Desert Dunes, Mountains & Rocks: IVECO Brings DAKAR Power Houses to SA!
Johannesburg, 09 October 2014 – The 10 000km Dakar Rally is acknowledged to be the toughest motorsport event on Earth – with more than 4 000km of flat-out racing stages through mountains, dunes and rocky deserts across Argentina, Chile and Bolvia. Now, South Africans will have the chance to get up close and personal with an icon of the race, IVECO’s Dakar star performing truck, the 660kW Iveco Trakker 4×4 race truck (Number 507). IVECO will also launch its new Eurocargo medium truck and the Limited Edition Tested By Dakar Kits at its TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE.
The race truck will be on display in South Africa at the company’s TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE event which will take place from 7-11 October at the ADA training facility outside Lanseria, Johannesburg
Christophe Longuet, IVECO South Africa’s Marketing Manager, says the TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE will showcase the brand’s legendary reputation for being robust and reliable in a fun, adventurous way and enable guests to get a hands-on feel for the offroad capabilities of IVECO’s vehicles.
“The TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE will provide an environment for our guests to experience, ‘play with’ and enjoy our broad range of vehicles and products which are ideally suited to Africa’s rugged terrain,” he says.
‘Mini-Dakar’ opportunity
IVECO’s new-to-market Eurocargo, plus its Daily and Trakker models will all be on display. These models will be available in their rugged 4×4 versions. TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE guests will have an opportunity to put the trucks through their paces on both an off-road course and gravel skid-pan. They’ll be able to experience the offroad abilities of the IVECO range in their own ‘mini-Dakar’ adventure,” says Longuet.
Launch of new IVECO Eurocargo
The TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE will serve as the launch platform for IVECO’s brand new Eurocargo truck series, which is now being assembled in South Africa.
The Eurocargo series embodies the IVECO brand values – Commitment, Reliability, Performance, Team Spirit and Power, and is IVECO’s main weapon in the heavy truck market in South Africa – an industry which generates annual sales of more than 10 500 units.
The Eurocargo offers reliability, excellent long-term running costs, top driver comfort and flexibility for transport operators.
Now being assembled at the company’s newly-commissioned R530 million plant at Rosslyn outside Pretoria, the Eurocargo is the same vehicle type being offered for sale in Europe, except that engines are rated to Euro 3 standards because of the variable quality of diesel fuel available in Africa.
There are seven different gross vehicle mass (GVM) variants – from ten to 18 tons – and five power categories, from 132kW to 206kW and the fact that its upper chassis structure is flat means any sort of body can be easily fitted. Notwithstanding the up-to-date design, the Eurocargo range also offers excellent driver comfort.
Launch of New Edition Kits
The TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE will also see the launch of new TESTED BY DAKAR Limited Edition Kits which will be available on the 4×4 versions of the Eurocargo, Daily and Trakker.
IVECO Daily
The Daily has earned a reputation across Africa as a tough, reliable, economical transport vehicle in various applications, ranging from long-distance taxis to delivery vehicles. Now, in its 4×4 guise, it offers both business and leisure buyers an extra, “go anywhere” dimension.
Launched in May 2013, more than 130 of the 4×4 versions of the Daily have been sold to date, 70% to the leisure and adventure market, says Longuet.
With a 115kW engine, a gross vehicle weight of 5.5 tons and a towing capacity of up to 3.5 tons, the Daily 4×4 offers great payload ability for both businesses and those who want a true expedition vehicle with which to explore Africa. With locking differentials front, centre and rear, the Daily 4×4 promises awesome off road capabilities – including a departure angle of 51°, approach angle of 31° for the short wheelbase version and 27° for the long wheelbase version; departure angle of 42° for the short wheelbase version and 36° for the long wheelbase version, with a fording depth of up to 700 mm. The vehicle can be equipped with 5 types of power takeoffs for operation of external equipment through hydraulic pumps.
IVECO Trakker
The New IVECO Trakker is designed to work in all weather conditions and on all types of terrain – from unmetalled roads to extreme off-road conditions – with the utmost safety, comfort and productivity. It features a range of engines which are frugal, lightweight and extremely powerful and that allow higher rated loads with engines of smaller displacement, while maximum torque is on tap from very low engine speeds and for a very wide operating range.
During the TESTED BY DAKAR EXPERIENCE, a few lucky individuals will be afforded a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to be driven in IVECO’s champion vehicle.
IVECO is the only manufacturer in the world to offer a complete range of all-wheel-drive vehicles, up to 8×8 for quarries and work sites. And it backs its products successfully competing in the toughest tests around – like the Dakar Rally.
Iveco is a brand of CNH Industrial N.V., a World leader in Capital Goods listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CNHI) and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario of the Borsa Italiana (MI: CNHI). Iveco designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, offroad trucks, and vehicles for applications such as off-road missions.
The brand’s wide range of products include the Daily, a vehicle that covers the 3 – 7 ton vehicle weight segment, the Eurocargo from 6 – 16 tons, the Trakker (dedicated to off-road missions) and the Stralis, both over 16 tons. In addition, with the brand Iveco Astra, builds mining and construction vehicles, rigid and articulated dump trucks and specialty vehicles.
Iveco employs close to 21,000 individuals globally. It manages production sites in 7 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America where it produces vehicles featuring the latest advanced technologies. 4,200 sales and service outlets in over 160 countries guarantee technical support wherever an Iveco vehicle is at work.
CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI /MI: CNHI) is a global leader in the capital goods sector with established industrial experience, a wide range of products and a worldwide presence. Each of the individual brands elonging to the Company is a major international force in its specific industrial sector: Case IH, New Holland Agriculture and Steyr for tractors and agricultural machinery; Case and New Holland Construction for earth moving equipment; Iveco for commercial vehicles; Iveco Bus and Heuliez Bus for buses and coaches; Iveco Astra for quarry and construction vehicles; Magirus for firefighting vehicles; Iveco Defence Vehicles for defence and civil protection; and FPT Industrial for engines and transmissions.