IVECO Australia is to bring the curtain down on a long and proud history of manufacturing trucks at its Dandenong plant in Melbourne from mid-2022.
In a media statement this week, IVECO announced that from next year it would fully import its heavy duty range from its manufacturing HQ in Madrid, Spain.
IVECO currently imports its light duty, medium duty, selected heavy duty, minibus and off-road models.
Over the coming months IVECO said it will continue to engage with its employees who may be impacted by the announcement, and will provide appropriate support.
Big Rigs has asked IVECO for more details on how many jobs are affected.
The decision to fully import its heavy duty range will allow IVECO Trucks Australia to more closely align model year introduction timings with that of its parent company in Europe, the statement added.
As an example, IVECO will be launching the new S-WAY model in Australia according to the global launch plan.
“The new S-WAY model for the Australian and New Zealand market will have undergone thousands of hours and kilometres of validation testing on local roads and highways and had input and development from IVECO’s local engineers and specifically selected customer partners, ensuring it is designed and then tested to meet the needs of our local ANZ market.”
This will include a further iteration of the highly regarded dual control ACCO model for the local waste market.
The last Euro 5 model rolled off the line in Dandenong line two years earlier, marking the end of an era. The ACCO has been a mainstay of the Australian trucking scene since its first appearance in the early 1960s.
As part of the transformation process, IVECO also announced the launch of the Customisation and Innovation Centre (CIC).
The CIC is a business unit that IVECO said will further leverage its local engineering and manufacturing expertise, transforming the company’s focus towards the customisation and innovation of its vehicles for local markets.
IVECO Australia and New Zealand managing director, Michael May, said that by focusing on the CIC, IVECO would strengthen one of its key selling points in the Australian and NZ market.
“Historically, our most unique value proposition has been our ability to customise and specialise vehicles for our market, leveraging the expertise of our local engineering team and the local facility,” he said.
“By further enhancing this service, we believe there is considerable potential to provide additional value to existing and prospective customers, while growing the CIC’s capacity and scope of work.”