New Zealand’s news source for road transport, logistics & heavy equipment industries Volume 3 | Issue 9 | April 2016 Daimler Trucks reclaiming Fuso NZ distribution? aimler Trucks Asia and successful cooperation has confirmed to with our dealers, and con- DDIESELTalk that it is tinue to serve our customers looking at the distribution with the best products and arrangements for Fuso truck services,” says Laudan. and bus in New Zealand but “New Zealand is an has not made any immedi- important market for Fuso, ate decisions. and we intend to grow “In New Zealand, we are further our business and in the process of evaluat- market position here.” ing adaptions in our sales Mitsubishi Motors New setup,” says Daimler Trucks Zealand General Man- Asia head of communica- ager Warren Brown told tions Florian Laudan. DIESELTalk that the compa- “We have heard that ny is in ongoing discussions there are speculations in the with Daimler Trucks. market, that there are going “The truth is that we are to changes in the New Zea- still in talks with Daimler so land Fuso Sales setup.” have no comments at this “While there are no deci- point,” says Brown. sions taken, we can ensure The New Zealand arm of we will continue the long Continued on page 4 TRUCK ARRIVALS STRONGEST YET ore than 406 new February, so the momen- Muir says that Isuzu believe that we can achieve heavy trucks (over tum is continuing to grow Trucks will continue to the set targets while others M3500kg GVM) in this sector of the market. buck the trend of declin- may face a decline,” he arrived in March 2016, the Isuzu Trucks general ing sales faced by other says. largest number so far this manager Colin Muir says truck manufacturers. More than 2512 new year and bettering Decem- the pipeline of product “I think the market for light commercials (under bers figure of 405 units. with confirmed orders 2016 will be down around 3500kg GVM) came in January 2016 saw 165 coming through for the 14%, but we believe our March 2016, slightly less heavy truck arrivals, fol- Japanese truck distributor internal forecast for the than the December figure lowed by 338 arrivals in is very healthy. year is still on track, we still Continued on page 4 EROAD Leaderboard Promote healthy competition eroad.co.nz/leaderboard foundationsponsors DIESELtalk acknowledges the support of our foundation sponsors and industry supporters: Vehicle Inspection NZ Industrysupporters TRANSPORT’S SPECIALIST INSURANCE PROVIDER 2 | DIESELTALK QUARTERLY REPORT | APRIL 2016 The way to reach the entire heavy vehicle and contractors’ equipment industries Greater integration www.DIESELtalk.co.nz EDITOR Robert Barry between road and rail 022 0180 998 [email protected] NZTA freight portfolio director Harry Wilson explains the agency’s strategy to move freight more efficiently. BUSINESS MANAGER Ian Ferguson ike your business, making it easier for the road Agency in the freight space 027 530 5194 much of NZTA's work is transport industry to use is turning to a new priority: [email protected] Lfocused on road trans- high-productivity motor how we can achieve greater port and fair enough; over vehicles (HPMVs) including integration between road two-thirds of New Zealand’s 50MAX. and rail to shift freight more OPERATIONS freight is carried by road, While there are always efficiently. MANAGER making road transport vital improvements that can be This strategic work is Deborah Baxter to our economy and our made, we’re confident in part of the government’s 027 530 5016 way of life. saying our More Freight on direction to the Transport [email protected] But we also have a sub- Fewer Trucks priority has Agency to make the land stantial and significant rail been a success. We hit our transport system more network in New Zealand. key ‘H-Miles’ target for the efficient in order to set MANAGING EDITOR Rail plays a crucial role in June 2015 year of 25% of the platform for economic Richard Edwards the movement of freight, all heavy vehicle travel be- growth. 021 556 655 particularly with its ability ing undertaken by HPMVs Generally speaking the [email protected] view up until now has been that we have a road network and a PUBLISHER rail network, either of Vern Whitehead which can be used to 021 831 153 shift freight. [email protected] Our goal at the DIESELtalk and dieseltalk.co.nz Transport Agency are published by: is to start planning Auto Media Group Limited and thinking about PO Box 105010, Auckland an integrated land Ph 09 309 2444 transport system for freight where the question is not ‘road Auto Media Group Limited makes every endeavour or rail?’, rather ‘how to ensure information contained in this publication is do get my goods accurate; however, we are not liable for any losses or issues resulting from