Renault Trucks has introduced an anti-rollaway device as an option for its Range T, C and K trucks with electronic park brakes.
Commercial director Nigel Butler said the system automatically applies the park brake if the driver’s door is opened with the vehicle moving at less than 3km/h.
It has been in development for a number of years following requests from operators, but concerns over accidental deployment at higher speeds meant the launch was delayed while adequate safeguards were built in.
Renault is also adding a low-entry cab version of its Range D rigid lorry for urban applications such as refuse collection – a new market for Renault. The range, due to start trials in London in January, will come in 4x2, 6x2, 6x4 and Tridem variants.
Renault has had a “fantastic 2016”, Butler said, maintaining market share at 6% for trucks above 16 tonnes. The Brexit vote had no real effect on customers purchasing trucks and vans.
“They are still ordering trucks,” he said. “It is business as usual and some fleets are accelerating their buying plans.”
This could be because the devaluation of the pound against the euro will increase costs, and Butler admitted that predicting truck prices next year was “next to impossible”.
Renault funds 40% of the new trucks it sells, with a further 27% going on contract hire via its subsidiary BRS. Almost eight in 10 are sold with repair and maintenance contracts.
Butler said there was a glut of four- and five-year-old Euro-5 tractors on the market, which was depressing second-hand prices, partly because export markets are reluctant to accept Euro-5 vehicles.
