7Mary3
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Posts posted by 7Mary3
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It will be interesting to see where Ford Otosan's heavy truck business goes. I don't think they have the resources to go it alone concerning electrification/fuel cells, so I figure they may either form a JV with another manufacturer or simply stay in markets like Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
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4 hours ago, silvrsvt said:
Maybe the rumor I heard about Toyota spinning Hino off.....is more than a rumor. Daimler Truck bought Fuso out years ago, and since that time has not done much with it other than sharing some (large) diesel engine platforms and bail out of the North American market. Keep iamweasel's comments in mind. You never know, this agreement may have a bearing on Hino's continued presence in the North American market.
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I can't comment on any vehicle but the Super Duty presently (though I hear the Maverick is very good). As for the Super Duty, quality-wise it's running a distant 3rd. I think it may be longer than 2 years for it to gain parity with GM or Ram. Maybe not until the next generation is introduced.
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Great article, it ackowledeges the problems with binary thinking on the environmentalist side as well.
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Can't go wrong with that deal.
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On 5/20/2023 at 8:37 AM, Bob Rosadini said:
Does the "Allison 1000" have any commonality with the GM/Ford JV 8/10 speed? GMC and Chevy advertise "Allison' transmissions
It's a bit confusing. The Allison 1000 that Freightliner is using is the older 6 speed that is also used in the Silverado medium duties and Isuzu LCF's. It's a lighter duty version of the 2000 series, not related to the JV 8/10 speed at all. The 10 speed Ford/GM JV transmission is a light duty design used in Mustangs, Camaros, F-150's, Silverado 1500's, ect.. The Ford 10R140 is based on the JV transmission design, but it is significantly larger and heavier. The Allison-branded 10L1000 10 speed used in the Silverado/Sierra HD is similar conceptually to the other new generation 10 speed automatics, but it was designed by GM with input from Allison. There are misconceptions that it is the exact same transmission as the 10R140, but it is not.
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And most Hino dealers do have other franchises....
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1 hour ago, iamweasel said:
In other news, Hino made an announcement to their dealers this week about their allocation in the 2nd half of the year. The announcement was "months ago we gave each of you an allocated number of units for the first 6 months of the year, but now consider that number your yearly allocation as we are unable to offer any more trucks at this time."
OUCH.
That is just ramping-up the concern/rumors that Hino is planning an exit strategy......
Wow, did the dealers get any the trucks allocated for the first half of the year yet?
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Thanks for the correction, yes F-59. No idea about the 6.6L's torque unless Freightliner is getting a new specific calibration. That might be the case as this is a new version of the engine that is used with Allison 1000/2000 transmissions.
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Interesting brochure from Freightliner Custom Chassis, because I think it's aimed at the Ford F53:
https://www.fccccommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/FCCC_MT6-6L_Flyer_Mar2023.pdf
Freightliner is updating the MT chassis with GM's 6.6L gas engine, which they claim offers better fuel economy with more H.P. and torque than 'the competition'. Freightliner also claims less maintanance required for their Allison transmission and larger brakes.
All in all I think it's rapidly becoming a moot point as last mile delivery in metropolitan areas are probably the easiest vehicle segment to electrify, and the cost benefit is there. I look for Bright Drop and Rivian to own this segment, maybe Workhorse will get a share if and when they can get their act together.
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May have been just the U.S. operation, but in any event it was just a rumor.
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Does you truck have the Dana rear axle? There have been issues with the new Dana axles since they were introduced in 2020. Hopefully your lemon-law case will push Ford to replace the whole axle assembly.
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2 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:
"Monkey see-Monkey do" In any case I imagine your company has some sort of in-house system or you buy from a vendor?
Bought from a vendor.
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This just in:
Very similar to Ford Pro. What I find interesting (but perhaps not too surprising) is that like Ford Pro, GM Envolve seems more focused on fleet service and support than the actual commercial vehicles themselves. No question that though things like telematics, connectivity, and other fleet business solutions are extremely important, the vehicles themselves have to be applicable to the fleet's business. Daily rental is one thing, but no matter much fleet management software they load up on a Buick Enclave or Lincoln Corsair they will sell few if any to typical business fleets like municipalities, utilities, service industries, ect.. Those fleets like to buy the type of low-margin trucks manufacturers typically ignore for decades like the E-Series and the GM full size vans. Keeping that in mind remember that every low-margin fleet-spec. base model F-450 cab and chassis takes a place on the assembly line that could have been occupied by a $95,000 F-350 Platinum, so perhaps it's not too hard to understand what's really going on. That's a huge factor in today's white-hot truck and SUV market, but of course it won't last forever. One interesting twist GM is putting in Envolve is integrating energy solutions into the program, I expect that to be a factor as fleets transition to EV's and fuel cell technology.
