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kscarbel

Pedigreed Bulldog
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Posts posted by kscarbel

  1. kscarbel:

    You say that Volvo- North American sales are up 10% in May and up 5% worldwide. You also say, "Clearly, there are problems at Volvo Trucks Sales and Marketing Americas". So, what's the problem for Volvo?

    Sounds like things are going swell for the Volvo brand. I don't know anything about anything but I have long thought that Volvo would use the Mack brand like they did the Autocar name. Rather than discard an iconic brand name (Mack) they would assign it to a line of heavy duty construction trucks.

    bulldogboy

    Not sure I follow you. Yes, Transport Topics reported that Volvo-brand truck North American May deliveries increased 10% to 2,416 trucks.

    I said there clearly are problems at Volvo Trucks Sales and Marketing Americas (the Volvo business unit responsible for the Mack brand), because Mack brand May sales fell 27% to 1,778.

    Personally, I feel it would be ignorant for Volvo to limit the Mack namplate to vocational trucks. Pulling the Mack nameplate from the on-highway market would mark the beginning of the end for the brand.

    The Mack name no longer has any "iconic" meaning. That ended in 2000 when Volvo purchased Mack Trucks and the legendary American truckmaker became a Swedish entity. Today's Mack is a North American Volvo chassis. You mention vocational trucks. I assume you know the Granite's "Cornerstone" chassis is a modified Volvo VHD chassis? Volvo wanted to save money and standardize on a superior Volvo platform. There's nothing iconic about that.

  2. Monkey See-Monkey Do! Same old story- White did it to Sterling and Diamond Reo-after they did it to Reo?, Mack did it to Brockway, Daimler did it to Sterling. "Synergism" is the buzzword of the day-unfortunately. Was at the Mack Museum over the weekend- impressive changes-but I get that same uncomfortable feeling.

    I hear you, but Sterling, Reo, Diamond T and Brockway were all small truckmakers that failed to evolve and impress, to ensure a viable future. You can hardly compare them to Mack Trucks.

    The assumption of synergies resulting from buyouts is vastly overrated, and often a lot of hot air to win approval for the deal. Daimler couldn't find any with Chrysler. Scania and MAN couldn't identify any potential synergies.

  3. . When I spoke to Watt's they told me 783.40 for the OEM compressor.

    This is just one of many issues I have with Volvo. Since taking over Mack, they have adopted a strategy/policy of marking up spare parts prices to "just below" the point where most customers will walk away.

    Let's take a simple example. An AC belt used to be $3.00 to $4.50. Mack's cost as around $1.00. Mack covered their overhead and made a solid profit, and yet the customer received a fair price. But Volvo came in and decided that most customers would be willing to pay $9.00 to $11.00 for that AC belt. Anyone that has been purchasing Mack parts for many years knows exactly what I am speaking about.

    Mack Trucks wasn't selling the parts too cheap, rather they gave the customer a sound reason to shop at Mack's dealers rather than the will-fit parts house. But now Volvo has pushed customers out of the Mack dealers. No customers shop at Mack (Volvo) dealers for anything other than proprietary items they can't buy elsewhere.

    Volvo's stick-the-customer strategy has been a poison pill to the service departments at the Mack dealers as well. They primarily do warranty work now because they are unable to be price competitive with customer and local shops.

    And Volvo's termination of Mack part numbers, replacing them with meaningless Volvo global part numbers, has destroyed the once superior Mack parts system. The Mack part numbering system combined shear brilliance with simplicity. Easy-to-remember part numbers that told you exactly what that part was. Volvo's randomly chosen impossible-to-remember global numbers represent nothing. It amounts to much more than a huge step backwards. Relating to Mack, the part number change to Volvo global part numbers is just plain stupid.

    The Mack part numbering system was VASTLY superior to the dysfunctional Volvo system. The Mack veterans in parts operations told Volvo the change was a huge mistake, and most of them were shown the door for not willingly going along with the "new way".

  4. The sales year is of course cyclical. But May is typically an "up" month for everyone. If your sales are down in May, you've got serious issues.

    North American Volvo-branded truck sales followed the long set trend and rose 10 percent in May to 2,416 units.

    However, Mack sales for May plunged 27 percent to 1,778 units.

    Sales increases and decreases of 5% to 7% are common in the industry, reflecting your expertise in sales marketing or issues within your organization.

    But a 27% drop indicates major problems.

    Looking at overall sales worldwide, Volvo-brand truck sales rose 5 percent in May, quite normal as I mentioned above.

