The arrival of the new Euro V Isuzu Giga 460 and 530 heavy duty horsepower trucks is the brand’s most important model launch for seven years, says NZ GM Colin Muir, and there will be 18 variants on offer with a mixture of manual and AMT transmissions.
More than 26 orders have already been placed by New Zealand customers for the new Euro V HD Giga, before the truck has even entered into series production.
A two-week jointly-run summer validation test on a manual steel sprung pre-production Giga 8×4 combination set up for HPMV use has just been completed by Isuzu Japan engineering staff and Isuzu New Zealand staff, and the outcome and results learnt from this exercise will be rolled through into production.
The 2015 Euro V HD Giga offers a larger cab with updated interior, DPD is removed in favour of SCR, there’s improved cooling capacity, along and flatter torque curve, super single tipper models receive heavy duty front axles and a retarder, alternative chassis depths to shift between HD and height restricted vehicles, and factory alloy wheels across the models.
Dealer launch activity for the Giga in New Zealand is expected to occur after the first shipment of 8×4 manual models arrives in May, the AMT 8X4 models are expected to arrive in August, and all 6×4 models are expected to arrive in September, provided that planned production and shipping schedules remain unchanged.
The new Giga will also introduce new features to market such as tyre pressure monitoring which will give data on the temperature and inflation on a truck and trailer combination of up to 32 tyres.
Isuzu Trucks is also testing a new telematics system for the New Zealand market, which has already been rolled out in Australia. All the functions are controlled from the double-DIN head unit in the trucks cab.
The new heavy duty segment of the truck market accounts for 50% of all NZ truck registrations, and it is the only one where Isuzu is not the top seller, it took third place behind Volvo for 2014, with Hino the overall segment leader, something that Muir wants to redress.
“This is our most important product launch in seven years and it gives us the opportunity to regain the No.1 position in the heavy duty truck segment,” says Muir.
“To do this we have re-introduced variants which we know were popular previously and we have also introduced new variants to the line up. One model (CYZ 460) has been significantly upgraded.”
Most importantly the new Euro V HD Giga will offer an 8×4 manual model with air-suspension with a 285mm chassis that will allow Isuzu Trucks to regain a foothold in the stock truck market, where it has not been able to offer a suitable chassis for some time.
“With the focus on animal welfare during stock transportation, we think the manual 8×4 Giga with air suspension will give us a good lever to get back into that section of the market,” says Muir.
To ensure the new Euro V HD Giga will meet the standards demanded by New Zealand operators with the growth in the combination HPMV arena, Isuzu New Zealand and Isuzu Trucks Japan have completed a joint testing and validation exercise on a manual 8×4 combination.
Another joint validation exercise with the Isuzu Japan engineers and local staff will take place in April on another 8×4 combination HPMV-rated vehicle, but this time they will be validation testing with the AMT transmission.
Muir says that validation was necessary because New Zealand has a first-world level of compliance and technology, but it has a less than first-world roading system and many sections of the state highway network are arduous and uncompromising.
“Heavy duty trucks are the most important models in any manufacturers stable,” says Muir. “We need to hit the market running to achieve number 1 in the segment, and not have to re work the specification during the product’s lifecycle.”
Isuzu Trucks HD product planning and engineering department chief engineer Haruyuki Hosoya says the company wanted to conduct the validation locally because the models are New Zealand specific and it made more sense to bring the vehicle to where it will be used and test it.
“We expect to have two results, the accuracy of simulation and the validity of testing in a proving ground,” says Hosoya.
“We cannot always conduct test driving on a ‘vehicle under development’ on public roads. Therefore we conduct development by a simulation based on accumulated data from existing models and test drive in a proving ground.
“This time we have conducted the test in an actual market, but we expect to have the same result as we tested internally.”
The validation testing involved driving the preproduction Isuzu Giga combination unit in conjunction with another European competitor on a number of common heavy commercial truck routes including Auckland to Whangarei, Auckland to Tauranga and Auckland to Taupo.
Isuzu Japan staff, Mr Kumakura (assistant manager vehicle validation section #1), Mr Itou (Durability experiment group #2, engine experiment department #2) and Mr Seki (technician – vehicle mechanic section) were joined Isuzu NZ technical specialist Andre Asselbergs and two professional drivers during the two-week long test period.
The Isuzu engineering had the opportunity to get behind the wheel for themselves and experience roads such as the Brynderwyns in Northland and the Kaimai ranges in the Bay of Plenty to get an understanding of local operating conditions.
More than 2800km was covered by the two test combination vehicles
Muir says that Isuzu New Zealand got a lot more benefit from the validation exercise that it initially expected.
“It’s been hugely worthwhile to us to be a part of the exercise, and we’ve had some stellar wins,” he says.
While Muir wouldn’t be drawn on specifics of the new Gigas fuel economy, or the specific results of the testing which were still to be calculated and finalised, he says that the company is targeting European standards of drivability, fuel consumption and desirability.
“All I will say is the fuel economy results were very encouraging.”
