Amsterdam CV Show — Show Report

Date: Sunday, November 11, 2007

Iveco

Anybody wandering over to the Iveco stand could have been forgiven for thinking that they'd spotted a Land Rover Defender. What they'd seen was an Iveco Massif 4x4, due here in just under a year's time and to be marketed as a passenger car, a pick-up and a hard-top.

Built in Spain by Santana the Spanish operation assembled Land Rovers many years ago it's an unabashed Defender rival.

Our aim is to compete with the Defender 90 and 110 in particular, says Iveco's UK marketing director, Andrea Bucci. Initially we should be able to sell 500 to 1,000 units annually. Fitted with selectable four-wheel drive a low set of gears is available if you want to venture off road Massif is powered by a 3.0-litre Iveco diesel at either 146hp or 176hp.

Not far from Massif was the new 4x4 Daily full details were in the last issue and can be found on our web site not to mention a Daily hybrid diesel-electric 3.5 tonne van and one that can run on compressed natural gas. A hybrid Eurocargo was on show too.

Alternative Fuels

The electric Fiorino and the hybrid and gas Ivecos weren't the only vehicles on display equipped with alternative power sources. Coventry-based electric van specialist Modec was making its presence felt, while Hytruck of the Netherlands was exhibiting a Mitsubishi Fuso Canter 7.5-tonner fitted with a power pack that includes fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries and hub-mounted electric motors in the rear wheels.

Drawing hydrogen from a tank mounted between the longitudinal chassis members it holds 200 litres of hydrogen at a pressure of 350 bar the fuel cells funnel power to the batteries that drive the electric motors. Regenerative braking ensures that the batteries receive a boost every time the driver slams on the anchors.

A major player in the 7.5-tonne market, Daf is going the hybrid route, with seven prototype LF hybrids set to go into service with UK operators early next year. It's clear that the environment will be central to political and public life for decades to come and you can be certain that the restrictions and challenges facing us now are only the beginning of a long, hard and complicated road, says UK managing director, Stewart Hunt.

Conversions

The RAI show is undoubtedly the place to go if you're interested in unusual conversions. Netras Mobile Systems of the Netherlands was busy extolling the virtues of its City-L 3.5 distribution system. It employs interchangeable containers used in conjunction with a front-wheel drive 3.5-tonner and can cope with a 1,500kg payload.

The vehicle makes use of a cab and engine from, say, a Renault Master connected to a space frame shaped like a horizontal U, with the open end of the U pointing towards the rear and no back axle. The rear wheels are mounted on stub axles instead.

The lack of a standard back axle means the container being transported can be lowered flat to the floor. Cargo can be wheeled in and out and there's no need to go to the expense of fitting a tail lift.

Furthermore, the container can be raised so that its load bed is 1,400mm from the ground. That makes it easier to load and unload items if the vehicle has been reversed up to a loading dock designed for heavy trucks.

Low-Loader

A slightly different way of achieving the same end was being exhibited by Germany's Ruthmann. Reminiscent of the Razorback system that got a lot of publicity in the UK a few years back, Flexiloader allows a front-wheel drive panel van's load bed to be lowered all the way to ground level.

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CombiGroep of the Netherlands was displaying a lightweight alloy tipper body designed for refuse collection and mounted inside the load bed of a Fiat Strada pick-up. There's a sliding door on each side so that rubbish can be thrown in and a top-hinged rear hatch to allow it to be tipped out.

Strada isn't sold in the UK, but the body itself could slot into pick-up models that are. Piaggio's Porter is one that springs to mind.

Snoeks was exhibiting a wild and wacky double cab pick-up it had built as a bit of fun, complete with a lurid paint job. The well-known Dutch converter's big speciality is adding a second row of seats to a panel van along with a bulkhead so that a crew of half-a-dozen workers can travel in comfort and safety with their tools in a cargo area right at the back.

Weight Watchers

Dutch manufacturer Equinox was showing a range of stainless steel roof racks. Company executives say that they are 40 per cent lighter than racks made from ordinary steel. Stainless is so strong that you don't need so much of it.

Our racks are about the same weight as alloy racks and about the same price; maybe a little cheaper, contends an Equinox spokesman. In theory alloy racks should be lighter, but in practice they aren't because you need to use quite thick alloy to maintain the strength.

Beks Systems, another local firm, was displaying a van load area storage system made up of long, solidly constructed drawers than can be slid out through the rear and side doors for easier access to their contents.

Rumour Mill

Whisper it quietly, but some van and truck industry bigwigs are apparently plotting to downgrade the status of the Amsterdam exhibition. In our view that would be a major mistake.

For Britons one of its big plus-points is that it's so easy and cheap to fly to thanks to the budget airlines. You can get there from almost any airport worthy of the name in the UK and if you jet off to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Luton you'll be in the air for no more than 40 minutes.

From Schiphol it's a short train ride to the RAI station, with all the varied delights of Amsterdam itself to sample in the evening if you fancy staying overnight.

VERDICT

Whatever the future of the RAI CV show may be, this year's event was a resounding success and there were easily enough new product debuts to keep everybody happy. The only problem with being the only right-hand drive market in Mainland Europe is that we won't see any of them in the UK until next year.