History of the German commercial vehicle industry from 1990 to today
The commercial vehicle industry is an economically important branch of the economy. This article deals with its history since 1990. Since the commercial vehicle market in Germany has become increasingly international since the mid-1970s, influences of the foreign commercial vehicle industry on the German commercial vehicle sector are also included here.
The earlier development is presented in the articles History of the German Commercial Vehicle Industry from 1895 to 1945 , History of the West German Commercial Vehicle Industry from 1945 to 1990 and History of the East German Commercial Vehicle Industry from 1945 to 1990 .
After the "turning point" and the opening of Eastern Europe
The “ turning point ” opened up to Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany began. The length of the articulated lorry was generally determined to be 16.50 m and the trailer was given 13.60 m. The technical monitoring association Dekra and Daimler-Benz built the first Euro-Truck I as a truck of the future with plug-in cards as ignition and door keys, airbags , ABS, electronic driver monitoring, cameras instead of mirrors, sliding doors and extendable and retractable steps, telephone , Fax, PC , reversing monitoring and a navigation system . All new trucks over 12 tons had to install large-angled approach mirrors or ramp mirrors on the right-hand side. MAN built its first UXT 360 PS underfloor tractor units, with a quantity of five trucks.
In 1990 Faun ( Lauf an der Pegnitz ) also gave up the remaining tractor production of the company, which now belongs to the Japanese crane manufacturer Tadano . Since then, Faun has been manufacturing sub-vehicles for the Tadano-Kane, which are sold under the name Tadano-Faun .
In 1990, as a truck manufacturer, Renault brought a “space miracle” onto the market as a real Coe (Cab over engine), that is, a large cab built above the engine, as a “Magnum AE” with 580 hp. This driver's cab, which was 1700 mm above the road, was level with the floor and had a continuous headroom of 1900 mm. New standards were set for European truck manufacturers, which have had a major impact up to the present day. As the front axle was pushed very far forward, it took some getting used to getting into the cab , because the driver had to climb into the cab via a steep external staircase at the back of the cab and the handle bar was attached on the outside and was therefore often dirty.
The GDR had achieved reunification with West Germany. A golden age was in prospect for the commercial vehicle industry. On December 17, 1990, the EC Council of Ministers decided with a qualified majority, after more than a year of negotiations, to amend Directive 85/3 EEC to guarantee the driver's cab as the "functional space" of a truck cab with a total depth of 2.35 m can. The urgent question for the commercial vehicle industry: How long can a road train be in order to create a healthy, always satisfactory ratio of occupied traffic area and economically optimal use of transport space, a change had to be made to important dimensions and certain other technical features of certain freight transport vehicles . An acceptable compromise had been reached for all sides by only specifying the loading area and 16 m total usable length of the truck from the rear edge of the cab, as well as the length of the drawbar . The new EC Directive 91/60 came into force on December 31, 1991 and set the maximum permissible truck length from 18 to 18.35 m and the maximum length of the loading area to 15.65 m. For safety reasons, the short-coupled trucks were allowed to lengthen somewhat while cornering, but without the intervention of the vehicle driver or other people. It was now left to the transport company how big the cab should be for the drivers. For old trucks, a transition period up to December 31, 1998 was set for the loading area and overall length.
Innovation in electronics and technology in commercial vehicle construction
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In 1991, the commercial vehicle industry also had to deal with the possibilities of an on-board computer and investigate whether a corresponding market existed. The suppliers for these electronic achievements had to offer inexpensive devices that could be built into the trucks. Here the federal government had placed an order with the aerospace industry, whereby iZm. the commercial vehicle monitoring system " NÜS 2000 ", options in the trucks were also tested, which should then gradually be incorporated into series production. In 1991 MAN brought out the F90 cab with a high roof and built in many large storage cupboards above the windshield. In Sweden, Scania built a streamlined cab called Streamline . Volvo presented a further developed, fully automatic transmission with the name: "Geartronic", whereby the driver can decide for himself whether or when he wants to clutch, change gear or do nothing at all. The truck manufacturer DAF built a tractor unit for a mega-trailer that had a low frame in the semi-trailer, whereby the height of the fifth wheel could be imagined from 96 to 115 cm. The "underfloor tractor unit" developed by MAN from 1989 now had 422 hp, as well as ABS, disc brakes , all-wheel drive and automatic, and was completely air-suspended.