    But overall sales worldwide of Volvo’s Mack-branded trucks fell 21 percent to 2,133 units.

    Clearly, there are problems at Volvo Trucks Sales and Marketing Americas. With stagnant European truck sales, I imagine Olof Persson isn’t pleased.

    Volvo understands their home (western European) market. But outside of that region, they struggle to get solid footing.

    But is this the shape of things to come? At some point, a down trend in Mack sales will be orchestrated once Volvo feels the Mack brand has “run its course” for them towards fulfilling their North American market strategy. This will allow Volvo to move forward with the master plan and terminate the Mack brand, as they did with White and GMC, simplifying all U.S. sales under the one Volvo nameplate. The media will be told “we hated to do it but the numbers fell below viable levels”. And that will be that.

  5. They could have reinforced the cylinder block with internal ribbing, and added a lower steel ladder reinforcement to strengthen the engine's main bearing area. Nowadays, we'd make the block out of Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) for greater strength (and other benefits).

    But when mentioning the high horsepower marine adaptations, it's of course important to note they're operating at constant rpms.

  6. But, if things at Navistar are as bad as you have reported, would Ford want to be dragged down by Navistar? In the past after Chrysler and GM dropped out of the heavy truck business Ford eventually

    followed suit. While Chrysler and GM have dropped their medium duty trucks, so far, Ford has stayed in the business. During the economic downturn Ford sold off all its other car businesses

    (Volvo, Jaguar, etc) to focus (no pun intended) on its core brands. After the falling out over the Blue Diamond endeavor I wonder if Ford would want to get involved again or do they want to keep

    their current business plan (hopefully to include medium duty trucks)?

    bulldogboy

    In my mind, it's a bargain opportunity for Ford Motor Company, IF they actually want to get back into the heavy truck business and also have a significant presence once again in the medium-duty segment.

    Under the Lebaniese-born Australian Jacque Nassar, Ford's global car brand acquisitions of Aston-Martin, Jaguar, Land-Rover and Volvo (car) resulting on the Premier Automotive Group was a brilliant move for Ford to extend it's global presence, complimenting Ford Europe. But ex-Boeing executive Alan Mulally foolishly sold it all off. I was indifferent to Ford owning Jaguar, but Aston-Martin, Land-Rover and Volvo (car) did well under Ford. US car models benefited from Volvo's expertise, and Land Rover under Ford became a quality product with cutting edge design.

  7. Transport Topics / 6/17/2013

    Volvo AB’s North American truck deliveries declined 10% in May from a year ago, the company said Monday.

    Deliveries of its Volvo and Mack brands in North America declined to 4,228 trucks from 4,677 a year ago, Gothenberg, Sweden-based Volvo said in a statement.

    Volvo-brand truck North American deliveries increased 10% to 2,416 trucks, while Mack’s fell 27% to 1,778.

    Year-to-date North American deliveries are 27% below a year ago, at 16,172 units. (A small number of Volvos Renault and UD Trucks brands made up the remainder of the North American tally)

    Worldwide heavy-duty truck deliveries for all Volvo brands fell 9% in May to 16,732 units. Heavy-duty trucks, which made up the majority, fell 6% to 14,318.

    Volvo brand heavy-duty truck deliveries rose 5% worldwide in May to 9,560 units, while Mack’s fell 21% to 2,133.

  8. Forbes / 6/14/2013

    Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services downgraded Navistar International’s long-term credit rating Friday, saying it had concluded that the risk of an unsuccessful turnaround is “greater than we had anticipated.”

    The downgrade comes on the heels of poor earnings results earlier this week for Navistar, which is attempting a turnaround after betting the company on an unproven diesel engine technology (i.e. Massive EGR).

    S&P said it lowered Navistar’s rating to ‘B-’ from ‘B’, assigning a negative outlook and changing its business risk profile to “vulnerable” from “weak.”

    “This reassessment indicates our view that Navistar may not be able to achieve the market share it needs for a successful business turnaround,” S&P credit analyst Sol Samson wrote.

    Navistar’s revenues plunged 23 percent, to $2.5 billion, in the second quarter compared with a year ago. The huge drop was partly explained by a 14% drop in overall industry demand, but the rest was due to lost market share as Navistar scrambled to redesign its engines using a different emissions strategy.

    Navistar management still says it can achieve 18% of the Class 8 truck market by year-end, but so far, progress has been slow. Its share in the second quarter was 15%, but May orders were up 38%.

