Earlier this year Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa (DTBSA) continued its product strategy by launching the eagerly anticipated new Arocs for construction in South Africa.
During 2019 Mercedes-Benz Trucks, a division of DTBSA, will continue its product offensive of launching a new range of commercial vehicles in Southern Africa. The new specialist range of trucks for distribution and construction transport is following on the heels of the new Actros truck tractors for long-distance transport launched last year. From now on all rigid Mercedes-Benz trucks used for on and off-road applications in the distribution and construction sector will be known under the name, Arocs.
The all-new Arocs is Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ second ‘A’ range vehicle, and these vehicles clearly deserve a ‘double A’ rating. The first was the new Actros for long-haul transport, followed now by the new Arocs for distribution and construction transport.
This product strategy allows Mercedes-Benz Trucks to precisely match the interests of today’s customers. All-purpose vehicles are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, which is why the new range of Mercedes-Benz trucks uses a common platform to develop custom-tailored vehicle series for specific segments.
Arocs construction vehicles are designed to be particularly tough and robust to meet any challenge in construction transport from robust steel suspension to planetary axles for off-road variants. The basis for the robustness of the Arocs is provided by the extremely strong frame consisting of cold-worked, high-strength fine-grained steel, additionally, the modular layout of the chassis also allows for easier body mounting.
The Arocs construction range will also be setting an example with its drive system: the engine’s power will be transmitted by the Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmission, fitted as a standard.
At the heart of the new Arocs, is the new OM460 Euro III 12.8 litre in-line 6-cylinder engine which already does duty in the new Actros. The OM460 engine has been developed on the basis of tried and tested technology.
Fleetboard Eco Support provides effective driver support in real time by displaying tips on a consumption-reducing driving style in the instrument cluster during the journey. Fleetboard Eco Support is standard on all new Arocs models.
Flexible service intervals ensure that the maximum value is utilised out of all service components leading to less wastage and lower maintenance costs, resulting in lower maintenance rates and extended service intervals.
Mercedes-Benz Arocs offer reliability, robustness and bodybuilder friendliness.
Two Arocs for Construction vehicles have been launched initially – the Arocs 3336K/36 Tipper Chassis and the Arocs 3236B/51 8×4 Mixer Chassis. Initially only one cab variant will be available – the S-Cab ClassicSpace.
The comfortable ClassicSpace S-Cab is designed to fully meet the needs and comfort of the driver in solo operation in short-haul applications. It is designed on the basis of state-of-the-art ergonomic and safety criteria.
At present only the 265-kW (360-hp) 12,8-litre OM460 Euro 3 engine is available with further engine outputs planned for later. For the first time in a construction vehicle the engine output is transferred as standard by an automated Mercedes PowerShift 3 transmission.
Off-road drive mode offers the driving set-ups Standard, Economy, Off-road and Manual. It supports economical driving styles just as much as improved handling when pulling away or manoeuvring on building sites or when driving slowly along challenging terrain. On gravel roads or off-road, the above-mentioned drive modes offer ideal performance in the respective situations in terms of dynamism when pulling away under high loads, gearshift points and shift dynamics.
The Arocs 3236B/51 is an 8×4 concrete mixer with 35-ton Gross Vehicle Weight. It features a weight optimised hypoid rear axle, light-weight aluminium fuel tank, disc brakes and aluminium rims to reduce kerb weight and increase payload. This enables the 8×4 mixer chassis to supply 8m3 of ready-mixed concrete on every trip.
The Arocs 3336K/36 is a versatile tipper chassis with a short rear overhang featuring robust planetary axles, a double disc clutch, robust drum brakes, optimised for off-road use and a 16-speed Powershift 3 automated transmission with the “Off-Road Drive” programme as standard.
The application-specific mounting elements provide a bodybuilder a friendly and fast mounting process. For all freight carriers the platform mounting brackets are standard, all mixer chassis are standard with the mixer mounting brackets and all tipper chassis come standard with the tipper mounting brackets, together with the modular bolted frame, the 50 mm chassis hole pattern and the new generation Parameterisable Special Module (PSM) the turnaround time at a bodybuilder is significantly reduced.
The new Arocs for Construction comes standard with a 1 year/unlimited kilometre complete vehicle warranty and a three-year, 250,000-km, 5,000-hour standard warranty on the powertrain.
More information from Annelise van der Laan, Cell: 082 82 448 5293 / e-mail: [email protected] / www.daimler.com
