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AWD unveils TM plans
Page 12
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• A new tractive unit, and seven other new models, figure in ambitious plans for AWD following the loss of the MoD's four-tonne contract.
Speaking for the first time since the announcement that the prize would go to Leyland Daf, AWD's chairman, David Brown, said, "We obviously wanted the business, and we felt we had the best vehicle, but in this instance we were beaten on price."
AWD will continue to market the ML military four-tonne truck to its overseas customers, and it claims that none of those customers has expressed any desire to pull out of current contracts for the ML truck.
In order to further establish itself in the UK market, the company aims to offer a complete range of commercial vehicles from 7.5 tonnes to 38 tonnes before the end of next year. Included in this plan will be the launch of a tractive unit in 4x2, 6x2, and 6x4 guises. AWD says the vehicle will be all-new, although it admits that the new tractive unit shares body pressings with the older TM model (see plc).
The vehicles will have a bought-in drive-line, which will start with Caterpillar engines, and Eaton/Fuller gearboxes. The launch date is claimed to be early next year, but sources indicate that the first production models may not be seen until the Motor Show next October in Birmingham.
There is also a TL-based, 17-tonne, and 21-tonne urban artic with the first vehicles going to Bass Charrington. This vehicle will join the existing Volvo mini-artics on the brewer's fleet.
Further development of the rear-steering system used on the Multidrive trucks may result in its use on brewers' drays, although there are some minor problems with the new Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) draft regulations on the subject of rear-wheel-steering vehicles. Chief engineer Jim Moore feels that the system needs a lot of development yet, although there are potential improvements in articulated-vehicle manouevrability.
A 24-tonne 6x4 rigid will be produced next year and a 4 x 2 version of the truck will also be released for drawbar applications. A 10-tonne TL rigid will be launched in September, after requests from operators of these vehicles.
There will be a TL-based tractor unit in September this year, and a Multidrive derivative, the MTL 33, will be aimed at the 30-tonne eightwheel tipper market. The Multidrive TM40 will also become available in September. It is a 6x4 rigid dump truck intended for construction operations, and the first vehicles will go to Sudan. The company will be producing a 6x6 version of the TM40 in December.
AWD has had some success on the UK market with the TL range of rigid trucks. It has sold 750 models this year, and its strong market share in the 7.5-tonne and 13-tonne sectors means it now threatens Renault and MAN Volkswagen in those areas.
The company hopes to build on this success in this country, and also in Europe, but its first forays into Europe will be fairly conservative. Sales and marketing director, Peter Wragg, says: "Free-ranging discussions are taking place with other automotive manufacturers on possible future areas of collaboration, which would broaden our range both in terms of size and weight."