    Quality problems also continue to dog the company. In the second quarter, Navistar added $164 million to its warranty reserves to pay for repairs on engines built in 2010 and 2011. Aside from the added repair costs, S&P noted the quality issues could tarnish its reputation and hurt sales going forward.

    Navistar chief executive Troy A. Clarke said the company is not satisfied with its results for the quarter, which included a net loss of $374 million, more than double the loss in the second quarter of 2012. But he says Navistar is making turnaround progress on many fronts. “We still face some significant, yet solvable challenges, primarily in the areas of higher pre-existing warranty costs for our earlier EPA 2010 emissions level engines, as well as in rebuilding sales and restoring market share. However, we are already implementing the right leadership and business process changes to effectively address these priority issues.”

    Navistar is trying to pull off a turnaround during a cyclical industry slump, making the challenge that much harder. S&P says it’s possible the U.S. commercial truck market will rebound in the second half of 2012, but said Navistar can’t count on a pickup in military truck sales any time soon, depriving the company of a lucrative source of profits.

    Even if Navistar does recover, its $6 billion in debt, including retiree obligations, will continue to weigh it down. The company has about $1 billion in cash. “Navistar’s cash liquidity will not last indefinitely, although it is sufficient for several quarters,” said Samson.

  9. Transport Topics / 6/14/2013

    Navistar Inc. told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it is recalling 9,578 ProStar and TranStar trucks because of problems with S-cam tubes on steer-axle brake assemblies made by Meritor Inc.

    NHTSA posted a letter saying the trucks were made from August 2011 through July 2012 and sold in the United States, Canada and into export markets.

    “The brake S-cam tube bracket assemblies on steer axles may exhibit fractures between the wing bracket and the tube steel when mounted to stamped spiders,” said a letter from R.L. Van Laar, Navistar’s compliance manager. A brake spider is the foundation for brake assemblies.

    Navistar said it will notify truck owners by mail by Aug. 23.

  10. In comparison, the more modern Deutz 15.9-liter four-valve water-cooled BF8M1015 is rated up to 590 horsepower.

    An 11.9-liter V-6 version, the BF6M1015, is rated up to 443 horsepower.

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  11. Deutz produces superb air- and water-cooled engines, but aside from the 2013 series, in terms of NVH, I think they are best suited to construction machinery.

    The engines in the Osterlund-built Diamond Reo "Giants" were 12.8 liter BF8L513 twin-turbo air-cooled V-8s rated from 280 to 330 horsepower.

    Note: GMC had offered the air-cooled BF6L913 in their medium duty trucks.

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  12. Mack ran a lot of prototypes. Overnite was one of several fleets chosen for endurance testing.

    I'm not familiar with this effort, but it certainly seems apt to call it a second generation Mack "Big 6". Pedigreed bulldog engineering impresses.

    The original 855 cu.in. (14 liter) "Big Six" was dubbed the Turbodyne by legendary Mack engineer Walter May.

    I hesitate to think it was based on a marine spec engine, because they wouldn't have a chance at passing emissions. Why bother on-road endurance testing?

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  13. I don't leave trucks running much, but when I do, I always bump the idle up to about 900-1000rpm to keep the cylinders cleaned out and the air moving over the cooling stack,

    Agreed.

    My R-model experience with Red Dot and Signet air conditioning was extremely good, although I never cared for the Kysor unit that came with R-model glider kits. AC performance with a properly maintained F-model and MH was average, while the (Macungie-built) Cruise-Liner was above average.

  14. So when you called the good folks at Watt's Mack Sales and spoke to Barry (providing your model and serial number), what price did he offer you for the OEM compressor?

    With the AC system (and fan clutch) in proper working order, I never experienced the slightest cooling problem with the older RWS/RWL nor the newer RWI600/700s, so I can't seen any reason for modifying the grilledensor.

  15. Trailer/Body Builders / June 12, 2013

    International Industria Automotiva da America do Sul Ldta. ("IIAA"), the South American subsidiary of Navistar International Corporation, started commercial truck production at the Navistar Industrial Complex, the company's manufacturing facility in Canoas, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.

    The new truck manufacturing line will have capacity for 5,000 trucks per year and potential for added expansion as demand grows.

    The 131,000 square-foot facility already serves as a parts distribution center and produces diesel engines for MWM-International-a leading manufacturer of diesel engines from 2.8 to 13 liter for Latin America and other global markets, serving commercial vehicle, agricultural, industrial and marine applications.

