Mem auto-shift at no cost
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• by Toby Clark Mercedes-Benz is the first manufacturer to offer automated transmis sion as a no-cost option in the UK. It will be fitting the Telligent Autotrans shift—usually an .21,800 option—to all Actros tractors and drawbars ordered before the end of the year.
Mercedes has sold 185 Autotrans-equipped vehicles since the system's introduction in 1997, and it currently takes 12%of total Actros sales.
According to the firm's spokesman, the system has been adopted by a variety of operators, from rental firms such as Alltruck which are eager to minimise driveline damage from careless drivers, to high-value fleets such as Castle Cement.
CM recently conducted a test comparing the Autotrans (EAS) fully automatic system with Mercedes own electronically assisted manual EPS system ( CM 4-10 May). The conclusions were surprising: our driver was unable to improve on the automatic system's fuel consumption or its average speed. We finished by giving truck builders a commercial challenge: which would be the first to offer customers an auto box at no extra cost?