His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange officially started production of the new DAF XF on Wednesday April 3. The new truck was developed to meet the Euro 6 emissions standards that will come into force in the European Union. DAF has invested around one billion euro to develop an entirely new Euro 6 vehicle range and to prepare its production facilities in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Westerlo in Belgium for the new generation of trucks.
Euro 6 comes into force in the European Union on 1 January 2014. Compared with the current Euro 5 standard, the new legislation requires that nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions be reduced by a further 77%, while soot particle emissions must be cut by 66%. The new emissions legislation was a main driver for DAF to develop a completely new vehicle series of which the XF, the new flagship model designed for long-distance transport, has now officially entered production. Next week’s Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham will see DAF introduce the new Euro 6 models of the LF distribution truck and the highly versatile CF.
“We are incredibly honoured that His Royal Highness officially started the production of the new DAF XF”, said Harrie Schippers, President of DAF Trucks N.V. “Developing a brand-new generation of market-leading Euro 6 vehicles and preparing our production facilities for this new generation is the largest project in our company’s history, representing an investment of around one billion euro. The visit of the Prince of Orange is a wonderful recognition for all of the 8,000 DAF employees involved in the Euro 6 project, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The visit beautifully coincided with the fact that exactly 85 years ago Hub van Doorne laid the foundations for our current company.”
