While plenty of truck makers have opted out of the Brisbane Truck Show, some of the major accessory and ancillary equipment makers have ramped up involvement in the Biennial Truck Expo.
One of those is Hella Australia, which returns to the Brisbane this year with what it is calling a ‘state-of-the-art array of signal and ‘forward lighting solutions’ for truck and trailer manufacturers and operators. We understand that forward lighting solutions are what we used to call headlights and driving lights
The company says it will showcase its customisable Shapeline range along with its Scangrip work and inspection lamp ranges and also Mahle thermal management aftermarket products, distributed nationally by Hella.
“We will welcome visitors to our stand which is stacked with a broad selection of products aimed at the commercial vehicle market, both for Original Equipment manufacturers and aftermarket customers,” said Hella’s national manager, special original equipment for on-highway, Cameron Hoy.
“All of our products are focused on providing premium quality, enhanced durability and unbeatable reliability,” Hoy said.
“One of the stars of our show will be the new, all-in-one, slimline, five-function DuraLED Combi-SR rear combination lamp that incorporates a built-in retro reflector, saving both time and money on installation,” Cameron said.
“This makes the Combi-SR the ideal choice for vehicles with limited space to mount a separate reflector.
“Hella is a significant supplier to Australia’s trailer market with around 65 percent OE coverage. This market is now wholly LED, with Hella’s ‘Fit and Forget’ engineering ensuring high levels of reliability and durability, with low current draw. The robust DuraLED® Combi-SR tail lamp comes with an unrivalled lifetime warranty for the first fit,” he said.
“The lifetime warranty is a statement of confidence in our DuraLED product range which also ensures reduced downtime for truck and trailer operators. The opportunity cost of a trailer off road to fix a blown globe is far greater than the cost of the replacement part. But with HELLA’s quality and durability, there’s no vehicle-off-road costs to incur, just seamless, durable performance.
“Hella has manufactured LED lighting solutions for 22 years, so we have a long track record in the technology, which we have continued to evolve into today’s market offer. Just as mobile phones have evolved over the past two decades or more, so has our LED lamp programme, becoming more reliable and more durable, with advancing electronics, and impact-resistant and UV stable materials. They’re impervious to truck-wash and other chemicals commonly used in the transport industry, so they won’t breakdown or become brittle in typical Australian operating conditions.
“Hella designs and builds its DuraLED® Combi-SR in New Zealand and tests its products continuously in Australia’s heat, dust and rough roads, arguably the harshest in the world, to ensure they deliver for our customers year after year,” Cameron said.
In addition to the DuraLED Combi-SR signal lamp on show, Hella will display its range of Optical Warning System Lamps. This includes the low-profile mini and micro LED lightbars, plus the 3 LED or 6 LED surface mount BST slim series lamps, ideal for owner-driver truck/trailer, tow trucks, compactors and general utilities vehicles. The BST surface mount series are easy to position on vehicles and use a common industry footprint.
The new K-LED Rebelution low profile amber warning “rotating” beacon will also be on display, marking a step-change from the flashing matrix pattern of old.
“The lighting components offer simple and clever mounting methods, plus the added benefit of integrated AMP connectors. The Shapeline series is ECE compliant and multi-voltage, allowing for seamless connection to either 12V or 24V vehicles.
“This range is suitable for a variety of commercial vehicles including buses, authority and recreational vehicle applications.
“A full range of regular and auxiliary lighting options will be displayed on our stand,” Cameron says.Hella’s flagship 9-inch Rallye 4000 forward driving lamp, in pencil or spread beam pattern now has an LED insert replacement offered for customers who want to retain their existing wiring, mount and lamp casing and update to LED illumination. In addition, the LED Rallye 4000 lamp range makes its public debut at the Brisbane Truck Show.
“The Rallye 4000 has long been a stalwart of the HELLA range and the arrival of the LED Rallye 4000 will be warmly welcomed by a large portion of the truck driving market,” Cameron said.
“The new LED lamp will be quickly adopted by drivers who want the best and latest gear, and the Rallye 4000 continues in its position as a highly-desirable premium performance product.”
Hella Australia is the exclusive distributor of Mahle thermal management aftermarket equipment such as radiators, water pump kits, A/C compressors and Visco fan drives for trucks, and examples of the range suitable for European trucks will be on display, including a 1 m2 radiator complete with moulded-in header tank suitable for a MAN tipper.
“We are offering the Premium Line Original Equipment-equalling aftermarket brand as an alternative to truck manufacturers’ branded replacement parts,” says Greg Foot, Hella Australia product manager responsible for Mahle thermal parts.
“These parts are OE quality, and in most cases the exact same product using the same production technologies as the OE-replacement part, but branded by the manufacturer. The customer benefits from replacing their broken or worn part with an identical part, with the same features and mounting as the original, speeding-up reassembly, and getting the vehicle back to work faster.
“Our key benefits aside from a pricing advantage is that we can offer a very wide selection of parts and a distributor network across Australia. All these parts are time-sensitive to the customer, who is keen to reduce downtime, so on-the-shelf availability is critical.
“Hella Australia has been the exclusive distributor for Mahle engine cooling and A/C parts for the past 18 months. In addition to supplying the replacement parts market we’re also doing good business with crash repairers, especially as through Hella we already have strong links through the provision of crash repair lighting products,” Greg says.
Visit the Hella stand at BTS in the Main Hall (Foyer) at Stand 60 adjacent to the main entrance. For more information on the entire Hella Australia product range, please visit www.hella.com.au
