Renewed DAF range targets new markets

With a new range of next-generation heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks, PACCAR Australia's European arm, DAF, says it's now perfectly positioned to tackle both new and existing truck market segments and grow its market share significantly.

Speaking at Queensland's Mount Cotton driver training facility during the recent Australian launch of the new DAF XF and CF lines, DAF Australian General Manager, Felipe Rubio, said the new heavy-duty models – along with the medium-duty LF range launched at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show – would sharpen the brand's offering in existing market segments, while also allowing it to tackle new segments.

"Now we are moving from the CF 75 to the MX-11 [11-litre engine]," he said.

"So we are going to compete against the other Europeans. It's a shift – we're going from a segment in which we weren't successful to a segment in which we're going to be successful, because now we can compete."

The 11-litre heavy-duty market is currently dominated by Volvo, with another major slice occupied by Mercedes-Benz, followed by UD Trucks.

In the 13-litre heavy-duty cab-over market, DAF's old Euro 5 CF 85 model has made way for a next-gen product with Euro 6 power, with its MX-13 engine now sporting numerous improvements and upgrades. In this segment the new CF will lock horns primarily with Scania and Mercedes-Benz.

"[In this segment] we have been selling a Euro 5 truck, an old product, but we have been selling more than Mercedes-Benz with its new Actros, so my thinking is that now having a later-generation truck we can get part of the sales that Scania and also Volvo are doing right now, so I expect to increase our volume there too," said Rubio.

Meanwhile the new DAF LF range, which apart from a three-axle heavy-duty rigid model falls into the medium-duty segment, will battle the Japanese brands. The LF range is powered by DAF's seven-litre PX-7 engine.

While the new MX-13-powered XF and CF models and the LF range are here now, the MX-11-powered CF will arrive before the end of 2020, said DAF.

Local assembly of the DAF CF family from CKD (complete knockdown) kits will continue at PACCAR Australia's Bayswater (Vic) production facility, on a dedicated line. However, DAF said that with the recent expansion of the plant and significant investment, it's keen to transition to full assembly.

"What we want to do is evolve from bringing [CF CKD] kits from Europe to building the trucks [at Bayswater] from components, much the same way as Kenworths are built," said Rubio.

"That gives us advantages like giving us access to niche markets, customisation, and cost benefits too."

DAF says it's currently producing three DAF trucks per week at the Bayswater plant.

"But we want to go to [building] one per day, and in the next two to three years, let's say four per day," said Rubio.

Rubio added that while there are currently no plans to assemble the larger, line-haul-oriented XF model here in Australia, he wouldn't rule out local assembly of the smaller LF family.

"This could also be a model we could assemble here, but the problem is the different wheelbases you have," he said.

"There's more complexity, but it's also something we're looking at, that we're considering."

The new DAF XF, meanwhile, is now better placed to take on its Euro cab-over rivals, said Rubio.

"With the previous one we had 510hp, but the position for the customer who is buying a big-cab truck is that they want a big horsepower engine with it," he said.

"So 510hp isn't enough. Now we have 530hp, we are competing against the Volvo FH 540, the Mercedes-Benz 530. So again, we have more selling opportunities now.

Rubio paid tribute to DAF's out-going Euro 5 range, but said the company had now reached a turning point in its operations.

"The Euro 5 has been good for us," he said.

"In 2011 we had 1.5 per cent market share [of the heavy-duty market], and now we have 3.4 per cent. That isn't great, but it's significant. So we have changed the perception of the customers about DAF.

"I think we have a new face now, a good base now to build upon with these new trucks."