Since May 2024, F-Trucks Nederland BV is the official Dutch importer and distributor of the heavy-duty Ford trucks and tractors developed and built by Ford Otosan from Turkey. Their very-well-organized open house day was held on June 21, a warm and sunny Saturday. Just a 25 minutes drive from my place, so a must-visit it was, no doubt about that.
The focus was clearly on the F-Max, Ford Otosan’s top model since 2018. For the time being, it’s only available as a 4×2 tractor with a raised-roof sleeper cab. The wheelbase is either 3.60 m (141.7”) or 3.75 m (147.6”).
The F-Max tractors are only offered with a 12.7 liter Ecotorq turbodiesel and a maximum power output of 500 DIN-hp, though that was recently increased to 510 DIN-hp in the latest Gen2-series.
Depending on the heavy-duty level of the front axle, the GVWR ranges from 18 to 20 tonnes (39,700 and 44,100 lbs, respectively). Pictured above an F-Max heavyweight, more or less indicated by its appearance. A big Ford with an attitude.
My personal favorite, thanks to its classy shade of red all-over. And luckily, the grille and its frame were not forgotten. Perfect, an uncomplicated, yet outstanding livery.
Wessels’ brand new F-Max low deck tractor hasn’t towed a semi-trailer yet, look at the grease on the fifth wheel coupling.
About those Deeres in the background. F-Trucks Nederland BV is a 50/50 joint venture between the Vlastuin Group and Göritzlehner Truck & Bus BV. The Vlastuin Group also runs a John Deere dealership, literally next to the Ford Trucks operation, and manufactures the D-TEC semi-trailers. I’ll get back to both of them later.
Moving on, here’s a 20 tonnes F-Max with a Carnehl end dump semi-trailer from Germany.
Flaps out! Besides their own D-TEC products, the Vlastuin Group also offers Carnehl semi-trailers. The dump trailer doesn’t have its own registration plate yet. Given the tractor’s GVWR, the gross weight rating of this combination would be 47 tonnes (103,600 lbs), as such a tri-axle setup is rated at 27 tonnes.
The whole Ford (and John Deere) workshop was open to the public too, cool! And not only temperature-wise.
There it is, in plain sight, the Ford Otosan 12.7 liter Ecotorq inline-six, based on an FPT Industrial block.
As you may or may not know, cabovers have a sort of hood too. In case of the F-Max, lift it up for checking the coolant and windshield washer fluid levels and the reservoir fill-ups. On a related note, many long distance truckers -mostly from eastern and central Europe- open the hood for hanging their laundry out to dry.
Outside, the seriously updated F-Max, marketed as the Gen2, was also on display.
And just look how tall that cab is, that’s a full-grown trucker on the left!
From now on, Dutch F-Max demo tractors come in this livery. The letters HVO on the roof sides stand for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil. Simply said, the second generation of bio-diesel.
An open house day also means open doors, so we might as well have a look inside.
No gear stick, you say? That’s because an in-house, 16 speed AMT is standard, as in there is no other option. A manual transmission in a heavy on-highway truck or tractor is so 20th century.
The digital tachograph is integrated in the black unit on the left, above the windshield.
It would be too much to mention all the hard- and software in and on the demo tractor, so feel free to translate all of this. Plenty of terminology is already in English anyway.
One step down the Ford Trucks ladder we find the F-Line series of trucks and tractors with multiple drivetrain options. Essentially, it’s an evolution upon previous evolutions of the good ol’ 1981 Ford Cargo from the UK.
This F-Line 1845 4×2 tractor has a 450 DIN-hp, 12.7 liter Ecotorq engine.
A 420 DIN-hp, Ford F-line box truck with a 6×2*4 drivetrain, equipped with a Dhollandia cantilever liftgate.
The last one, an F-Line E 6×2*4 truck with a low day cab, temperature controlled body, and Dhollandia cantilever liftgate.
I bet you’ve never seen such a big Ford BEV before…
Ford Otoson is aiming at a 5% market share across the Continent, especially competing against Iveco and Renault. A serious, professional network of dedicated importers and dealerships has been built up in almost all European countries.
Seeing heavy-duty Ford commercial vehicles everywhere in the Euro part of the Old World has never, ever happened before. A hearty welcome to the ‘eight brand’!
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