Beetling away down under.

Rosmech, the Australian dealer for Scarab Sweepers, is reporting considerable interest in a newly uprated truck-mounted sweeper product range. This follows an agreement with UD Trucks Oceania, the official Nissan distributor in the region. As a result, Rosmech will now sell Scarab products on Nissan dual-steer chassis considered the most popular choice of truck chassis in the Australian local authority and contractor markets.
To give new impetus to the business, which has already seen its share of the market increase to 30% in the last 12 months, Rosmech has instigated a new demonstration programme and added two new demonstration units to its fleet. Both are based on the 10.4 tonne gross vehicle weight (GVW) Nissan dual-steer chassis. The first, which is already completed, is a single-engined Merlin Hydrostatic featuring a 6.6m3 (void capacity) body and a water tank able to take an impressive 1250 litres.
The second new demonstrator , also based on a dual-steer Nissan, is a newly announced Mistral twin-engined sweeper, designed to suit those operators that, for whatever reason, do not wish to take advantage of the improved productivity of a single-engined hydrostatic design. Although featuring an auxiliary engine, the Mistral does retain many of the popular features that have made Scarab`s sweepers such a worldwide success story. These include a flat hopper floor and larger than average water tank capacity. In some circumstances, the claimed environmental benefits of a single-engine design and improved payload capability, have to be weighed against the shorter build time of the more traditional, self-contained twin-engined skid.

As Brett Laing, co-principal of Rosmech, explains, `With the arrival of the Merlin and, later this month, the new Mistral, we will be able to offer our Australian customers a straight choice. The Scarab is a great product and the Nissan is the chassis of choice for the Australian market. We are able to supply the dual-steer option, which features twin steering boxes and our own integrated air con system into a factory-finished "mirror image" dash. While we feel there are clear environmental advantages with single-engined designs as a result of ozone depletion, we accept there are also operators who prefer trucks with automatic gearboxes or who need a shorter lead time. Now for the first time, we can offer both options.`
Rosmech had a very successful year in 2004, claiming around a third of the market. With considerable uncertainty over the future structure of the market and who the other players might be - Rosmech is confident that the newly enhanced Scarab product range, which is now kit-built in Australia, will enable the company to enhance its position even further in 2005.

For more info on the 2005 demonstration programme in Australia can be obtained by calling +61 8 8260 5855