Iveco Aussie R&D centre critical to RHD product

IVECO is keeping a step ahead of its competition when it comes to ensuring its vehicles are compatible with local conditions – and local requirements – carrying out vital engineering and calibration work right here on home soil.

Speaking with GoAuto at the launch of the 2026 Daily range in South Australia this week, Iveco Australia head of customer and innovation centre and product management Andrew Winbanks said the company’s local research and development team plays a small but important role in the development of both light and heavy commercial models.

“The Keysborough facility operates as an extension of our R&D facility in Europe, identifying specific needs for the Australian market and other right-hand drive markets,” he explained.

“At the moment we’re working on some of the heavy product that we’d like to bring to market very soon, making modifications and documenting those re-works so that we can ensure any changes made meet our quality standards and Australian Design Rules.

“We have also worked on modifying a couple of trucks to operate autonomously, which could become useful in mining applications, large shipping ports and so forth down the track.”

More tangibly, the latest Daily range has also benefitted from the input of Iveco’s Australian engineering team who worked to adapt that model’s extensive ADAS technology suite to right-hand drive configuration.

Mr Winbanks told GoAuto that his team was tasked with ensuring the Daily operated safely in a broad range of conditions and in step with Australian line markings and environmental conditions.

“The calibration of the camera and radar systems is obviously a pretty big deal. Modern trucks are becoming more complicated in that regard, and we put our hand up to say ‘hey, we want to solve this in Australia’,” he said.

“Europe (head office) appreciates the differences here – how the lane markings, the climatic conditions and so forth are different – and that it’s imperative the ADAS systems are calibrated to deliver the correct reactions that will keep Daily drivers safe.

“We used two development models that drove over 15,000km each, with engineers from Europe and Australia driving and analysing data to get the calibration just right before Europe was confident in signing off on it before the new model went on sale in Australia.

“That work has formed the basis (of the ADAS tune) for a number of right-hand drive markets now, including New Zealand. So, we’re pretty happy to be a part of that.”

Beyond the fine-tuning of existing technologies, Mr Winbanks said the ability to re-engineer heavy vehicles (such as the S-Way prime mover) was another feather in the cap of Iveco’s local R&D centre, ensuring European-made models are ideally matched to the needs of Australian customers.

“Most of our customers, especially B-double customers, require a 1000-litre fuel supply. But to offer that meant modifying the vehicle to relocate some critical components, such as the relocation of the battery onto the chassis behind the cab,” he explained.

“That change has now been adopted in quite a few Iveco markets, and I’m really proud of the local team for coming up with that one.

“We are a long way from Europe, and it’s imperative that we are able to do these things here. We are quite a unique market in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to B-doubles and the braking systems featured there.

“So, being able to have these engineering capabilities right here in Australia certainly gives us an advantage over some of our rivals.

“We are a very small team, and we punch well above our weight,” he smiled.