MACK TO SING SAFETY ANTHEM
IT HAS BEEN a long time coming, but if the whispers are correct and Mack’s new Anthem does actually debut on the Australian market in early 2021, it will be an incredibly momentous occasion for the bulldog breed in this country. A milestone for true celebration.
Not because of its unique Tonka toy looks or the fact that Mack will finally boast a high-rise stand-up cab and ‘crawler gear’ transmission option. No, the real celebration will come from the fact that it’s now 20 years since Volvo bought Mack and, at long last, after endless hard questions and weak answers, the Swedish corporation’s megaphone mantra on the vital importance of safety will finally extend to Mack’s Australian operation.
Indeed, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Anthem will be the first Mack on the Australian market to offer a comprehensive safety package as standard equipment and, accordingly, quell the hypocrisy that year after year has highlighted the vast separation of Volvo and Mack on the development and deployment of standard safety systems.
As it does in the US, the safety platform to be employed in Australia’s Anthem is effectively the same Bendix Wingman Fusion system that has been an extra cost option on Mack’s Granite, Trident and Super-Liner models in Australia since 2017.
Right now, though, with Anthem almost certainly on the cusp of an Australian release and set to replace Granite in the Mack range, there are hints of a strong push by senior powerbrokers within Volvo Group Australia (VGA) to also make the Wingman Fusion system a standard offering on Trident
