New Fuso Canter is "The Professionals' Choice"

When your business entails supplying a top quality vehicle care and valeting range, it's crucial that the truck you rely on to showcase your products and make deliveries to customers should also look the part.

For Bridgend-based ARB Autocare, the answer was a range-topping 7.5-tonne Fuso Canter 7C18D, which wears the eye-catching livery of Autoglym – ARB is one of the high-profile manufacturer's oldest franchisees, having represented it for more than 35 years.

The Canter was supplied by South Wales Mercedes-Benz dealer Euro Commercials which, like other members of the German truck builder's UK network, is also responsible for sales and support of the popular Fuso light truck range.

Its box body, meanwhile, is the work of Manchester-based Alloy Bodies and fitted out as a mobile showroom complete with Edstrom racking and an internal hoist for handling bulk, 200-litre drums of detergents.

Thanks in large part to their ladder frame chassis, all Fuso Canters are strong and durable, but 7.5-tonne variants are also renowned for being exceptionally light. This, coupled with the fact that its body panels are made from Niafont, a plastic product with a honeycomb centre which as well as offering excellent insulation characteristics minimises weight, means ARB Autocare's new truck tips the scales at less than 4.5 tonnes.

"That leaves an impressive payload capability of more than 3.0 tonnes, which we're delighted with given all of the internal fixtures and fittings we've added," confirmed ARB Autocare Director Alun Bunston.

"Indeed, its light weight was the main reason we chose the Canter, but it wasn't the only one. This is our first 7.5-tonne vehicle and most of our guys drive vans. So we also liked the fact that the Canter is significantly more compact in terms of its external dimensions than other vehicles in its class, because it makes life a lot easier for them. Given the restricted access opportunities at some of the customer locations we visit, a reduced vehicle ‘footprint' is a big advantage."

Powered by a low-emission 175hp Euro 5 (EEV) engine, the Canter works from ARB Autocare's base in Swansea and is now making deliveries to car retailers, accessories shops and other customers across all of Wales except the far north, and into Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

It will also be kept busy at various events during the year, including the All Wales Truck & Transport Show, the Royal Welsh Show, and the Pembrokeshire Show.

In addition to the Canter, family-owned ARB Autocare operates five vans of various sizes, all but one of them Mercedes-Benz Sprinters.

Mr Bunston added: "Euro Commercials' sales executive Luke Hardaker has provided excellent support and we've had a lot of positive feedback to our first truck from customers and others – its eco-friendly credentials tie in nicely with Autoglym's stance as the greenest of car care companies."

Autoglym was founded in 1965 and today the name is synonymous with high quality car care and vehicle products around the world. Autoglym enjoys technical approvals from many leading automotive manufacturers and close associations with owners' car clubs. Its products are to be found in all areas of automotive activity and are equally suited to professional users, concours competitors, enthusiasts and family car owners.