Truck of the Year Australasia (ToYA) is on the boil again. A mixed bag of contenders, with a new face joining previous scrappers returning to the ring to duke it out again

There are three familiar ToYA contending marques this year in the form of Scania, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz, plus a new face in FAW – the Chinese giant launched in Australia and New Zealand last year (New Zealand Trucking, December 2024/January 2025).

For the first time there’s no American in the race, and the elephant in the room is the absence of Mack’s brutish Super-Liner. It’s really only the Swedish giant Volvo who could put us in this position, releasing a trans-Atlantic platform duo in Australasia around the same time. The Volvo offers a more broad-spectrum deployment model – there’s no question the Mack Super-Liner is a specialist beast in 2025.

It’s likely the inaugural year of the competition (2023) will be the only year ToYA will ever have a line-up without an alternatively propelled entrant. As the renaissance of land-based propulsion unfolds, there is no guessing how many variants in the methodologies to propel our carriages will present themselves over time. It is truly an exciting moment in history. What is impacted by such a revolution, however, is judging criteria. Although we are affiliated to our parent International Truck of the Year (IToY) organisation and adhere to the base precepts of increasing the standards of efficiency, we are afforded some licence also. To that end, we place high emphasis on availability – meaning the truck’s ability to front the ‘go line’ every day and undertake a full day’s uncompromised work with high levels of operational flexibility. Obviously, we take into consideration its primary application.

We must acknowledge the OEMs who always enthusiastically agree to having machines in the competition. The award would not be possible without their cooperation.

FAW JH6 550

China is no stranger to mountains, river valleys and arid landscapes, and so the FAW marque should find comfort in Australasia. It’s worth noting the brand has acquitted itself extraordinarily well in South Africa, an equally harsh environment for truck operation with little of the vocational passion seen in the ANZAC nations. In SA, FAW is an incredibly popular choice among operators, making significant incursions into traditional OEM markets.

Maybe it’s for all these reasons we thought the JH6 looked like a truck that had been with us for decades when attending FAW’s launch in Tauranga late last year. There was nothing odd about its physical appearance at all.

The ECE-29-rated cab probably sets the bar for trucks from the ‘middle Kingdom’ with high levels of spec, trim, and appointments – LED lights, infotainment, Bluetooth, cruise control, speed limiter, climate control, heated mirrors … Add to that a raised roof sleeper and near flat floor (1.95m clearance) and it’s more than a capable competitor in its cabin class.

Neither can the sword be waved at a lack of safety kit, with everything operators have come to expect in a modern high-end truck at present – electronic braking, auto brake activation, advanced emergency braking, forward collision warning, collision mitigation, and lane departure warning.

The CA6DM3 13L engine produces 410kW (550hp) and 2600Nm (1917lb/ft) of torque, backed up by a 12-speed ZF AMT with a four-stage intarder and disc brakes. With parabolic leaf springs at the front and eight-bag ECAS at the rear, the truck’s custodian in New Zealand – Intertruck Distributors NZ – knows exactly where to hit the market in order to get runs on the board.

Having the Intertruck network and experience handling its welfare package is an ace in FAW’s hand. There’s no question if Comer and the team weren’t happy, it would never have graced their showrooms.

Its Achilles heel in the competition at close-off date is probably the absence – for now – of an 8×4 in the New Zealand market, but its price tag of sub-$230K plus GST at the time of launch throws any number of cats among the 6×4-market pigeons.

Just the ticket for regional distribution in 2025 if you can line up the external infrastructure to make it work. Photo: Tim Giles.

Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400 tractor

The Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400 is perfectly pitched where BEVs shine the most, currently. Linehaul might still be fraught with challenges – especially in the big red land to the west – however, anyone undertaking regional distribution out to the 150 -200km mark should have alternative propulsion on their capex inquiry list, no question. We are already at the point where it’s commercially irresponsible not to at least look.

The 300/400 deploys eAxle technology, the three-pointed star leaping headlong into the eAxle world from the get-go on its BEV journey. With 300kW continuous and 400kW peak power from a dual motor, two- speed transmission setup, there is certainly no shortfall in ‘omph’ in the target market. Batteries are lithium-ion with a range of up to 300-330km (eActros 300), and 400km (eActros 400), and available with up to 448kWh capacity depending on model and scope. Charging is easily facilitated via CCS Combo-2 plug.

The looks and cab interior are entirely familiar ensuring comfort – both literally and emotionally, the latter appeasing buyer wariness around new tech. Likewise, a known aftersales network and support in both countries helps immeasureably. Having spent time behind the wheel of the eActros, there’s no denying the smoothness of power delivery. Conversion to the technology purely on the back of the truck’s capability is a rapid process.

Ergonomics are superb, although embracing the tablet dash … ’we’re’ still not there. That said, it is merely a personal aesthetic thing and not considered beyond function for the competition. The truck deploys the latest incarnation of MirrorCam (optional), and from a safety systems perspective, it’s a Mercedes-Benz so there’s no need to interrogate that suite much. Active Sideguard Assist 2 is in there, as is a fire alarm.

