Vehicle branding and transit media specialist Graffiti has joined MAN Truck and Bus South Africa as branding partner on their Consistently Efficient Tour 2012. Taking place from August 15 – August 31, three long-haul vehicles from MAN’s new flagship TGS EfficientLine range as well as their MAN Euro 5 “Green Truck” will demonstrate that by utilising fuel-efficient trucks, fleet operators can lower both vehicle lifecycle costs as well as their carbon footprint.

As branding partner for this event, Graffiti has emblazoned each of the four trucks and curtainsider superlink trailers’ with MAN’s bold Consistently Efficient Tour branding in an attempt to generate awareness and interest around the seven-city, 4200km journey as well as to educate people on the benefits of MAN’s fuel-efficient vehicles. Emulating MAN’s well-known 20-city, 11 500km 2011 European Truck Tour, the South African leg aims to demonstrate to the local transport industry that significant fuel-savings and CO2 reductions similar to those achieved on the European Tour are attainable using trucks from the MAN TGS EfficientLine range.

Commenting on the South African tour, MAN Truck & Bus SA Deputy CEO, Bruce Dickson says, “With fleet fuel costs constituting around 40 percent of overall operating expenses, MAN’s Consistently Efficient programme has developed a cost-effective long-haul trucking solution that is not only eco-friendly, but significantly reduces diesel consumption and thereby each truck’s total cost of ownership. The Consistently Efficient Tour 2012 aims to convey these benefits to the South African road freight industry and thanks to Graffiti, we shall be doing so in an eye-catching manner.”

Adds Graffiti Director Gavin Schlaphoff, “As a vehicle branding supplier to the road freight industry we thought it imperative to partner with MAN Truck and Bus on this world-class initiative to demonstrate our support for cost-effective, energy-efficient transportation alternatives. Any benefit to the industry as a whole obviously has spin-off’s for suppliers such as ourselves and we’re encouraged by MAN’s commitment to bringing tangible business advantages to this arena.”

The Consistently Efficient Tour 2012 aims to imitate the 3-litres/100km savings of its European 2011 Tour via a number of aerodynamic and energy-saving components of the EfficientLine vehicles which include amongst others reduced aerodynamic drag effects, energy-saving tyres, lightweight aluminium rim as well as lighter front axles and suspension.

“We are confident that we will achieve the same 3-litres per 100km fuel-saving achieved by our European counterparts. This amounts to a R60 000 annual saving per truck and could be converted into ‘one free truck for every 35 bought’ – a value proposition unprecedented in the industry,” states Dickson.

The 15-day tour will depart from MAN’s Centurion dealership and the four vehicles will stop at MAN dealerships in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pinetown and Nelspruit before ending its run back in Centurion. Fritz Hellberg Transport Management (HTM) will provide an independent audit and verification of the fuel-consumption obtained during the tour.

Ends Schlaphoff, “We’re confident that MAN will set new consumption benchmarks in the long-haul, on-highway playing field with the Consistently Efficient Tour 2012 and we’re grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to play a small part in this world class initiative.”

 

For further information on the MAN Consistently Efficient Tour 2012 visit www.mantruckandbus.com/press. For more information on vehicle branding and transit media contact Gavin Schlaphoff at Graffiti on (011) 691 8400/08 or via gavin@graffiti.co.za.