When a potential truck buyer looks at trucks in this highly competitive segment of the Australian truck market, the closeness of specification between the brands does mean that other aspects of the experience of truck ownership come into play.
Of course, reliability and productivity are always going to be the most important aspects to consider, alongside the need for effective active and passive safety systems. After that, there is the aftermarket care afforded by the brand and good ongoing relationships which result from the best aftermarket approach.
Fuso, here in Australia, has used its particular corporate structure globally to leverage its truck development. Being part of the global Daimler Trucks organisation means that electronic systems developed to run in the top spec trucks in Europe and North America can also be used in the smaller trucks which Fuso produce.
Those kinds of research and development dollars lead to the creation of smart integrated systems specifically for the trucks Daimler produce.
This contrasts with the brand’s main competitors who are not part of such an all-encompassing global enterprise. They often use and adapt technology from around the world, which was not necessarily developed for the world of trucking.
This global strength and development funding has enabled Fuso to maintain the pace of development without stretching its own organisation too far. This was demonstrated when the brand was able to offer an electric truck in this market segment well before its most direct competitors.
The high level of competition between these light duty truck makers is not only fought out in the metal of the truck itself, but also in all of those services around the brand which are also highly competitively sold.
The dealerships and the service they provide, also come into contention. The sheer geography of Australia and support in place around the country also come into play for the potential truck buyer.
What we have here from Fuso is a Canter design which does tick all of the boxes, both in terms of productivity and safety performance, but also as a driver friendly experience. It doesn’t look too shabby either.
Story with thanks to Power Torque Magazine