aluminium chassis with a main frame depth of 36cm. An alloybuilt tilt cab will be used and a weight saving of over 600kg is claimed over other vehicles of similar payload.