In 1992, Iveco removed the last German-made cabriolet from the German product range when sales of the PA series, which still originated from Magirus-Deutz , were discontinued in Germany. This ended the triumphant advance of the cab-over-engine in Germany. At the same time, the air-cooled engine disappeared from the German truck market with this series . From 1992 onwards, the "short cabs" for the truck cabs of new vehicles in long-distance freight transport should finally be over. With the new truck length of 18.35 m, there will no longer be any confined spaces in the driver's cab.
With the law on road haulage (GüKG) amended on May 31, 1992 , factory and commercial goods transport was expanded to a radius of 75 km from the (e.g. assumed) location. As the last European truck manufacturer, Daimler-Benz was only now following the other truck manufacturers with its European high roof "Eurocab" and this variant could only be ordered as a special request. It is compulsory to wear seat belts in trucks. DAF built the first truck in which the brake and retarder were coupled; this was seen by everyone as pointing the way forward. The truck manufacturer Daimler-Benz and the surveillance company Dekra built a second futuristic modern (practical) truck of the future with the name: EXT 92 and was equipped with all technical and electronic options available on the market. The already in 1991 by MAN built trucks UXT 422 hp underground, was now built as a tractor or with high roof, but only seven of the copies were made, and was currently a " predicate - Tractor ".
The European developments in the new EC 1993
On November 1, 1993, the “ Treaty on European Union ” (the so-called Maastricht Treaty ) came into force. The commercial vehicle industry welcomed this European agreement, in which the uniform regulations in connection with better competitiveness can take place through harmonization.
Volvo built a modern new truck with a sloping windshield and car driving characteristics as type "FH". Of course , this new truck with automatic speedometer disc retraction was brought onto the market with its well-known Globetrotter cab . IVECO built the “Euro-Star” with a high roof as a large long-distance truck with an interior height of 2.37 meters or a standing height of 2050 mm above the engine tunnel.
In 1994 Volvo joined Drögmöller (Heilbronn) and renamed the company in 1995 to Volvo Bus Germany . After a lack of market success, production was discontinued in 2005.
MAN improved its "F 90" truck and now called it the "F 2000". At the same time, MAN discontinued vehicles with underfloor engines, the Büssing trademark , so Büssing disappeared as a brand.
DAF built a large long-distance driver's cab as a "Super Space Cab" with electronic air suspension with 500 hp. The previously missing 250 mm in the outside depth of the driver's cab were clearly visible on the outside of the rear driver's cab, because in 1987 the outside depth of the driver's cab was exactly 2 m.
The bus division of Kässbohrer (Ulm) was sold to Mercedes-Benz in 1995 , which continues the brand name SETRA.
From 1996, according to EU Directive 91/60 as a partial harmonization for "Dimensions and total weight of vehicle combinations", the trucks were allowed to have a length of 16.40 m from the rear edge of the driver's cab, i.e. H. the total length of the truck could now be 18.75 m and the loading area 15.65 m. The permissible total truck length, i. H. the loading area behind the cab has been increased from 18.35 meters to 18.75 meters. The clear distance between the superstructures, as the drawbar length , was now 0.75 m. For the cab, everything remained the same or the 2.35 m cab depth, with 10 cm being deducted for the ISO standard 1726 (tilting device, exhaust, air intake, air and power connections)
Scania built its 4 series, with the now slightly rounded corners and edges, as a "very high" topline version and was the first to provide its side windows with double glass. Volvo increased its "FH" Globetrotter version by an "XL", whereby the roof was increased by 170 mm and the engine tunnel was lowered by 130 mm. The trucks registered from 1988 onwards also had to install a speed limiter, which initiates a speed limiter at a maximum of 90 km / h.
In 1996, company traffic consisted of 32,000 companies with ings in local and long-distance traffic. 272,000 employees. Of these, 25% had only one truck and 64% registered up to 10 trucks for their own purposes.
