As 2024 rolls towards it’s final days and a lot of the industry heads off for a holiday break Deals on Wheels caught up with Scania Australia’s Benjamin Nye for a wrap up of the year that was for the brand, and a sneak peak at the year ahead. Here’s what Benjamin had to say to our questions:
As we roll into 2025, what plans does Scania have for the truck side of the business in Australia?
Building on the success of the past four or more years, Scania will continue to expand its product and services offering to customers, focussing on uptime, fuel efficiency, safety and driver comfort. We will be commencing deliveries of our new SUPER 500 hp P-series cab, which merges the convenience of a compact cab suitable for multi drop deliveries with a very powerful six-cylinder engine which also makes it perfect for heavy loads up to B-double, as well as for hilly distribution. Also, we have a new demonstrator truck with a bit of a twist, it’s called the Dunk Truck, and it is a curtainsider rigid that has a basketball hoop mounted on the back. We’ll be taking it around the country to raise awareness and interest in Scania as an employer, particularly among younger Australians looking for a career in our workshops.
Are there any new releases on the way? If so, what’s coming?
Aside from the new 500 P SUPER, we will have a few new offerings coming in 2025, but it is still too soon to reveal any details. But suffice it to say they will be on display on our stand at the Brisbane Truck Show in May.
How has the 770 performed on the sales front in Australia?
Scania set a new benchmark for high horsepower V8 engines in 2010 when we launched the 730 hp V8, and this has been a very successful vehicle for us and our customers, across a very wide spectrum, from mining to owner-drivers who want to drive the king of the road, to interstate fleets moving heavy loads. The 770 since its launch almost 2 years ago has locked into this market and has been successful converting 730 hp buyers to 770, especially in concert with our CR23 extended cab, as well as bringing customers to our brand. Now we’re providing more power, more torque and more space and luxury. Who could want anything more? The appeal of 3700 Nm of torque is irresistible. Just ask anyone who has bought one. And there are plenty of them around.
Where does Scania sit on the idea of electric trucks for the Australian market?
We brought our first Battery Electric Vehicle to Australia more than two years ago and we have more on the way. If you have a need for a zero-emission vehicle and you can set up your charging stations in a logical and cost-effective way, perhaps using solar and batteries to store the energy, the Scania BEV product line-up does offer a pathway to commercial viability. We will have BEV trucks coming with bigger batteries and electric machines – what used to be called motors – and certainly the feedback from our customers is that they understand the benefits, not only from a zero-tailpipe emissions point of view, but the quieter running, smoother driving and fatigue-reducing properties should not be overlooked. We still see BEV as being feasible for most of our clients into the future, and we have already delivered several to mining customers, so there is a bright future for this technology, but it won’t appear overnight across the industry.
What do you think about the idea of having alternative fuels trialled here that have become popular in Europe – such as biodiesel?
Scania has a long history of offering renewable fuels to the Australian market, starting with public transport where we offered ethanol fuelled buses around 20 years ago. Our truck engines can all run on B5 and B10 without adjustment and many of them can be tweaked either at the factory or here in Australia to run on B100 biodiesel. The CO2 reduction is up to 92% depending on engine and application, with no infrastructure required at the client side. You just pump the biofuel and go. We have arrangements with fuel suppliers, too, so for fleets who have predictable routes and can store fuel on site, they can switch instantly. There is a significant environmental advantage, with no penalty in terms of performance or availability. We really like biodiesel as a solution to reducing CO2.
What would you say is the strongest part of the Australian transport market for Scania trucks at the moment: e.g. long haul, port to warehouse, city work?
All those applications are relevant to us. We have been successful in long haul and overnight express interstate fleets as well as with various tasks in the mining industry. Our full Euro 6 line up will gain us additional conquests in 2025, at the smaller end of our range, as some suppliers struggle to supply smaller Euro 6 compliant vehicles. Our high horsepower outputs, high torque at low engine revs and our excellent and enviable fuel performance means that most operators across the spectrum can save on their fuel bills switching to Scania.
What sort of plans, if any, do you have for the Brisbane Truck Show?
Firstly, we’re delighted to be returning to the Brisbane Truck Show, and we will have a high horsepower display with an excellent example of our V8 King of the Road range. We are also planning to show off the 500 P as well as something that looks a little further ahead into the future. As is traditional with Scania, we won’t only be focussed on the metal but on the tailored aftermarket solutions we provide, from information about Driver Training, Repair and Maintenance contracts, Scania Finance Australia, and our digital user products from the Scania Driver App to the Fleet Management Portal. All these services give our customers the edge in running their trucks, making them even more productive and efficient.
How would you describe 2024 so far in terms of Scania’s business successes and where the company sits against its own KPIs?
2024 will be undoubtedly the biggest year for Scania truck deliveries in our more than 50-year history in Australia and that is something that Manfred Streit our MD, and our entire Scania Australia family are proud of and very excited about. But more importantly it means that we have put safer, more fuel efficient and productive vehicles onto Australia’s roads. Every time we roll out a new Scania truck into the hands of a customer, we’re reducing emissions, providing drivers with a safer, more comfortable and quieter workspace, and we’re helping the country to run more efficiently. Our previous record deliveries of around 1350 will be well eclipsed in 2024.
What else should people know about Scania in 2025?
We will be opening our 10th company-owned branch/workshop in Hope Valley south of Perth in the first part of the year, along with a new and even bigger parts warehouse there. Our customers across Australia like the fact that our capital city workshops are company-owned and staffed by company-trained technicians, who have access to all the latest software and hardware to maintain their vehicles. The new Hope Valley branch will help us to increase our penetration of the WA on and off-road markets.
What do you think are the top three issues affecting your transport customers in Australia right now?
I would say the top three issues are the weakening economy, fuel and financing costs, and recruiting sufficient young drivers.