Major heavy duty truck OEMs change global platform strategies

Tier-1 suppliers such as Cummins, Eaton, ZF, Wabco, etc., are poised to support OEMs from both developed and developing countries in creating strong global platforms.

The global heavy duty truck market is just about getting ready for a prolonged love affair with global platform strategies. As it embraces these strategies with open arms and looks to benefit from their effective execution, it will become imperative that OEMs do not remain myopic in developing these platforms for triad and BRIC markets alone.

Frost & Sullivan is forecasting global heavy duty truck production from global truck platforms to reach approximately 612,000 units by 2018, which is nearly double of global platform-based truck production levels in 2011. This implies that service and maintenance principles and practices of heavy duty trucks that will be sold in North America in the coming years will change dramatically over the next 5 to 10 years.

Sandeep Kar is the global director of commercial vehicle research for Frost & Sullivan’s Automotive & Transportation business. Among his areas of expertise are global commercial vehicle markets and technologies, including powertrain, chassis, safety, telematics and regulation compliance technologies. Frost & Sullivan provides in-depth research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies for a broad range of industries. www.frost.com.