Mercedes-Benz built the new "Actros" type, with three types of driver's cab being offered as flat, normal and megaspace versions. The Megaspace variant had a floor-level cab. With the Renault "Magnum", there were already two types of truck that had a continuously free cab floor, like the Büssing underfloor truck before. The Rockinger company had completed the automatic hitching and unhitching of the trailer so that a truck driver no longer had to leave the cab. Truck driver seats can or are set automatically for the driver using a personal code card .
Volvo was the first truck manufacturer to also install airbags in trucks, and Renault built an inexpensive “Premium” truck with a completely normal truck cab. Scania built a large hood with slightly rounded corners as a snout truck, which could also be ordered with a truck driver's cab. Scania had even offered the Hauber with the Topline cab, but was still bought very little, although it was used for silo and tanker trucks. the truck length came into question.
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DAF built the new type "95" now with the name: XF, which was available with "Space-Cab" (normal high roof) and "Super-Space-Cab" (very high cab) for long-distance freight transport. Volvo built the FH cab as a hooded vehicle, as a type VN Euro-Hauber, including the Globetrotter version. In the USA, the Volvo hood was built in a very beautiful American cab design, but it was not normally available in Europe.
After the new version of the Road Haulage Act on July 1, 1998, companies now also had an obligation to provide information in works transport . This affected trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 3.5 t. From now on, all companies operating in commercial road haulage could have a so-called permit as an EU license and accordingly have themselves recorded in the company file kept in the " Federal Office for Goods Transport ". In terms of the volume of goods transported, factory traffic with approx. 50% of the transport involved, but only with a performance of around 30%. There were companies that had carried out both commercial road haulage and works transport, which has now been simplified again. Here, the commercial vehicle manufacturers now had to do some work, as the rest of the German works traffic had to be made optimally suitable for transport for the other goods.
Scania improved its 4 series and had 420 hp. Due to its soft curves on the driver's cab , this "topline" version had moved away from the angular look. The changes in the driver's cab in the "R 124" type were the first, a foldable gear stick and a table that could be moved all the way back into the bed area, as well as a passenger seat. The Scania Hauber version of the 4-series, which was also offered for long-distance transport, was still very rarely bought because of the overall length of the truck and its appearance.
Freight traffic increased again by 3% in 2000 and 69% were handled by commercial vehicles, which was already important and significant for the commercial vehicle industry. 50% of the commercial vehicle transports were carried out by German and 19% by foreign transport companies.
MAN built a new type of truck called "TGA" in 2000, and it was immediately available with a large "XXL" cab. The truck was now even higher and the ground was almost level, and it had one of the most spacious truck cabins. In addition, the so-called door module has now been made even more complete by accommodating window lifters , mirror adjusters, mirror heating and central locking . The Austrian Kombiverkehrsgesellschaft (Ökombi) increased the cargo volume in 2000 by approx. 11%. In unaccompanied traffic and on the Rolling Roads ( RoLas ) there were around 40,000 more trucks on the road, and in container traffic , around 20,000 consignments had increased compared to 1999. It is thus important for the appropriate type of trucks, semi-trailers and swap bodies react -Transportmöglichkeit the commercial vehicle industry quickly because the Ökombi wanted to buy 200 more low-floor cars this year and its stock to a total of 750 cars increased.
In mid-2001 MAN took over Gottlob Auwärter GmbH & Co. KG in Stuttgart and retained the Neoplan bus brand .
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Volvo improved its FH in many small things and now had smooth, glazed and upright xenon headlights. The automatic gearshift was also improved and was now attached directly to the driver's seat as an I-Shift ( joystick ). Renault built its Magnum AE with a rear seat. There is a retractable table top with two convertible seats, and the other seats can be adjusted accordingly.
In the commercial vehicle sector, there has been an increasing density of around 43 commercial vehicles per 1000 inhabitants in recent years, whereas in 1996 there were only around 37 commercial vehicles. For all of the 90 companies in the trailer and body industry, flexibility and creativity will be decisive for the success of small and medium-sized companies and achieved an increase of 9% in the past year, 65% of which in Germany and 22% abroad . Employment there was also increased or doubled in the past year, and by the end of the year more than 36,000 people found their jobs in this area. The north-west German economy had collected money in Emsland for the construction of the A 31 ( Geeste - Ochtrup ) so that the motorway leading from Emden to Oberhausen could be completed ten years earlier than planned. For trucks, it meant a time saving of 30 minutes.