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Not necessarily too big, but I think it will take more sales away from the F-150. And I know what a Maverick is.
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I like it, but's it's getting closer to an F-150.
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I see a lot of old ones but no new Hino's. Now hearing rumors that Toyota may spin Hino off.
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BTW, I m hearing F-150 production at 3 plants is down or is going down due to a lack of....door handles.
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I do remember one instance in the mid-80's where a buyer was trying to get contract for 50 or so 26,000# cab and chassis trucks to go to Ford. He wrote in the spec. the truck had to have a gasoline engine of at least 370 cubic inches but less than 400. No GMC's or Chevys because their engine options were the 366 or 427 (never mind the GM 366 was more powerful than the Ford 370). Thought the buy would be for the F-600 with the 370 Lima. What he didn't know was International was getting ready to drop gasoline engines, and the IH dealer slid in with a lowball bid for S-1600's with 392 V-8's. That buyer was pissed. I don't think there was any legitimate reason for that buy to go to Ford, a comparable GM truck would have performed just as well. As did the IH!
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The only reason Cummins got so much business back is because very few of the OEM's want to spend money on diesel engine development and emission compliance. Ford and GM will to support their light truck business for the foreseeable future. The commercial truck OEM's are spending their R&D money on BEV's and fuel cells.
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52 minutes ago, iamweasel said:
You'd think after what happened with VW the remaining OEM's would be more careful with their emissions program, but Hino willingly broke the rules. I don't get it....were they seriously thinking they'd get away with it?
But yeah, Hino' (and Isuzu FTR's) both have Cummins now and Cummins has drastically reduced their allocations. Cummins is doing more for their biggest customers like DTNA, International, PACCAR, etc. From the folks I know with Hino stores, they are only getting about 10% of what they used to get per year production-wise. Hino's plant is barely running....there are people amongst the dealers I know that think unless something changes quickly they wouldn't be surprised if Hino shuts it all down and leaves the US.
Hope you already got the return on your investment you wanted, Roger.
Kind of funny, I hear DMAX, the joint GM/Isuzu venture that produces the Duramax V-8, is considering a very large plant expansion at their Brookville facility. It's for a 'future program', I wonder they are looking to supply other OEM's.
Daimler Truck is smart to tool up and produce their own Cummins based engines. They saw what's coming.
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57 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:
There are many communities that are around metro Detroit that will have a huge Ford facility that pays hundreds of thousands to Millions in property taxes in them and buys mostly GM products or a huge Stellinis facility and buys mainly Ford.
Most of the time it is just a preference of who does the buying and they write the bid specifically to get what they want.Near 40 years in large municipal and public utility fleets. I can say that now it's very rare that a buyer would write a spec. to favor a make he/she prefers over some tangible factor, like purchase price, delivery time, input from upfitter, ect.. Not saying it never happens, but most of the time these days the contract goes to whoever can deliver the vehicles in a somewhat reasonable time frame. Or at least is willing to take the order in the first place
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3 hours ago, iamweasel said:
Penske bought a 25% stake in Hino's US operations back in the early 2000's I believe, and I remember at the time there was talk about that arrangement helping to increase the distribution of Hino at that time. Ultimately, the # of Hino dealers in the US has been pretty flat over the years so it seems the main benefit to Hino was that Penske Truck Leasing ended up buying a bunch of them. Aside from that, I don't see or know of any improvements on the distribution side.
Heck, over the past couple years the # of Hino stores has been shrinking. They are having major problems these days. I know of at least one dealer group who is strongly considering kicking Hino to the curb. The time and effort to manage that franchise is not worth the tiny profit it generates. They are a niche player who is struggling mightily to get engines and actually build trucks.
Hino's emissions scandal cost them dearly, and not offering any new trucks for sale for nearly a year really soured many dealers on the brand. I have not seen very many new Hino's on the road at all, and the dealers near me that sell them seem to have very few to none in stock.
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Meanwhile, customers with trucks on order.......
No problem, Chevy, GMC, and Ram will take up the slack.
New Light & Medium Duty News
in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
Posted
Good points, and none of the current commercial trucks produced by Otosan or JMC would be successful in North America.