MAN wants to find its way into an electrified future from 2024
The mobility of the future is no longer based on old combustion engines. In the future, conventional fuels will no longer be used in cars, buses and trucks, and locomotion will be quiet and emission-free. Manufacturers also see this and are aligning their production with such a future. Because only those who invest today can still be relevant in fifty or a hundred years from now. One German manufacturer missed electrification a little: MAN.
The manufacturer of trucks and buses near Munich has so far relied too heavily on the combustion engine. But that should finally change now and by 2024 at the latest, the sale of diesel-powered vehicles will no longer be the mainstay of the company.
The target is no coincidence, says VW, to which the manufacturer belongs, stipulating these targets. Those responsible even see the switch to electromobility as the company’s last chance to survive in the future. Instead, fewer and fewer diesel vehicles are to be manufactured and electric alternatives are to be marketed more aggressively.
In order to achieve this, the production is to be converted in accordance with the new drives. A 4,000 square meter production facility for sustainable engines has been on the site since June. By the end of 2023, the entire workforce should be familiar with and trained in the construction of electric versions of their own fleet.
In the first step, electric trucks from MAN should achieve a range of 500 kilometers, later versions even reach 1,000 kilometers. The production of city and intercity buses should also benefit from this and competing products for Mercedes-Benz from Stuttgart will be launched. The renovation is brave, yet necessary and unfortunately not always socially acceptable. Over the next few years, 3,500 jobs are to be cut.
Own opinion:
It is high time that MAN made the leap into an electrified future. Competitors from Sweden (Volvo) or Germany (Mercedes-Benz) never sleep and have been offering electrified trucks for some time. But it is not easy on the bus market either: Solaris and Mercedes-Benz already have fully electrified means of transport that are mass-produced. MAN slept here for years.
Via Electrek
