So why has CM been driving a specialist all-wheel-drive truck,
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built in the Czech Republic, that’s only ever going to be a niche product sold in limited numbers? Because the all-new Tatra Phoenix, sporting a DAF cab atop a Paccar 13-litre VIX engine, is coming to Britain. Not today, nor tomorrow, but deinitely “early next year” . And for operators working in mining, forestry, construction, power-generation and the oil and gas industry who want a bullet-proof transporter capable of traversing rough terrain at speeds that would shake the illings out of a rival chassis, Phoenix is a formidable product – CM has driven right-hand-drive versions and can attest to its capabilities.
We’re not the only ones to like Tatra. As well as supplying the company with cabs and engines, in August DAF took a 19% stake in it, joining four other major shareholders that include CEO and chairman Ron Adams.
A piece of history
The Dutch have bought a big piece of automotive history –Tatra built its irst truck in 1898 and is famous for its trademark tubular ‘backbone’ chassis, whereby drivenaxles equipped with either air or mechanical suspension (or a combination of both), hang off a centre ‘spine’ , in place of a conventional ladder frame. ‘Split’ diffs with separate crown wheels and shafts provide direct drive to all wheels, and not only does the backbone chassis provide immense torsional strength, on undulating terrain it also ensures that all-important constant wheel contact.
Tatra’s swing-arm axle set-up signiicantly reduces cab and body roll too, allowing the Phoenix to cover rough ground at speeds that would normally prove highly uncomfortable (if not impossible) for the driver of a normal truck– a point, says Tatra, that’s been proven in productivity tests between Phoenix and other (unnamed) all-wheel-drive conventional chassis. Other beneits of the spine design include a lower kerbweight – you don’t have to it a tipping sub-frame. Tatra says its 6x6 chassis offers the highest payload when compared with the equivalent (ladder-frame) chassis. Thus Phoenix’s USP is that over severe terrain it can carry more payload, more quickly, ensuring superior productivity.
While additional frame rails are used on some Phoenix models, they’re mainly for locating the bodywork – the main strength is still provided by the tube spine and cross-members attached to it.
Until the collapse of communism, most Tatra products were sold into classic Soviet bloc countries, their export satellites or the military. However, having soldiered on for decades with its own engines, and increasingly outdated cabs, two years ago the high cost of new product development prompted the company to start talking to various Western truck makers about component supply. Having chosen DAF, work began on engineering its CF85 cab and MX 13-litre engine into an all-new range of two-, threeand four-axle all-wheel-drive Tatra trucks. That range is the Phoenix.
Win-win situation
It looks like a ‘win-win’ all-round. Not only do the Dutch get to sell Tatra cabs and engines for Phoenix (thereby further amortising their original investment costs), they’ve gained a potential piece of the sales and service action too. And Tatra? It gets secure supply of a tried-and-tested cab and Euro-5 engine, plus access to DAF’s European network, especially those dealers who’ve wanted an all-wheel-drive chassis, which Eindhoven doesn’t have. Clearly not all DAF’s 1,000 European sales and service points will want to handle Phoenix. But Adams insists that around 100 to 150 will.
What’s more, Europe isn’t Tatra’s only hunting ground. There’s also the Middle East, Russia and Brazil. And with projected build numbers in 2012 of around 1,200 units, Phoenix will provide the biggest slice of Tatra’s production.
Meanwhile, ‘niche’ is certainly how you’d describe the UK on/off-road all-wheel-drive truck market. Few igures exist as to its total size. But that hasn’t stopped MAN and Mercedes-Benz competing for business in it, especially with the latter’s Zetros. It’s also a sector where the right truck commands a premium price. ■