Volvo Group invested over €2 billion in Renault Trucks renewal

New Renault Trucks Range: Centres of profit serving customers’ businesses

12-6-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Renault Trucks is taking advantage of the switch to the Euro 6 standard to totally renew its entire range. This renewal has been the object of an investment by the Volvo Group of over €2 billion and the most stringent testing Renault Trucks has ever carried out in its entire history. The aim is clear: to supply its customers with a perfect, reliable and high-performance tool which will allow them to keep their costs under control. More than ever, Renault Trucks considers a truck to be a centre of profit which must never let its customers down, make its drivers proud and protect their businesses.

The presentation of the new Renault Trucks Euro 6 range on 11 June is an outstanding event – for it is the first time that any manufacturer has ever renewed its entire range at a single stroke. This has led to the Volvo Group making an investment of €2 billion in the project and Renault Trucks carrying out the most stringent testing program of its entire history.

For quality and reliability is not something that just happens – it evolves over long hours of testing and research. Since 2008, this process has led to 300 vehicles covering 10 million km in quality tests plus 5 million additional hours of bench tests – at temperatures ranging from -40°C to +60°C).

Designed and developed in close association with 50 international customers, the new range aims to give users a perfect tool for carrying out their assignments. For Renault Trucks, a truckis a profit center, which never let customers down and which make their drivers proud, while at the same time protecting customers’ businesses.

To achieve these goals, Renault Trucks is offering a completely new range of vehicles for Long Distance, Construction and Distribution applications.

The Renault Trucks Long Distance range
With this new Long Distance range, Renault Trucks has introduced a homogeneous offering, consisting of a single vehicle whose modular design means that all customer needs can be met right across the long distance transport sector. The Renault Trucks T” has been designed to offer haulage companies the perfect balance between fuel savings and life on board. With its aerodynamic cab, developed and tested with the aid of a wind tunnel, the T combines the Premium Long Distance’s efficiency and low fuel consumption with the Magnum’s comfort and prestige – in a single new vehicle. It also offers an improved powertrain with new Euro 6 engines, and a totally new cab.

Loyal to the precepts of the Premium Long Distance, Renault Trucks’ new T range helps cut its owner’s fuel costs, as its performance-improving design and new powertrain enables the T to achieve some of the lowest fuel-consumption figures on the market. These are down by up to 5% compared to the previous generation despite constraints imposed by the new Euro 6 standard.

The new Long Distance range offers numerous unprecedented benefits. At 2.5 metres wide, the Renault Trucks T cab is more spacious, more comfortable, and has an extendable bunk as well as an upper bunk that can be used for extra storage ifrequired. The engine tunnel is now just 200mm high and completely disappears in the flat floor version. The optimised driving position boasts new seats designed by RECARO® for Renault Trucks, an ergonomic dashboard with 7 inch central display (the largest on the market), and the option of rearranging the positions of the control buttons. The T also offers a storage compartment that can be accessed both from inside and outside the vehicle, plus a door opening angle of 85°. Drivers have the benefit of a number of driver safety aids, including cornering lights and a multi-function three-way adjustable driving wheel.

As for engines, the Renault Trucks T features Euro 6 DTI 11 and DTI 13 engines. The whole range is fitted with the Optidriver automatic transmission, which now has a new gear change management system. The T also boasts a brand new air control system (Electronic Air Control Unit or EACU), a variable flow steering pump to improve consumption and Diesel tank capacity of up to 1,475 litres. Maintenance has been made easier by separating the electrical harness path from the hydraulic harness path in the vehicle body, with electrics on the right and hydraulics on the left.

If the need arises, drivers can use the ‘24/7’ button on their dashboard to instantly geolocate their vehicle and report all its technical data, making it even easier for one of Renault Trucks’ 1,600 sales and service outlets worldwide to take charge of the vehicle. The T is also configured to integrate Optifleet, the Renault Trucks fleet management solution that increases operational profitability. In addition, Renault Trucks is maintaining its proven fuel saving solutions, including Optifuel Infomax, which analyses performance, monitors fuel consumption, and, when combined with Renault Trucks instruction in fuel-efficient driving, (already used to train over 25,000 drivers to date), can reduce overall fuel consumption by up to 15% across an entire fleet.

The Renault Trucks Construction and Heavy Construction ranges
For its new Construction vehicles, Renault Trucks offers two distinct ranges – the C Construction range and the K Heavy Construction range – in order to meet customers’ needs as efficiently as possible. The Renault Trucks C range, available in two cab widths, predominantly focuses on high payloads, low consumption, and comfort comparable to that of a long-distance vehicle. Furthermore, its excellent pulling power and obstacle clearance capacity will make it highly attractive to customers in the earthmoving sector. Meanwhile, the Renault Trucks K range sets new standards in terms of ruggedness, obstacle clearance and also offers the best approach angle on the market. The new vehicles benefit from an improved powertrain, with the new Euro 6 engines and also a highly distinctive cab.

