Cat Trucks' heavy duty range of trucks will soon expand with the addition of the CT630S and the CT630SC.
More models are being added to the Cat trucks heavy duty lineup as the company seeks to consolidate and expand its position in the Australian market.
The B-double friendly CT630S is well and truly on the way, along with the linehaul variant, the CT630SC. A high GCM road train hauler is also coming.
The CT630SC will feature a stand-up-walk-in integrated sleeper cab with an internal height of 1,900mm.
The CT630SC is reported to have a bumper-to-back-of-cab measurement of 3,590mm (141 inches) to make sure it fits comfortably within the 26-metre B-double envelope.
The SC cab will also feature external locker boxes as well as a scalloped rear wall to increase trailer to cab swing clearance.
“This has been an exceptional project to be involved in,” Cat Trucks Australia Chief Engineer Adrian Wright says.
“It’s our opinion the Australian market has been waiting for a conventional truck like the CT630S for some time.”
Fuel figures from two pre-production units that are a part of the local testing program have returned average fuel figures of between 1.78 and 1.85km/l on high gross weight linehaul duties in excess of 60 tonne.
The truck is powered by a C15 Cat engine that develops 550hp (410kW) and 1,850lb/ft of torque (2,508Nm).
The C15 meets current emissions regulations without using either exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or selective catalytic reduction (SCR).
A road train rated version of the CT630 is also on the way, aimed squarely at on-highway triple trailer duties. The severe duty model is expected to have a GCM rating of 130 tonne.
Cat Truck Australia Managing Director Kevin Dennis sys there has been strong interest from Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland for a high GCM Cat-powered prime mover.
“In fact advance orders have already been placed,” he says.
The severe duty Cat is expected to be launched in the final quarter of 2014.
The Cat trucks lineup now consists of the CT610, which is powered by the recently released CT13 engine as well as the 15 litre CT630, the CT630S and the CT630LS models.
Fuel figures provided by Cat have shown a 10 percent gain in fuel efficiency from the CT13 EGR engine over the previous C13 engine it replaced.
In fact one unit has been consistently returning 2.62km/l on single trailer country distribution.
Parent company Navistar has had its share of woes over the last couple of years, notching up US$3 billion in losses in 2012.
However, a change of executive management and major changes in product strategy have seen 2013 losses reduced to US$898 million.
Perhaps another sign the company is turning the corner is the announcement over the weekend the International Prostar ISX15, incidentally the same platform that is used by the Cat Trucks range, was voted Truck of the Year at the 2014 American Truck Dealers (ATD) Expo in New Orleans.
In Australia, Dennis says the five year plan for the country’s youngest heavy duty truck company is to achieve 3 percent of the heavy duty market with the aim of selling 800-1000 units per year.