In 2002 IVECO built the Stalis type with a large long-distance driver's cab based on modern ergonomic knowledge. Daimler-Chrysler renewed the Mercedes-Benz "Megaspace" in many small details, i. H. the truck manufacturer was the first to respond to criticism from many truckers . Scania was the first truck manufacturer to build an “eXe Longline” long cab, which could rightly be called a mobile home , and the “more living space” was removed from the loading area. DAF revised the Type 95 large-capacity cab, with the "XF" now placed in front of the number 95, and offered the truck with disc brakes. Due to the new economy, almost all truck manufacturers offered narrow and low or cheaper trucks without extras. These economy trucks with their smaller cabs were bought in very large numbers. Scania and Volvo were somewhat reluctant to take these cost-saving measures in terms of cab width, and all truck manufacturers now have a number of variants in terms of cab height.
Visible and invisible improvements
At the end of October 2003, around 829,000 people were employed in German road haulage companies. For the calculation, the number of employees in commercial freight transport was added to that in works transport .
The "breakthrough to electronics" began with almost all truck manufacturers. B. the ESP and ASR . A small button for the gearbox could also be ordered when buying a truck to shift gears, which included fully automatic shifting. This automatic gearshift could be ordered as a coherent unit with the retarder (third brake) and the electronics for the distance measurement, so that the truck would no longer collide with a truck in front (without intervention by the driver). Electronics have now also played such a major role in truck engines that a truck driver could hardly carry out repairs himself.
Scania has now built its top-of-the-range 145 truck as a somewhat revised version. In 2004 Renault built the "Premium" type from 1996 for simple long-distance transport with a narrow design, whereby the slightly raised roof in the driver's cab provides a headroom of approx. 2 m.
The last major commercial vehicle manufacturers
The last six major truck manufacturers and seven major truck brands in Europe are Volvo , Iveco , MAN , Mercedes-Benz , DAF , Scania and Renault . In a test for truck cabs, u. a. complained about with various manufacturers: little storage space, the incomplete additional electronic departure control, the z. T. long list of surcharges for important and technical matters that were also too expensive. The most important switches on or z. Some of them were in the steering wheel, were not lit at night and were placed differently at every truck manufacturer. It is the same with the switch for the hazard warning lights and the handbrake, which were placed on the right rear of two trucks and front right on others. In 2005, heavy trucks and commercial vehicles with "AdBlue" as a diesel additive will be put on the market. This method of exhaust aftertreatment is called "SCR" (Selective Catalytic Reduction) and fulfills the European pollutant regulation "Euro IV" as well as the demanding Euro V. AdBlue is a urea-water solution that is required to remove exhaust gases from diesel vehicles To clean nitrogen oxides and the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is the owner of this brand. According to the VDA, a total of 2,247,538 commercial vehicles (+ 3.6%) were built in the EU-15 in 2005, with a total of 3,123,221 commercial vehicles (+ 5%) being built throughout Europe. A total of 1,116,411 heavy trucks were built in Germany, an increase of 15.7%. The difference between truck and commercial vehicle should be taken into account and whether the weight is below or up to 7.5 or 12 tons total weight. the heavy truck begins.
On September 21, 2006, at the leading trade fair “ IAA Commercial Vehicles” in Hanover, the truck seat manufacturer Grammer and u. a. Hymer presented a completely new concept for truck driver's cabs with the name: "MoTIS" (Modular Truck Interior System). A fundamental distinction was made from conventional truck cabs in that for the first time the integration of a full shower, toilet and kitchen was built into the “normal cab”. According to Grammer, the goal from 2007 will be to equip up to 30 percent of all newly registered long-distance trucks with MoTIS within five years.
In the opinion of the insurance industry, the truck driver should stay on or in the truck, which also improves the safety of the truck, the freight and the like. a. because of cargo theft. The last seven truck manufacturers had only made minor changes to their trucks for the IAA, and technically the on - board computers were all up to date by offering fully automatic gearshifts on the steering wheel or electronic technology (ABS, ESP , ACC , etc.) were. The list of accessories has now become very long for all truck manufacturers.