From a productivity standpoint, a route planner is part of the overall offering.

With the aid of modern management and safety systems, the Volvo FH16 780 adds another option to the opulent ‘rubber- tyred locomotive’ set.

Volvo FH16 780

Last year Volvo had the honour of being our first BEV contender with the F Series electric, an absolutely remarkable piece of kit that fell short largely on the availability criteria as defined earlier. This year the Viking gives us a new ICE monster, its latest chess move in the ongoing power-game with arch rival Scania. The FH16 780 sees Volvo nose ahead and certainly slams a stake in the ground in response to any argument that combustion as a means to propel a vehicle is a spent force.

The great irony of sorts is electricity might be looming as land-based propulsion’s conquistador in the new world, but it’s also prolonging the relevance of combustion. Trucks like the FH16 780 simply wouldn’t be feasible in a non- electronically managed world, where tech keeps ‘man’s’ thirst for prowess over his peers at bay in the interests of more efficient, safe, and effortless motoring.

Sporting the new D17 17.3L Euro-6 engine, the numbers around the power unit’s capability are impressive to say the least – with it delivering 581kW (780hp) and 3800Nm (2803lb/ft). It’s an interesting study in the nature of combustion’s capability, maybe due to the physical size constraint imposed by chassis rails. The flat section of the torque curve is 200rpm in length (1000-1200rpm) and the power curve quickly rises to, and descends from, its 1700rpm peak. The mitigating factor is the curves are a long way from their respective high points before the output numbers cease to belie comprehension.

This truck is the Full Monty on so many fronts – available in standard sleeper, Globetrotter XL, and Globetrotter XXL, and Aero option. I’m intrigued to know the fuel consumption returns of an Aero variant heading west from Mt Isa with a loaded Double-B-Double in a stiff westerly. The Aero, I-Save package has recorded savings of up to 5% over previous setups in specific applications.

Like the Mercedes-Benz, and the Scania we’re about to discuss for that matter, Volvo vies at the head of the pack in terms of comfort – it really is a personal preference thing. Driver aids abound, and Volvo of course is seen as the cornerstone of automotive safety, something it understandably will always hold dear to its heart. The company’s answer to MirrorCam, the Camera Monitoring System (CMS), is fitted as standard on FH Aero and optional elsewhere. CMS is designed to improve the driver’s field of view all around the truck at any given moment and includes zoom-in functions and night vision.

The FH16 780 – gargantuan loads slowly and productively, or big loads on highway expeditiously and productively (2025 – you probably can’t say ‘quickly and efficiently’, but you all get what we mean).

‘It’s up and at ‘em, Atom Ant!’ The Scania 500P Super; no matter what you’re driving keep an eye in the mirror! Photo: Scania.

Scania 500P Super

Direct from the ‘where do possibilities end’ file, comes a truly fascinating little … hang on … comes a truly fascinating truck. A P-cab Scania with the incredible Euro-6 13L Super series engine and drivetrain platform, rated in this installation at a more than useful 368kW (500hp) and 2650Nm (1955lb/ft). Just think about that for a moment … a P Series with almost 2000lb/ft of torque!

We had the Super series of trucks in the hunt last year and this time around we picked one in particular. Initially you might think it’s for the customer with too many last-mile pallet deliveries to get through in a day. In fact, Aussie sales director Benjamin Nye says, “It’s like adding a GTI to our regional and urban delivery truck line-up.”

But give it a little more mulling time, and you come to the conclusion that trucks like this arise from the fringe opportunities around PBS – those two 20ft containers or 35-tonne load that needs to get from Hamilton to Auckland, or the two 40-footers from the expansive hinterland around Brisbane or Melbourne into the port. And that’s not considering its role as a highly competent ‘rescue’ truck should one of the big-boppers retire injured for the day.

Readers will know our thoughts around the Super engine and driveline – there’s few words left in the vocab armoury to describe a combustion engine that appears to do so little yet achieve so much. It’s like the kid at school who never studied and got A+ every time. It’s won accolades wherever it has been entered. In this setting peak torque runs from 900-1320rpm and power peaks at 1700rpm. Highway cruise is around the 1200rpm mark and believe me from Super experience, the G33 14-speed AMT will shift the instant it needs to in order to keep the fuel where it should be … in the tank.

Obviously, being a 13L-equipped P cab there’s a significant engine tunnel by 2025 standards, but that takes nothing from the useability of the vehicle in its intended application. In fact, the two-step access improves injury prevention potential in the course of an in/out day – see I’m even drinking the H&S Roundup now.

Spectacular visibility and a full suite of safety systems round out a regional vehicle able to operate across the full needs spectrum of a modern business, and potentially come as close as any truck has in the regional application to finding the hallowed middle ground between driver and accountant.

The 2025 Truck of the Year Australasia will be announced at the Brisbane Truck Show in May.