Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai Renault Trucks, a division of French carmaker Renault, is targeting the Middle East market with its heavy-duty vehicles specially designed for tough terrain like the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula.
"We will be definitely offering our Sherpa model in the UAE very soon," Marc Legeay, Marketing Director of Renault Trucks International‘s Middle East Hub in Dubai, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a vehicle presentation in the desert near Dubai yesterday.
Renault is eyeing customers in the region's armed forces, government entities, border patrols or other companies with high demand for robust vehicles like water and electricity agencies, oil companies and the like.
"Of course, we will also sell the car to private customers who enjoy a ride in the desert," Legeay adds.
"The car can be custom-made. The waiting time is about eight months depending on the extras requested."
One extra especially requested by Renault Trucks' bulk customers for the Sherpa, like Nato and US security firms, is the armoured version.
Equipped with armour, the vehicle weighs nine tonnes.
The Sherpa, although looking similar to a Hummer H1, is a far more robust and desert-capable car, Legeay said. "Unlike the Hummer, it can be armoured more efficiently."
The sales price in the UAE has not been disclosed yet, but Legeay gave an impression of what to expect when he said: "Depending on whether the car comes in the basic version or is custom-built the price range lies between Dh500,000 and Dh1 million."
Some 200 of the French-built cars have already been sold worldwide, Legeay said. He is hopeful of an order by the UAE military, which has shortlisted the Sherpa.
Another car for extreme purposes is the Kerax truck — a six-wheel-drive vehicle for extreme terrains. Two hundred of the 11-tonne trucks are already in use by oil and utility companies in Saudi Arabia, and 100 in the UAE.
Pointing at the century-old tradition of Renault as a builder of military and special-purpose vehicles, Legeay cannot think of too much competition in the field. "There might be [German truckmaker] MAN, but not many else."
By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