    "We're seeing great success in Brazil with our MWM engine business and we remain committed to the future in Brazil as we begin our truck manufacturing operations in Canoas," said Eric Tech, president, Navistar Global Truck and Engine. "Our business in Brazil has served as a great model for our global growth efforts. Our ongoing investment in the Brazilian truck market-one of the largest commercial truck markets in the world-is a logical next step in our strategy."

    The company's products compete in very diverse market segments including: vehicular, agricultural, industrial and marine. During the last three years, Navistar has invested more than $200 million USD in Brazil on a number of important strategic initiatives, including manufacturing operations, research and development, an emissions change from EURO-III to EURO-V standards and new product launches for the Brazilian truck market. By leveraging the existing facility in Canoas, Navistar was able to avoid a significant investment required by a greenfield project.

    "Our Brazilian business is having a strong year and their success is an important part of the great progress we're making in our company's turnaround strategy," Tech added. "While we remain focused on improving our core North American business, we continue to look for smart, strategic ways to invest in select global markets and our investment in Brazil is just one example of that approach."

  16. Fleet Owner / Jun 11, 2013

    Navistar International Corp. has announced it will use SCR emissions-aftertreatment systems supplied by Cummins Emissions Solutions on its MaxxForce engines that power its International medium-duty trucks, starting in the first quarter of calendar year 2014.

    The SCR announcement was included in the truck and engine maker’s release on its Q2 earnings. The company noted that it was “turning its focus” to adding SCR to its medium-duty products as its “heavy-duty launches [are] essentially completed.”

    “We will introduce SCR in our medium-duty engines at the beginning of calendar year 2014, and we selected Cummins as our aftertreatment supplier,” said Navistar executive vp & COO Jack Allen yesterday, in a conference call with analysts on the earnings report. “For the past nine months, our engineering efforts have centered on adding SCR to our big bore engines. And now, this effort shifts to medium duty. And we're going to move as quickly as possible, but we won't compromise any of the quality gains we've made. And with this plan, we expect to avoid NCPs [Non-Conformance Penalties]on medium-duty engines, and it's likely we'll even have [emission-compliance] credits left over.”

  17. Volvo Group has introduced its new Renault brand truck range (Volvo now owns 100 percent of the former Renault truck unit).

    I don't know what Volvo was thinking. This has to be the worst looking truck range of all time.

    Folks, this is not representative of European COE design. This is simply truck styling at its worst.

    The horrible looking new class 8 Renault T range (on-highway tractor) is a variation of the new Volvo FH (which itself looks like an angry kitchen appliance).

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  18. Fleet Owner / June 10, 2013

    While the change at the top of one truck OEM has garnered most of the headlines in the past few months, it is but one alteration of leadership in the past year that is reshaping the look of the industry’s top manufacturers.

    Troy Clarke took over as president & CEO of Navistar on April 15, replacing interim CEO Lewis B. Campbell, who led the company following the forced retirement of Daniel Ustian last summer.

    Clarke is in charge of turning the company around, which began under Campbell with the sale of its Workhorse Custom Chassis brand and has continued with the sale of its Monaco RV brand among other moves, including the shift to SCR aftertreatment for its engines.

    “I think the big [question] is what’s his management style,” Eric Starks, president of FTR Associates, told Fleet Owner. “How aggressive is he going to be in turning the company around? How transparent is he? How will he deal with the customers?”

    Prior to taking over at Navistar, Clarke had served as president, Truck and Engine. He joined Navistar in January 2010 as president of Navistar Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for leading the company’s growth initiatives in the region.

    He spent 35 years at General Motors, including time as president of GM North America and GM group vice president. Prior to that, he spent two years as president of GM Asia Pacific and GM group vice president. Over the course of his career with GM, he also served as president and managing director of GM de Mexico and director of manufacturing for GM de Mexico.

    “The big thing is really stopping the bleeding and that’s the real focus right now,” Starks said, adding that Navistar has delayed its second quarter earnings announcement, although the meaning of that is unclear at this time. “I think, in general, the change in strategy is pretty clear - the change in technology. I think the next year will tell.”

    Clarke is not the only recent change at Navistar. In April, Jack Allen was named executive vice president and COO. While he was president of Navistar’s Engine Group, Allen led initiatives that included the acquisition of Brazilian engine producer MWM Motores Diesel Ltd and a partnership with MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG of Germany. Allen also served as vice president and general manager of the company’s Parts organization.

