Trucks sprout in Brussels
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Your average British truck operator may struggle to name 12 famous Belgians, but the Brussels truck show has lasted rather longer than the UK's NEC show—this was its 75th anniversary. However, Britain and Belgium do have one thing in common: last year sales of trucks and artics dropped in both countries and there's no sign of an improvement in 1997. The biggest noise on the truck front might have come from a Dutch manufacturer with the launch of the new Daf 95XF (see vehicle news, page 15) but Belgian trailer makers and bodybuilders have a reputation for building innovative products which extends throughout Europe and there were plenty of examples around the Heysel Halls not least from Van Hool, Atcomex and Ova.
ERF flew the British flag with the most powerful CNGfuelled vehicle on show—a Perkins-engined EC12.34 6x4 drawbar rig designed to run at 44 tonnes.
Iveco also added another string to its Euro bow with the arrival of the EuroTronic twopedal semi-automated gearbox, courtesy of ZF. Among the lightweights were new vehicles from Fiat and Volkswagen.
The globalisation of the truck market continues: Renault unveiled Mack engines for the Magnum while Daf's new owner, Paccar, showed a Kenworth and a Peterbilt.