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Get on parade that MAN!
Page 10
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With MAN on the brink of vvinning a vast deal with the British Army Colin Barnett looks to the future.
NO TRUCK order can have been as carefully considered as the one for the British Army's next generation of "greencargo carriers. Some six years have passed since the process began, initially to provide and operate the fleet on a PFI (Private Finance Initiative). PFIs are already in place for the Army's "whitefleet of non-combat support vehicles and its new fleet of HET tank transporters.
But in 2000 the government changed its mind and tore up the tenders, opting to start from scratch on a conventional purchase solution.
Daf and Foden. operating as Paccar. decided to cut their losses and withdraw from what would have been an expensive and unpredictable five-way contest.
Last week MAN was declared the preferred bidder. The order was originally expected to be for more than 8,000 vehicles.but the cash-strapped government has pared that down: 4,851 cargo vehicles form the bulk of the order — 4x4s with 6,000kg payloads; 6x6 nine-tonners; and 8x8 15tonners. It also includes 314 high-mobility recovery 8x8s and a fleet of 69 special recovery trailers.
The deal includes an option for another 2,000 vehicles,but the government is still deciding whether to buy new or refurbish some of its current largely Leyland Daf fleet.
As well as supplying the vehicles, over a seven-year period, the deal includes a 20-year support package.
UK content has been a major issue: MAN admits more of this will come from the support side than from manufacturing, with the 1,200 technicians in the UK likely to rise by up to 50%. for example.
With the specialised chassis-cabs built in Austria, all the ancillary equipment will be added by 15 British companies before returning to MAN-ERF's Vehicle Modification Unit at Middlewich for final assembly and PDI.
The losers: what next?
It may be a measure of how closely fought this deal was that none of the bitter recriminations that marked the previous two contracts has been in evidence. Disappoint ment, yes, but no public slanging matches although Defence Procurement Minister Lord Bach, has been moved to write to one broadsheet newspaper to complain about the tone of its reporting of the order.
Oshkosh: As the bids were gradually revealed, Oshkosh had to be favourite for the vast contract. Not only did the politics seem to favour a US-based supplier, but the UK's purchasers were reported to be highly pleased with the performance of Oshkosh and its British partner King Trailers in supplying the HET tank transporters.
But with Oshkosh also winning the more recent Wheeled Tanker contractmaybe there was a desire by the MoD not to be over-reliant on a single supplier.
Losing the deal certainly won't bring down the Wisconsin manufacturer, especially as the situation in the Gulf means that Oshkosh vehicles clock up the operational mileage. The biggest loser will be the South Wales economy. A significant amount of the assembly content, and some 600 jobs,would have been provided at the American company's Llantrisant Geesink Norba factory Stewart & Stevenson: The second American brand, also enjoying the -lack-of-peace dividend" is equally unlikely to suffer long-term effects. But again, the biggest loser is the UK end of the deal. Birmingham van maker LDV was standing by to provide a considerable part of the S&S product,including many body pressings and final assembly.
The defence work would have given LDV a valuable extra income stream at a time when it could do with it. Apart from a steady flow of low-volume pressing work for the automotive industry. LDV's future now depends almost entirely on its impending new van range.
DaimierChrysler: The MercedesBenz contender was the most modern, and the least well proven. Its S2000 range was largely developed from DaimlerChrysler's massive global parts bin,combined with a new cab built by the UK's Mayflower organisation.
DC said the Mayflower Group's collapse wouldnot affeetthe cab supply, but it couldn't have helpcd.The bid also featured the least detailed commitment to UK content.
The S2000 is expected to survive in other markets but the UK benefit will probably not extend beyond cab supply. The threepointed star is now aimed squarely at the next big contract: OUVS (Operational Utility Vehicle Systems) — a family of light trucks with 1,000-6,000kg payloads.
• For driving impressions of MAN's British Army contender see CM 5February.