Electrification, connectivity and autonomous technology are among the major trends facing the trucking industry right now, Daimler Trucks Asia boss Marc Llistosella says.
The brand’s chief executive touched down in New Zealand this month ahead of his resignation from the world’s largest heavy vehicle maker.
He was here to speak to industry leaders at Auckland’s Hilton Hotel before he steps down from the role in March.
Hartmut Schick will take over the role on April 1.
Llistosella joined the German vehicle giant Daimler Benz Auto Group – the owner of truck brands such as Mitsubishi Fuso, Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz – in 1994.
He has held his current position since April 2015 and was responsible for the worldwide Fuso brand and the launch of its electric range.
The company made a point of beating Tesla to the punch by being the world’s first truck manufacturer to launch an electric model at the Tokyo Motor Show in November last year.
“Even Mr Musk has something to say to that… I appreciated he was taking note of us,” Llistosella says.
However, among Llistosella’s personal highlights was establishing Daimler India Commercial Vehicles as a world-class manufacturing and testing facility in Chennai in 2013.
It was an adventure that involved relocating his family while he led the development of the site “from scratch”.
Establishing the brand in India and taking on its manufacturing giant Tata Motors was no small feat.
Fuso keeps fighting for the helm with “persistence… and a little bit of stupidity” in order to beat the odds, Llistosella says.
“When we came, Tata had 60% market share… everybody told us you will have no chance.
“Now they are 48% and we are at 10%… they’ve had 30 to 40 years advantage… give us another five years.”
Daimler is now present in 171 markets around the world.
Its 2017 revenue consists of more than NZ$160 billion in Mercedes cars, NZ$60b in trucks, NZ$22b in vans, NZ$7b in buses and around NZ$35b in financial services.
Llistosella says many challenges lie ahead in regards to electrification, connectivity and autonomous technology.
“This is why the industry is so interesting,” he says.
He points to growing urbanisation around the world as a key factor pushing those trends.
The company’s electric e-Canter model is meeting customer demand in that space as major cities grow and take charge of reducing carbon emissions.
The world’s total urban population in 1985 was around 41% and that figure has been growing steadily. It is set to reach 60% by 2030 – or just over five billion people.
Electrification is the only sustainable solution in light of such figures, Llistosella says.
It’s “not acceptable” for cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi to rely on diesel as the main driver of transportation, he says.
Electrification will not only reduce air pollution, it will also cut noise pollution and improve overall living conditions in global cities.
Meeting infrastructure demands for the new trends will be another challenge many countries will face, he says.
However, the efficiency and affordability of new battery technology is advancing quickly.
Current price per kilowatt of power is close to NZ$300 and the company predicts that will drop to around NZ$126 by 2021.
The energy density of today’s electric vehicles is currently around 140 watt hours per kg and is predicted to rise to around 240 watt hours per kg by 2021.
The e-Canter model, in particular, will save around 16 tonnes of emissions a year for each truck.
It has a range of up to 100km, a maximum speed of 80kmh and a payload of 4000kg.
The models are already in use in Japan, the United States and Europe with customers such as 7-Eleven, shipping and logistics companies UPS and DHL, New York Botanical Gardens, Habitat for Humanity and others.
Data technology is also having a big impact on truck performance and analysis, Llistosella says.
It has the potential to save transport businesses big money in areas such as warranty and maintenance costs while improving safety and driver performance.
Yet, analytics technology must have a clear purpose, he says.
“The question is how we can use it for the customer because the customer has to utilise this data otherwise its useless.”
All these advancements give the company a good chance to succeed but they’re just the “nice shiny things”. The “day-to-day work” is having trucks that are fuel efficient with a reliable range of products, spare parts and trained mechanics, he says.
Fuso New Zealand managing director Kurtis Andrews says Llistosella’s presentation highlights “the impressive amount of premium technology currently being developed and incorporated into Fuso Trucks”.
“Fuso is a true leader in electrification – while many other brands are only conceptual, Fuso is building e-Canter down the line.”
Andrews says there’s been a good amount of customer enquiry about the arrival of the electric truck but it’s still some time before they will be available for sale here.
“However, we hope to have some evaluation models here by the end of the year or early in 2019.”
The advancement of technology means some operators are looking for all the modern gear while others still just want the basics, Andrews says.
“At the end of the day, I believe people still want to do business with people – relationships will continue to be essential to successful business.”
Daimler Trucks and Buses board member Martin Daum says Llistosella has contributed to many important milestones for the company.
“We thank him for his great commitment and wish him all the best for the future.”
