The West Australian truck industry gets its chance to showcase the latest and greatest in road transport when Perth Truck and Trailer Show comes around and this year was no exception. The city’s Convention and Exhibition Centre hosted the transport expo and while some manufacturers weren’t there, those that were put on a good show for a state that is hugely dependent on road transport.
The show boasted 120 exhibitors filling the exhibition hall along with the foyer and an external display area outside the venue. Running from Friday 24 July till Sunday 26t July the three day show was presented by the Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of WA.
Many of the things that were displayed at the recent Brisbane Show were shipped across the Nullarbor for the Perth Show including the new improved cabin interior for the Kenworth K 200, soon to be released updated the Isuzu N Series, Scania’s Green and Euro 6 compliant range, Navistar’s show stopping heavy duty Cat and other models, the Iveco Powerstar 7800 road train prime mover and the all new Western Star 2800 medium duty truck.
Most of the displays were run by dealers, with some exceptions including Scania which has a more factory focus to its retailing, particularly in WA where it has been pushing some interesting strategic alliances with the the heavy weight miners with impressive results. Volvo, Mack and Iveco were all dealer representations but Navistar and Kenworth were factory displays
WA’s unique conditions and long distances along with its isolation from the rest of the country means suppliers have to offer variants not available in other parts of Australia. A large number of trailers in particular are unique to WA and were on show giving exhibitors the chance to showcase their wares to local buyers.
Organisers claim that better than 10,000 people attended the show over the three days in Perth which is impressive and certainly justifies holding a stand alone show on the western side of the Continent.
