Petronas of course is riding on a high of recognition at the moment thanks to recent success in Formula 1, but this must translate to increased value for customers. For the commercial arena it is perhaps more relevant that Iveco’s partnership with Petrona Urania resulted in two Iveco drivers finishing in the top 10 for Dakar 2015.

Yaw tells us proudly that Urania lubricant employed for this most grueling of rally raids is identical to that offered on the market.

“Petronas may be a Malaysian company but we must emphasize that the work we do is for the global market, not just for the local commercial vehicle scene. There are 11 Urania blending plants worldwide with our Malaysian facility being in Melaka, and these support our research centre based in Turin, Italy.”

“Heat dissipation, engine protection, soot reduction and of course the highest possible improvements in reliability, fuel economy, and operational cost efficiency are at the forefront of our development efforts,” says Yaw.
The challenge of course is to develop products that can withstand any condition and environment, from stationary long running hours to high mileage use and the tropical heat and humidity of Malaysia to the very low temperatures of the European continent. Urania, Yaw says, can handle them all.

“The range is complete no matter what a client’s needs may be, from monograde mineral diesel engine oil to ultimate performance multigrade synthetic oil. Depending on the vehicles used in a fleet, especially their age, in may not be necessary to use our most advanced lubricant.

“This is where the testing and analysis comes in. Our technical team is very close to the in-house technicians and mechanics of our clients. As they are the ones dealing with the maintenance and repairs of the fleet they will be able to tell us if the service intervals are as they should be and if the trucks are performing as they should,” he says.

“In Penang for example we managed to double the oil change interval of a major bus service operator,” he adds.
We press Yaw for an example of the kind of improvement switching over to the right Urania lubricant has achieved for a client, and he tells us of one company that managed to reduce annual maintenance costs by RM300,000 following a 10,000km increase in service interval for a fleet of about 70 vehicles.

“If there’s one thing we’re proud of here at PLMM, its the original equipment (OE) approval that our products receive from manufacturers. It’s one thing to be endorsed by a workshop, but when a manufacturer trusts Urania lubricants for their vehicles this is an invaluable strength.

“Good products are of course the backbone of any lubricant manufacturer, but beyond our high quality Urania range is this vote of confidence from leading truck and bus manufacturers,” says Yaw.

The NST — Petronas Urania Truck of the Year 2015 Awards Night is the fourth instalment of this illustrious event. Over 200 guests from the land transport industry are expected to attend the gala night awards dinner to be held on Sept 29 at the Saujana in Subang. It will also see a category for trailer makers and the bus segment.

(Source: Motorme)