The Commercial Vehicle Show is currently underway in Birmingham.
More than 200 companies are exhibiting at the event, although heavy truck manufacturers are noticeable by their absence.
[caption id="attachment_30053" align="alignright" width="300"] Nikola truck on display[/caption]
Highlights for us include Iveco which exhibited a Europe-specific electric truck under the Nikola brand, which will be manufactured in the Ulme plant and offered for sale (in LHD form) from Q4 of this year. We were also taken by the new ‘Maxus’ electric pick-up truck which is built by Chinese-owned SAIC and is currently the only regular size EV pick-up available in the UK.
There were a number of service-oriented products on show, such as Solera’s new fleet management system. The team were keen to tell people about the offering that automatically alerts fleet managers to what the software deems to be the ‘risky’ highlights of a driver’s day.
On a similar note, Vehicle Vision were demonstrating software that can show the customer personalised videos of the engineer’s inspection, which the firm says will sell more parts and labour, leading to reduced claims, contesting and disputes.
“This nation’s CV industry is no longer just about trucks. It’s about vans that move goods and supplies into clean air zones that no longer allow non-Euro VI rated trucks, It’s about coaches that take people to work and children to school” commented Richard Smith, MD of show partner RHA.
Go to comments