The Scania South Africa team appears to have a very busy time ahead of them at the Johannesburg Bus & Truck Show, judging by their display and the customer interaction they are encouraging during the 11 day event, which takes place at Expo Centre, Nasrec, from October 6-16, and runs concurrently with the Johannesburg International |Motor Show.
The highlight of the extensive display will be the Pearl Red, hotrod-style 39’er, a bonneted Scania without a roof. Under the bonnet is a V8 engine modified to produce more than 1 000 horsepower, which will be started up periodically on the stand to get the adrenaline pumping! This beauty is the work of Scania’s own custom truck builder in Sweden, Sven-Erik “Svempa” Bergendahl, who will be in attendance at the show for the first week.
He is 72 years young and has been building Scania-based show trucks since 1982 under the name of Svempas, with the website address
www.svempas.se
where you can see many of his amazing creations, including some of them in smoke-billowing action on U-Tube.
Not only are the trucks he designs and builds wonderful to look at, but Svempa also ensures they go like rockets too, in line with the company slogan “Don’t hold back your horses!”
Before arriving at Expo Centre Svempa and his dramatically-styled topless truck will have performed at road shows in Durban (September 27) and Alrode (September 29 and 30).
However, the big news for the mining industry will be the launch of a new range of Scania Griffin trucks designed and built specifically for on-road operation at mines. There is an 8×4 model which can haul a 50-ton load in its sturdy, rear-tipping body made of Rocktuff material, or a 6×4 with a 40-ton load capacity. The company is also developing a 10×4 which will be able to haul a load of 58 tons.
The launch of this ultra-rugged truck range is linked to the establishment of a separate mining division, headed up by Chris Swanepoel. In the future it could be self-reliant with its own after-sales back-up.
One of the innovations that will be offered to mining customers is a containerised mobile workshop that can be erected on site and is fully equipped, including having its own sleeping and living quarters.
Scania has been involved in providing vehicles for mining applications for many years and sells between 4 500 and 500 of these units annually, being particularly well-represented in India and Indonesia.
One of these Griffin mining trucks has been identified as the 28 000th Scania vehicle to have been sold in Southern Africa since the 1970’s and will be handed over to the customer, a Botswana mining company, during the show.
Scania SA will continue its tradition of building special edition trucks and will have six versions of the Nordic Blue (dark blue metallic) 620 models on display. All are pre-sold and each one features a different Nordic god in its bold livery. These trucks will have the usual high quality chrome and leather trim treatment that always sets these special editions apart.
These Nordic Blue special editions are fitted with Euro 4 engines, but Scania is already assembling its first trucks with Euro 5 engines in line with a customer request. These trucks will use AdBlue in a system to clean the exhaust emissions.
Scania is also celebrating its centenary as a bus manufacturer and will have a especially decaled Scania bus on display. This bus is made to Scania standards by Higer, in China and marketed as a Scania.
The other vehicle that will be on display at the Scania stand is a P270-, which is a comparatively recent addition to the local range and competes in the heavy segment of the local market, whereas all the other Scania models are in the extra-heavy segment.
Scania SA will once again ensure top quality facilities for entertaining its customers and potential buyers at an exclusive club. There is automatic access for current customers, while potential buyers must have a business card detailing their involvement in the transport industry.
According to sales director Alec Mack his team will be fully equipped to do business on the stand, including handling applications for finance. Those wanting Scania merchandise will also be catered for with a comprehensive range on sale.
