Western Star Unveils New Highway Tractor; 5700XE Aimed at Small, Medium Fleets
This story appears in the Sept. 15 print edition of Transport Topics.
HENDERSON, Nev. — Daimler’s Western Star unit launched a new highway tractor offering improved fuel efficiency while maintaining the brand’s classic styling.
The new 5700XE — the XE stands for “extreme efficiency” — was unveiled in this suburb of Las Vegas on Sept. 11, with executives for the original equipment manufacturer saying orders will be taken “this fall.” Limited production is slated for April 1, and full production by July 1.
Western Star will offer in-house powertrain options from Daimler’s Detroit components subsidiary, including three Detroit DD-series engines, the Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission and Detroit-brand axles. While the truck is available only with the Detroit engines — engines from independent manufacturer Cummins Inc. are not offered — Western Star will offer choices with other powertrain components.
“We want this truck to be better looking than anything else out there, but also for it to have great fuel efficiency,” Western Star general manager Michael Jackson said. He also said the 5700 will give his brand access to more truck buyers across the United States and Canada.
Hendrickson USA and Meritor Inc. will make the axles that are alternatives to those from the Detroit brand.
Western Star also will offer a fuel-efficiency package on the 5700 that will feature all-Detroit components.
“We’ve been strong where we played, but they have been extremely small, nichey segments,” said Ann Demitruk, the company’s marketing director. She said the 5700 will allow the OEM to broaden its appeal.
A specifications sheet for the 5700 said the most probable engine choices are Detroit’s 15- and 16-liter models, but a 13-liter also will be available.
The DT12 is the only type of AMT available, but there are five options for Eaton Fuller manuals, ranging from nine to 18 speeds.
The truck will be produced at Daimler’s Cleveland, North Carolina, plant. Western Star is based in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
The 5700 can be used in a variety of over-the-road applications, including longhaul truckload, less-than-truckload and bulk or refrigerated transport, the company said.
The 5700 is Western Star’s first new model since the 4700, which was launched in 2012. A smaller heavy-duty truck, the 4700 is aimed at vocational markets.
The company’s three other models are the 4800, the 4900 and the 6900. Western Star’s main plant is in Portland, Oregon, but it also builds trucks in North Carolina.
Western Star is the smallest of the seven North American OEMs producing heavy-duty trucks. Daimler Trucks North America also makes the Freightliner Trucks brand.
Western Star executives have described their vehicles as premium trucks with premium prices. The brand’s niche is extreme and severe-duty off-highway trucks, often for mining or logging, and premium highway tractors.
For the first seven months of this year, Western Star sold 1,741 Class 8 U.S. trucks, or 1.5% of the market. Freightliner, the largest OEM, dwarfs Western Star, selling 42,183 trucks, or 35.6%, over the same time, according to data from WardsAuto.com.
Marketing North American trucks based on fuel economy is among manufacturers’ most popular strategies. All of DTNA’s competitors — Navistar Inc.; Kenworth and Peterbilt in Paccar Inc.; and Volvo Group, including Mack — tell truck operators they understand that, with diesel fuel costing about $3.80 a gallon, it is important to design trucks that address fuel economy through a variety of approaches.
OEMs invest in aerodynamic design, weight reduction, engine efficiency, and efficiency among the systems that make up the truck.
Within DTNA, the 5700 is discussed in a manner similar to Freightliner’s Cascadia Evolution, introduced in 2013, and marketed around fuel efficiency.
The 5700 will come in three roof options and five sleeper dimensions: low, high and ultra-high roofs and sleeper depths of 34 inches to 82 inches. The 5700 will also be available as a day cab.
The bumper-to-back-of-cab dimension, before the sleeper berth, is 126 inches, or 10.5 feet.
Meritor Wabco, a joint venture by Meritor and Wabco Holdings, supplies two safety features for the 5700: the OnGuard adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation system and OnLane, a lane-departure warning system.
In light of the ongoing shortage of truck drivers, the 5700 materials also emphasize driver comfort and safety within the cab as a technique for recruitment and retention.
