Eastern promise for DD
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• If East European truck manufacturers avoid being swallowed by their Western counterparts it will be good news for Detroit Diesel, says Detroit's European vice-president Paul Moreton.
The company is currently co
operating with Czech manufacturer Liaz and has fitted its Series 60 engine, just launched in this country, to a Liaz 4x2 tractive unit on a trial basis (CM 25-31 October 1990).
Eastern European countries such as Czechoslovakia need to boost exports in order to kickstart their ailing economies — and the only way they can do this is by using Western technology, says Moreton.
However, with the former communist countries in deep recession, companies such as Liaz might choose a takeover by a Western manufacturer such as Iveco, Mercedes or Volvo.
Moreton believes they would be better advised to buy major components such as engines and transmissions from abroad, as US truck builders have done, while keeping their own identity.