In 2006/2007 there was a discussion about the approval of trucks with a total length of 25.25 m. What was meant was the GigaLiner presented by the Bernard Krone vehicle factory , and the media also used the terms monster truck, XXL truck, giant truck, super truck, EcoCombi, 25-meter truck . In the transport sector, a dispute over the EuroCombi was sparked, as to whether the federal government or the federal states may issue special permits for the (initially) 40-ton, oversized trucks . By October 2007, some test routes with a total weight of up to 60 tons were approved in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia and four other federal states.
There are various possible combinations for this. B. behind a three-axle truck, a semi-trailer is coupled with a dolly axle , or a tractor -trailer is extended with a tandem trailer.
The truck manufacturer Sisu Auto from Finland is entering the European truck market and was previously only represented in Finland. A cooperation with Renault had existed for some time, but this is no longer needed for the new truck. The Sisu truck type "C 15" has developed a large driver's cab. The German commercial vehicle industry saw a 12% increase in the number of units compared to last year. But that means nothing, because if you consider that 2.4 million truck units were built in China and that was at least twice as many as all of Western Europe as a whole (excluding bodies, trailers, etc.). The German quality standard for the so-called “ AdBlue ” clean diesel is now becoming an international ISO standard. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has now finally established German quality standards.
Scania had long resisted a takeover by its German competitor MAN , but in 2014 the majority was taken over by the MAN parent company Volkswagen.
With the results of the BASt study at the end of February 2007, the first results of the pilot projects in the federal states had clearly shown for the VDA that the innovative commercial vehicle concepts are sustainable. Up to 30% less fuel, a reduction in CO 2 , around 13% less heavy traffic on federal highways and a reduction in road pollution by the innovative commercial vehicles are confirmed. A 17% shorter braking distance (complete with disc brakes), ABS, a warning when leaving lane, adaptive cruise control, brake booster and vehicle dynamics control (ESP etc.) ensure increased traffic safety according to the BASt study. Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have had similar positive experiences. In Denmark, too, more than satisfactory interim results are reported. According to the study, Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee remains “highly skeptical” about 60-ton trucks ( EuroCombi ) and the Bundestag and state parliaments are now to deal with the issue and the controversial may be allowed until the German Conference of Transport Ministers on October 9 and 10 EuroCombis, continue. Experts expect the volume of goods traffic to double by 2015, and the commercial vehicle industry and the road transport lobby expect good prospects that the EuroCombi could therefore become a reality in limited numbers.
The situation in Germany today
As a manufacturer of vans, light to heavy trucks, articulated lorries, tractor units and buses, only:
-
Daimler AG ( Stuttgart ) with the brands
- Mercedes-Benz : buses , vans as well as semi-trailers, tractors and light to heavy trucks
- EvoBus / SETRA : buses
- Ford (Cologne): vans (see above)
- MAN ( Munich ) with the brands
- Opel (Rüsselsheim): Small van (see above)
- Volkswagen ( Hanover ): vans and light trucks
In addition, the Amsterdam-based company IVECO, which belongs to the Italian Fiat group, manufactures trucks and fire-fighting vehicles in Ulm .
In addition to these large-scale manufacturers, there are also a number of specialized small and micro-manufacturers that can assert themselves on the international market, such as B .:
- Liebherr (Ehingen, crane vehicles )
- Mafi (Tauberbischofsheim, industrial tractor )
- Multicar (Waltershausen, compact truck)
- Titan special vehicles (Sulzbach an der Murr, (formerly Backnang), heavy-duty tractors )
- Tadano Faun (Lauf an der Pegnitz, crane and special vehicles)
Commercial vehicle manufacturers all over the world
Internationally there was and still is a large number of commercial vehicle manufacturers in the past; see the list of commercial vehicle manufacturers .
See also
- History of the German commercial vehicle industry from 1895 to 1945
- History of the West German commercial vehicle industry from 1945 to 1990
Individual evidence
- ^ Statement of March 1, 2007 on the BASt study. VDA.
- ↑ Article on the BASt study. In: Verkehrsrundschau (VR), March 2, 2007
- ↑ 25-meter trucks are allowed to continue driving . In: Verkehrsrundschau , July 23, 2007