    The hiring of both Clarke and Allen are significant for Navistar, but also part of a growing trend among the OEMs to tap into the global marketplace, analysts said.

    “These are all people who [have experience with] global platforms,” Sandeep Kar, global director-commercial vehicle research for Frost & Sullivan, told Fleet Owner. “They all have experience globally as well as here in North America.”

    Navistar also named Bill Kozek, formerly general manager of Peterbilt and Paccar vice president, to replace Allen as president of its North American Truck and Parts business. Kozek joined Navistar following a 26-year career with Paccar. He had served as Paccar vice president and Peterbilt general manager since January 2012. He too, has global experience, having served as vice president of Paccar China in 2011, and general manager of Paccar’s Kenworth brand from October 2008 to June 2011.

    Darrin Siver was named to replace Kozek as general manager at Peterbilt. He was most recently general manager of Paccar Parts and has served with Paccar for 19 years.

    A change at the top of Daimler Trucks brings Wolfgang Bernhard, previously head of operations at Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Cars division, to the top spot of Daimler Trucks while moving former chief executive Andreas Renschler over to handle production and purchasing of Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans. That change was effective on April 1.

    Bernhard’s experience is a cross section of North American and global experience and typical of that which is being seen in the recent hires. Bernhard, who joined Daimler in 1994, has held several positions within the company, including COO of the Chrysler Group under DaimlerChrysler from 2000 to 2004. From 2005 through 2007, he was a member of the board of management of Volkswagen AG. He also served as head of business unit for Mercedes-Benz Vans in 2009 and member of the board of management, manufacturing and procurement for Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans in 2010.

    Over at Ford, CEO Alan Mulally stepped down and was replaced by Mark Fields in December 2012. Fields was president of the Americas since October 2005, leading the development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America. He also served as executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group (PAG), where he led all activities for Ford’s premium vehicle business group, and for Ford-brand vehicles manufactured and sold in European countries.

    All the hires have a few common traits, Kar said, including cost-cutting experience, global experience, North American experience, and perhaps most importantly, solid leadership skills.

    “In this new business environment, this is what [manufacturers] are all looking for,” he said.

    Chrysler also made a change recently, naming Reid Bigland president and CEO - Ram Truck Brand and the head of U.S. Sales for Chrysler Group LLC. That move was necessitated by Nissan’s luring of Fred Diaz away from Ram to serve as divisional vice president of Nissan sales and marketing.

    Bigland was appointed to his position in April. He had been president & CEO of the Dodge Brand. Bigland came to Chrysler in July 2006 from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., where he served as president. He also has truck experience with Freightliner and Western Star, serving as director of U.S. sales for Western Star in 1999 and general manager of dealer operations for Freightliner in 2002.

    Diaz is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Nissan Division in the U.S., which includes all sales, marketing, fixed operations, parts and service and administration functions. He had been CEO of Chrysler’s Ram Truck unit since 2009 and also CEO of Chrysler de Mexico since 2011, responsible for all the Chrysler Group brands there.

    Volvo Trucks named Göran Nyberg president of North American sales & marketing in October 2012. Nyberg is responsible for all of Volvo’s commercial truck activities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He has been with the Volvo Group since 2003 and has more than 20 years of experience, including a stint as managing director of Volvo Group UK Limited, the sales and marketing division for Volvo Trucks in the United Kingdom.

    “The focus clearly has to be outside the North American market,” Starks said. “If you don’t bring in people that can think globally, you could be in trouble.”

  19. June 11, 2013

    The engineer behind the development of Scania’s Euro 6 after-treatment system has been awarded the Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize for Outstanding Research in Vehicle Engineering.

    Dr Magnus MackAldener and his team developed the compact after-treatment device that uses oxidation catalysts, particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies to remove the nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate emissions from the exhaust gases.

    The compact size of the after-treatment device is reported to free up chassis space on Scania tractors to allow more room for larger fuel tanks and other equipment.

    “I'm very proud to be one of the engineers in the international vehicle industry who have been awarded this distinguished prize. It’s recognition of Scania’s prominent position in engine development and the result of successful teamwork, in which I have had the privilege of participating,” MackAldener says.

    Scania was out of the gates early with Euro 6 engines and have over 1,000 Euro 6 compliant trucks already on European roads.

    Euro 6 emissions legislation does not come into effect until the end of 2013. Scania engines use a combination of SCR and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to satisfy Euro 6 emissions levels. Scania has been running with this technology since 2011.

    http://www.scania.com/media/pressreleases/N13016EN.aspx

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