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’!
They may not be like the Fords of the past, but they don’t look bad at all to me. It may not be a Volvo, Scania, or DAF, but it holds its own.
It’s good news that Ford continues to make trucks for Europe and much of the world. In the US, they stopped doing so a long time ago.
Just to clarify: these Ford branded trucks are designed and built by Ford Otosan in Turkey, in which Ford has a 50% ownership stake. It has its own facilities to design and build trucks locally. It’s not really just a “Ford”.
Yes, Dearborn has nothing to do with those vehicles other than claiming Otosan as their world-wide heavy truck center of operations. And maybe the grille emblem. I suspect with all the heavy truck consolidation going on Otosan’s heavy truck business will eventually join with IVECO. Otosan does play an important role for Ford however in that they manufacture most if not all Transits for Europe.
The production of the previous full-size, long distance Euro Ford, the Transcontinental, ended more than 40 years ago. These were powered by a 14 liter Cummins engine and had a French Berliet cab. Sadly, it was a commercial failure.
The Transcontinental was a typical ‘parts bin’ truck/tractor. Mind you, a good one! But historically, that’s not what truck owners on the Continent expected or wanted from a mainstream manufacturer (eight of them, these days).
The F-Max and Transcontinental side by side:
was actully going to mention the transconti too, as i saw and photographed a really nice one a few weeks back at a show. If i remember correctly they used an Louisiana built ford chassis and were a little on the heavy side for many european countries weight regs at the time, which didnt help sales.
The cab on the F-max looks very volvo like, are there any shared parts or just coincidence?
No Volvo Trucks-Ford Otosan connection whatsoever, but the designer of the F-Max tilt cab was clearly heavily inspired by the Volvo FH generation from a decade ago (the F-Max was unveiled in 2018).
It would be fun to run one over here; it would get some raised eyebrows.
As a retired dump truck driver, I was very interested in the end dump!
I was a little surprised to see Ford branded heavy trucks in Europe, since Ford sold the European Cargo to Iveco in the 80s and the US Cargo and Lousiville to Freightliner in the 90s. Then you said Otosan and it made sense. They also made the the Transit Connect we got in the US.
These look like a typical European truck, but will have a hard time overcoming the entrenched brands
…and let’s not forget that the latest generation of the VW Transporter is also built in Turkey by Ford Otosan, VW has their own production line in the plant though (with the original Ford badge it’s called the Transit Custom).
Just as you mention it, I remember seeing trucks from the early 90s with both the Ford and Iveco logos on the grille. It was the Cargo.
On a related note, quite recently, Iveco and Ford Otosan have officially announced to jointly develop a new tilt cab for their heavy vehicles.
https://www.ivecogroup.com/media/corporate_press_releases/2025/march/ford_trucks_and_iveco_sign_joint_development_agreement_for_new_heavy_duty_truck_cabin
I had/have a promo flyer that i was given when i was a kid that showed the whole range of iveco ford badged vehicles, was pretty much everything bigger than the Transit, though most of the range werent common in the uk other than the Daily/turbodaily and Cargo. interestingly enough, despite the ford part of the badging dissapearing in the 90s the eurocargo cab still had ford logos stamped into the panels well into the 00s (i used to maintain a small fleet of builders trucks that were mainly iveco)
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, you could see brochures for the Ford-Iveco alliance’s utility vehicles and trucks. I think this one is from the UK.
The same catalog.
Cabs are a Volvo clone theres a Chinese Volvo clone on the roads here, so not really surprising, looks like a nice truck except for the god awful transmission, yeah I know they are fine in flat going, thats all they are good for.
And how about a blatant Scania clone?
https://iepieleaks.nl/chinese-scania-kloon-of-junfeng/
Speaking of automatic vs manual transmissions Johannes. Do you greatly prefer one over the other? Any specific use cases like going off road or for driving in snow? Have automatics improved to the point of being slightly more fuel efficient like those in cars?
I’ve got several relatives, acquaintances, and clients who own and/or drive heavy trucks, but I’m not a driver myself. As a kid, I grew up in, on, and around all kinds of diesel machinery and vehicles (all weight and size segments, dad was a truck driver). The enthusiasm and interest have always stayed with me, as you must have noticed…
That being said, in Europe, heavy/top segment on-road vehicles with a manual transmission are on their way out. That process is in full swing. Several brands, like DAF and Ford, don’t even offer a manual any longer. The most powerful Scanias and Volvos? Forget it, no more manuals.
On-/off-road vehicles (like the Tatra Phoenix) and heavy haulage tractors get dedicated software in their automated manual transmission, not the same as in the ordinary on-highway rollers.
Truck makers and owners want the most efficient drivetrain, in comes the latest generation of automated manuals, as simple as that. Consider the engine, transmission, and drive axle(s) as a single, fully integrated component.
It’s not new technology, BTW. Brands like Mercedes-Benz and Scania have been offering automated manuals for decades now (they make their own transmissions).
If I were driving around in a 50 tonnes rig in today’s heavy traffic, and twisting and turning all day long (a zillion of roundabouts!), my preferred choice would be an AMT for sure.