The ERF name has finally been axed, as MAN has dropped the brand from the title of its UK operation. The company had already stopped producing ERF-badged trucks, after an announcement in July this year. In a press release today, the firm said:
"Following the ending of ERF production a few months ago, the decision has been made to change the name of MAN ERF UK Ltd. to MAN Truck & Bus UK Limited.
"Following the decision by Cummins
not to build a suitable Euro 4 engine for the marque, the ERF brand became far less differentiated from MAN’s own products. As growing numbers of ERF customers switched happily to D20 and D26 engined MANs to meet Euro 4, ERF sales fell to unsustainable levels.
"Des Evans, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus UK comments, 'Let me be clear, this does not mean we are about to reduce our service levels to the many thousands of ERF operators still running our trucks. We were proud to have the brand in our business, and we will continue to take great pride in supporting ERF operators for as long as the trucks are around.'"
ERF was established in 1933 by Edwin Richard Foden, who split from his family's Foden operation because he was confident that diesel power was superior to steam. The Foden
name itself continued until it was dropped by Paccar in 2006, not long before DAF chose to discontinue the Seddon Atkinson name.
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