Close to 8000 people recently visited the National Truck & Commercial Vehicle Expo over three days at Homebush Bay, Sydney. But despite the healthy attendance figure, only four light commercial makers - Iveco, VW, Renault and Hyundai - displayed vans or van derivatives at this year's show.
There was no sign of Ford's Transit range, Mercedes' Vito or Sprinter, or any of the Japanese contenders. But Hino released new models including a medium-duty version of its 300-Series Hybrid technology truck. The maker's new 700-Series prime movers have more power for multiple-trailer operators.
Isuzu is on track to record 20 years of local market leadership. It packed half the expo centre's dome area with cab chassis and a ready-to-roll tradesman's truck with fully-equipped body and racks. Iveco had something for everyone, including a cavernous Daily van with 17.2 cubic metres of obstruction-free load space - perfect for high cubic loads.
And Hyundai showed its award-winning iLoad vans, including a nifty police wagon for keeping crims comfy and a couple of people mover versions. All are backed by Hyundai's market-leading five-year/160,000km warranty.
Renault came along with a Trafic and Master van. The Master sports a QuickShift auto transmission offering up to seven gearshift patterns depending on usage. Renault claims a 10 per cent fuel bonus from this technology alone.
VW highlighted the Caddy Maxi, a stretched version of the Caddy which is also available as a seven-seater. The Crafter van dominated though, with another massive load space behind a super-efficient 2.5-litre, five-cylinder diesel delivering between 80 and 120kW.
UD introduced the new MK range while the big trucks revelled in their glam and glitter - Mack stealing the show with a magnificent gold Titan. PACCAR brought DAF and Kenworth to its stand and while MAN, Volvo, and Western Star were all present, there was no sign of Scania or Mercedes-Benz.
- David Meredith
