Australia’s newest major vehicle rental company has made Iveco a very happy van seller by adding 45 Iveco daily vans to its burgeoning fleet.
SIXT, which T&B News is unclear of the pronunciation of , is it said ’60’ or is it ‘Six-T’ ? Which ever way you say it the brand has quickly become a familiar sight on Australian roads with its distinctive orange and black branding on its commercial rentals helping them to stand out in a crowded market and giving it significant cut-through thanks to both its branding and the modern fleet after only 14 months of operation in Australia.
Not surprisingly commercial vehicles make up a considerable portion of the SIXT fleet and includes everything from utilities through to light trucks, tippers and mine spec vehicles. The 45 new Iveco Daily 35S vans, are the most recent addition to the fleet which SIXT purchased predominantly to meet the growing needs of its long-term rental customers working in pick-up and delivery applications.
The 12 cubic metre vans feature Iveco’s 2.3l Euro6 turbodiesel engine, coupled to an eight-speed full automatic transmission, along with a suite of standard active and passive safety features including four SRS airbags, Advanced Emergency Braking System and Iveco’s ‘ESP9’ program, a suite of nine electronic driving aids.
SIXT national commercial fleet manager, Ian Moore, has been with the company since its inception in Australia, but has almost 25 years’ experience in the rental industry – he said that the Daily vans were a great fit for SIXT and the requirements of its clients.
“From a specification standpoint, the Daily offered an extremely close match to what we seek in a van,” Ian said.
“The vehicles we select need to be practical and flexible to suit varying final mile delivery duties, and must also align with SIXT’s broader requirements around safety and emission performance. The Daily meets stringent Euro6 emission levels and is also well equipped from a safety standpoint – it’s important we can provide these benefits to our customers as well as other road users.”
Ian Moore explained that another major consideration for SIXT is the comfort and user friendliness of its fleet, .
“Users of the Daily will typically spend long hours at the wheel each day and often in city areas where there’s traffic congestion, so it’s vital that we chose a model that was comfortable and easy to use,” he said.
“With the full automatic transmission, a long list of driver appointments and car-like seating position, the Daily is simple to drive; access to the cabin and load space is also good, which makes it less tiring for drivers who are regularly getting in and out of the vehicle to make deliveries.”
Ian said a major reason for SIXT’s rapid acceptance in Australia was due to its customer-centric focus.
“SIXT might be a newer entrant in Australia but the company has been a major player in Europe for over 100 years,” he said.
“We’ve drawn on this vast experience along with a thorough understanding of the local market to hit the ground running. We’ve worked hard to remove friction points that customers may have contended with at other providers, and our goal is to deliver them a premium overall experience every time.”
Another area of emphasis for SIXT is what it terms ‘the green mobility transformation’ – it’s a transformation that’s already begun with the company boasting one of the country’s largest passenger EV rental fleets. Commercial fleet electrification is also on SIXT’s agenda with interest being shown in Iveco’s new eDaily.
“We’re well aware of the eDaily model and its availability in Europe and know that the range is also slated for launch in Australia later in the year. On paper these models would meet a lot of our requirements in the commercial EV space. We look forward to them landing,” Ian said.
