UD Trucks and its sole distributor, Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd (TCIE), recently launched Croner, an all-new medium-duty truck.
UD Trucks and TCIE Intro New Croner
The launch at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang was graced by President of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, Dato’ Tan Heng Chew, and President of Volvo Group Trucks Asia & JVs, Håkan Karlsson.
UD Trucks, which belongs to Volvo Group since 2007, was first established in Japan in 1935 as Nissan Diesel and made its way into Malaysia almost four decades ago through TCIE – the truck business arm of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd (TCMH).
Tan Keng Meng, Executive Director, TCIE, said: “This year, Tan Chong Group is celebrating its 60th anniversary. As the sole distributor of UD Trucks in Malaysia since TCIE started, we are very glad to have contributed to the growth of the brand to where it is today, a highly visible and trusted Japanese name in the Malaysian truck industry. The Croner will further strengthen our product offerings and establish a stronger presence for our businesses.”
Continuing the brand’s rich Japanese legacy of building the ‘truck that the world needs today’, the Croner is said to be made for growth markets like Malaysia, with versatility, uptime and safety. It is designed for reliability and built with robust and quality components to deliver extra productivity and superior uptime. By understanding customers’ demand and business needs, Croner is engineered to help them stay ahead of the competition through the simple concept of saving time and superior uptime.
“Croner’s superiority comes from the best of three worlds – UD Trucks’ Japanese heritage and craftsmanship, Volvo Group’s strong global technology and safety principle, and Tan Chong Industrial Equipment’s deep local knowledge and resources as our highly valued local partner,” said Karlsson.
UD Trucks invested more than 3 years of development and testing by its engineers who spent 1.7 million engineering hours and 30,000 hours of testing using 90 test rigs and above 100 test trucks to ensure the superior quality of Croner.
“Our goal is to build the truck that the world needs today and in doing this successfully for Croner, we’ve taken into consideration the feedback and experience received since the introduction of our heavy-duty Quester truck range and incorporate it into the design and build of the Croner. I am confident the Croner will bring our customers the efficiency and success they want, in any application,” added Karlsson.
Going the Extra Mile
Aptly named after the god of time in Greek mythology, Croner is designed to excel in the medium duty segment.
“UD Trucks believes that by engineering a robust and versatile truck, vehicle downtime can be greatly minimised, leading to more business efficiency and productivity for customers,” said Toshihiko Odawara, Vice President, Product Management, UD Trucks.
The Croner range, described as one of UD Trucks’ most fuel-efficient trucks, combines the new GHE engine series, new automatic transmission and a new, more aerodynamic cab design with lower coefficient of drag (CD) to improve fuel efficiency. Automatic transmission is available for all models, providing ease of drive, safety and less strenuous driving experience especially for long-haul drivers.
Croner comes in two gross vehicle weight (GVW) models in Malaysia, LKE and PKE. The vehicles’ wheelbase variants offer a wide range of configurations to suit specific demands.
A full air braking system (including anti-lock braking system, ABS) with S-cam drum brakes is offered on all variants. The ABS is equipped with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) to avoid over braking of the rear axle and limit brake pressure based on the wheel. The air suspension on PKE model is available as an option to protect customers’ cargo especially when travelling over rough roads.
Odawara added: “Safety is a very important aspect to UD Trucks and the Croner comes with good passive safety in an accident; the reinforced cabin ensures safety and extra durability to the driver even under rough road conditions. Other road user safety is also enhanced as the Croner is equipped with Front Underrun Protection (FUP) that prevents cars from being wedged under the truck in a frontal collision.”
Extra Mile Support Services
‘Going the Extra Mile’ is the UD Trucks brand promise with a focus on fuel efficiency, uptime, reliability and driveability, while meeting today’s high standards for safety and environment.
“With 43 service centres and dealerships throughout Malaysia, TCIE will continue to play a major role in providing key support to UD Trucks and customers. TCIE and UD Trucks share a unique and solid partnership in building the landscape of Malaysia’s commercial vehicle industry, and the launch of Croner further reinforces this relationship,” commented Tan.
Customers who purchase UD are supported by UD Extra Mile Support services that include UD Genuine Service and Parts, UD Driver Training and UD Trust Service Agreements.
The Croner comes factory-fitted with UD Trucks’ own remote monitoring system – UD Telematics. It provides customers with insights on their fleet, location tracking, fuel reports as well as service reminders, remote diagnostics and quick break-down assistance.
In conjunction with the launch, TCIE offered RM10,000 rebates for every booking of the Croner signed till 31st August, 2017. In addition, customers enjoyed 100-per cent financing for their purchases. This is valid until 31st December 31, 2017 or while stocks last.
