Fleet Transport June 2020

of the European market by around 2%.
This is a remarkable achievement in a very
competitive segment. What’s more, this is
only the beginning because the IVECO
S-WAY is still in the launch phase.
Our second-generation LNG vehicle is
coming now, bringing a further technological
improvement on the Stralis LNG. This year
we will also launch the right-hand version
and we will complete the whole IVECO
WAY family.
Fortunately we completed the public launches
of the IVECO S-WAY before the COVID-19
crisis, because for customers it’s essential to
experience a truck first-hand, sit behind the
wheel and get a real feel for it – our drivers
live in the truck! And we were able to offer
them this experience: we organised about
130 events all around Europe, with around
twenty thousand people attending, which
wouldn’t be possible now.
And once the health and safety situation
allows our dealers to reopen their showrooms,
I am confident that we will continue to attract
a growing number of customers.
What about bio-LNG, is it the right solution
to manage the energy transition from a Diesel
engine truck to BEV or FECV?
I believe that bio-LNG will be the rocket
launcher to reach the moon. It is the only
available zero-emission alternative currently
on the market. In the last 2 years we have
seen roughly 2.5% of the heavy-duty market
make the transition to LNG technology,
and I believe that it will increase to 5% in
the medium term and 10% over the next
10 years.
The enabler for this growth is certainly the
expanding LNG fuelling infrastructure across
Europe: today we have about 217 stations,
and the plan is to go up to 450-480.
It is absolutely clear that in 10 years’ time there
will be more choices for heavy-duty trucks:
it won’t be just Diesel, or just hydrogen, or
just LNG. There will be different solutions
in Europe, depending on different customer
applications and on the approach to the
energy balance that the various countries
will take.
Pure electric trucks will account for a small
segment and hydrogen will play an important
role –there’s absolutely no doubt, this is the
future! And there will be a market for LNG,
which isn’t just the bridge solution, but will
continue to be a valid alternative providing a
very interesting economical proposition.
Very importantly, bio-LNG will make a
huge difference when it comes to the market.
In the last six months we have seen energy
companies make announcements regarding
this; for example, Shell has declared that its
plans for bio-LNG will account for up to 30%
of its LNG supply.
It is very interesting to see that many
customers have developed their own bio-LNG
sources. We are seeing a growing number of
small bio-LNG producers in Italy, Spain and
Germany, who are providing customers with
the opportunity to operate their vehicles on
bio-LNG generating 95% less emissions than
with Diesel – and, at least for now, at the same
cost. This makes a difference: companies
like Lidl and Carrefour, as well as beverage
producers, are coming on board, wanting to
extend their green fleets and saying that for
them bio-LNG is the only solution.
If you look back at IVECO’s results last year
in the major European markets, how would
you judge them?
We achieved very good results, there’s
absolutely no doubt. IVECO sold 125,000
vehicles, of which about 100,000 of these
were in Europe.
We are doing well in the Daily segment,
where we have been a market leader for 40
years. With our market share at around 12%
on average, we are in very good position in a
segment that is set to continue growing. Post
COVID-19, we will see a change in customer
behaviour around the use of the Internet
and digitalisation, and the Daily is very well
positioned to meet the new demands with its
advanced connectivity and related services.
Also, I believe that the markets for last mile
delivery in this segment and small businesses
will come back quickly, and we are in a strong
position to meet this demand.
The Eurocargo is an excellent product, very
versatile, and I think it will maintain its
position in special applications in the public
services and military environments.
Our success going forward will depend on the
IVECO S-WAY and the IVECO T-WAY. We
have a 6% share of the heavy-duty market, and
we touched 8% in February this year. I believe
INTERVIEW | 5
2019 was the turnaround year for IVECO, and
2020 will hopefully be the accelerator when
we come out of the COVID-19 situation. I am
very much looking forward to the time, later
this year, when we bring the IVECO T-WAY
to the market too.
IVECO and the Nikola partnership: what
are the next steps in introducing BEV &
FCEV trucks in the market?
COVID-19 will not stop us. We are working
full force with our American partners. Luckily
modern communication technology makes
this possible, so we are not slowing down.
We expect to begin testing later this year, as
we announced. We recently communicated
that the production location of the Nikola
Tre in Europe will be Ulm, in Germany.
This, I believe, is a very smart move for us: it
is right in the heart of the European supplier
hotspot for hydrogen, and in a State that is
very supportive of this investment. We also
have a very large part of our heavy-duty vehicle
development team in Ulm.
We are now working on the technical
development of the vehicle. We are at a very
advanced stage and on schedule to have the
electric version of the Nikola Tre in 2021 and
the fuel cell version in 2023. So there is no
change, we want to be unstoppable here!
BEV & FCEV trucks will be sold by the
IVECO sales network under the Nikola
brand: how will the market react?
I think the market will react very positively,
because we are two partners with significant
synergies. Nikola is market leader in fuel cell
technology for trucks, so we are very confident
that in them we have found a partner that has
the edge in this technology. On the other
hand, we are able to contribute 45 years’
experience in producing, running and testing
heavy-duty trucks in Europe.
Nikola TRE
Text: Gianenrico Griffini - ITOY
www.fleet.ie