this use. from A to B in the most efficient man- ner?’ that we all have a stake in. We want to see rail Freight efficiency is both Harry Wilson network brought fully a major challenge and into a land transport major opportunity for the to connect freight in areas including 50MAX. This figure planning and investment whole of New Zealand. where the roads are becom- increased to 29% by the end process that optimises The pressure that the ing increasingly congested, of 2015, just shy of our June the movement of freight dairy sector is under at the such as to and from our 2016 goal of 30%. throughout the supply chain moment illustrates that any largest ports. I’m confident that what while providing the best way we can lower the cost This role is set to become we have seen over the past outcome for the land trans- of transporting goods is vital more important, with New few quarters is a structural port system as a whole. for us to maintain our inter- Zealand’s freight volumes shift in the transport of To achieve this we will national competitiveness. forecast to grow by around heavy road freight away work closely with KiwiRail This priority is about 50% over the next 30 years. from standard heavy trucks and our partners throughout making best use of the infra- This forecast expansion towards HPMV including the transport and logistics structure we have to meet is why we made it a strate- 50MAX. industry. How we can opti- the demands of a growing gic priority to move more With this in mind, our mise our national transport freight task and keep New freight on fewer trucks, attention at the Transport infrastructure is something Zealand moving. DIESELTALK QUARTERLY REPORT | APRIL 2016 | 3 NEWSTALK Economy marching on, says ANZ Truckometer indexes NZ says its two Truckome- been evident in ANZ sentiment- ter indexes rose solidly in based indicators. AMarch 2016, continuing Consumer confidence and their recovery from a sharp fall in firms’ expectations regarding their January 2016. own business have held up amidst The heavy traffic index in- dairy challenges and global wob- creased 2.5% (-0.5% quarter on bles – a good sign, and necessary quarter), while the light traffic for robust growth. But the senti- index, which leads growth in the ment is one thing; acting on it is economy by six months, lifted another. 0.8% month on month (+1.1% The Truckometer confirms that quarter on quarter). the economy is just getting on The heavy traffic index sug- with it. gests that quarterly GDP growth The economy is caught was not as high in Q1 2016 as it was in traffic index persists, suggesting a real between sizeable push (migration, Q4 2015, but GDP will likely smooth broad-based momentum across the construction, housing, monetary policy) through the volatility to some extent. economy says ANZ. and pull factors (the high NZD, dairy Based on all indicators to date, ANZ The rebound in the Truckometer challenges, the global scene). says it has pencilled in a 0.7% rise for Q1 indexes in the last two months high- The Truckometer will be a useful, compared with 0.9% in Q4. lights the resilience of the New Zealand timely indicator of how the contest is The high upward trend in the light economy, a characteristic that has also progressing says ANZ. Daimler Trucks reclaiming Fuso NZ distribution? Continued from page 1 Bus from Mitsubishi Motors the best products, services, sures that the whole Daimler Mitsubishi Motor Corpora- Corporation in 2005. It holds and support to customers. Commercial Vehicle business tion has been the local dis- more than 89% of the Japa- “One recent example moves closer to our clients, tributor for Fuso trucks since nese truck brand now wholly is the opening of Daimler and we can serve them bet- it bought out the previous integrated into its Daimler Trucks & Buses Regional ter,” he says. assembler and distributor Trucks division while other Centres in Middle East, Cen- In Australia, Fuso Truck Todd Motors in 1987. Mitsubishi group companies tral Africa, South Africa, and and Bus is headquartered in Fuso New Zealand has hold the remainder. Singapore for the SEA region. Melbourne and is run as a grown from modest unit Laudan told DIESELTalk “These Regional Cen- business unit of Mercedes- sales of 32 assembled lo- that as part of the Daimler tres that are responsible Benz Australia Pacific, along- cally in 1978 to 753 new Trucks and Buses Organisa- for all Daimler Commercial side four other business units imported from Japan tion, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck Vehicles brands and manage units being, Mercedes-Benz in 2015. and Bus is reviewing and the local distributors in the Trucks, Freightliner Trucks, Daimler AG acquired a optimising its businesses all areas,” says Laudan.