Among the many features offered by the vehicles in these new construction ranges, the most outstanding include the more spacious, more comfortable and more ergonomic cab, with its rotating buttons. A step on the side of the vehicle has also been incorporated to enable drivers to more easily check their load. The vehicles demonstrate ruggedness capable of withstanding the toughest conditions by offering impact protection for the most exposed parts and all steel bumpers, available on both the K and C ranges. Finally, they boast outstanding technical characteristics, with excellent ground clearance, a GCW (Gross Combined Weight) up to 120 t and the best approach angle on the market (32°) for the K range.

Optitrack, the hydrostatic traction system on the front axle, which provides temporary extra pulling power, is available on the C range. In contrast, the K range includes conventional all wheel drive versions.

The vehicles are equipped with cornering lights, the automatic Optidriver transmission as standard and an electric parking brake applied at engine shutdown, together with several provisions for body mounting.

Furthermore, thanks to the Renault Trucks new Construction ranges’ technical qualities, customers will be able to benefit from greater cost efficiency since the new Euro 6 engines deliver a hitherto unrivalled level of performance and fuel consumption lower than their Euro 5 predecessors. In addition, with its optimised curb weight, the C range offers an outstanding payload which can be as much as 22.8 t for a 8×4. The K offers a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 50 t and a Gross Combination Weight (GCW) up to 120 t. These vehicles also have several options of provisions for simplifying body mounting operations, allowing them to be carried out up to 20% quicker, making vehicle delivery times shorter.

With its Optifuel Programme, Renault Trucks offers its Construction sector customers’ instructors or fleet managers a comprehensive instruction module for implementing personalised improvement plans with long-term follow-up. These are provided by Optifuel Infomax and Optifuel Training, a “home-made” instruction program in economic driving. In addition Optifuel Training offers a specific module for driving on construction sites. This programme makes our customers independent and can result in them reducing fuel consumption by as much as 15%.

The Renault Trucks Distribution range
When designing its new Distribution range, Renault Trucks drew upon its expertise, its familiarity with the sector’s activities and the environment as well as the known and acknowledged advantages of the current range. However, although the new Renault Trucks Distribution range is based on preceding models, it has evolved into a much clearer offering which consists of a single range and three models capable of meeting all its customers’ needs.

Renault Trucks now offers three models in its D range: the Renault Trucks D, a model from 10 t to 18 t; the Renault Trucks D Wide, a model from 16 t to 26 t and the Renault Trucks D Access, a model with a low entry cab from 18 t to 26 t. This offering will soon be completed by an additional vehicle designed to meet the needs of customers needing solutions from 3.5 t to 7.5 t.

The new DTI 5 and DTI 8 engines have been based on tried and tested technologies, adapted to urban applications. They comply with the Euro 6 standard, while improving their levels of performance and reliability. The low consumption of the previous generation has been passed onto this new range. The possibility of reaching maximum torque from 900 rpm means drivers do not have to push the engine to its limits and therefore consume less fuel. Similarly, the generous power rating of the new four cylinder engine, equivalent to that of a six cylinder engine, will make it possible to further extend the vehicles’ load capacity.

Renault Trucks fits, on all the range, automatic transmissions which reduce fuel consumption, preserve the vehicle’s mechanical parts, limit maintenance costs and enable drivers to fully focus on their driving. Furthermore, a number of elements on the Renault Trucks D have been improved so as to limit costs and make maintenance easier, such as the bumper which, instead of being a single unit, is now made up of three parts.

For customers wishing to further reduce their operating costs, this range can be associated with Optifuel Programme. By associating the consumption monitoring and analysis software Optifuel Infomax and the training in fuell-efficient driving developed by Renault Trucks, savings in fuel consumption can be as much as 15% across an entire fleet.

In the distribution sector, where fields of activity are widely diversified, a truck must be able to exactly satisfy customers’ needs. This is why Renault Trucks offers more than 100 different models and makes provisions on them making it easier for bodybuilders to do their work. As soon as the order has been placed, bodybuilders can access all the vehicle’s plans via a dedicated web portal. This enables them to plan the work more easily and reduce body mounting time by 20%.

Renault Trucks has designed its new D range with the aim of optimizing global vehicle usage value. This involves the manufacturer making its expertise available to its customers to offer them a comprehensive transport solution. It undertakes to be at their side throughout the vehicle’s entire operating life and provide them with efficient solutions in terms of financing, insurance, fuel consumption analysis and instruction in fuel-efficient driving, as well as locally-based services to provide efficient maintenance and reduce the cost of downtime.

The new Renault Trucks Euro 6 vehicles have been developed with the goal of delivering cost-efficiency, reliability and pride. The Volvo Group, to which Renault Trucks belongs, has made a major investment in the new range, as well as in the plants and equipment needed for its production. The new sales organization will enable Renault Trucks to expand its geographical coverage, by increasing its numbers of sales and service outlets by 30 to 40% on certain markets. With this new range of vehicles, backed by a global Group, Renault Trucks has everything it needs to win new customers and increase its market share.

Further information is available from: http://corporate.renault-trucks.com/

Dorothée Picaud-Aznar – Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 96 38 95 – dorothee.picaud.aznar@renault-trucks.com
Severyne Molard – Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 96 39 86 – severyne.molard@renault-trucks.com
Fabrice Piombo – Tél. : + 33 (0)4 72 96 12 20 – fabrice.piombo@renault-trucks.com