Top marks: Mr Topping described his new job as “an excellent opportunity to make sure every aspect of an Isuzu truck … has been engineered for application-specific purposes and then tested rigorously in a local environment”.

ISUZU Australia Limited (IAL) has announced two key appointments in recent weeks, with former Ford engineer Nic Topping joining the market-leading truck brand as product development manager and Daniel Ciantar stepping up as fleet sales manager for Victoria and Tasmania.

A highly experienced engineer with local and international experience, Mr Topping previously spent about four-and-a-half years at Ford’s Australian-based Asia-Pacific Product Development Centre, specifically as a design and release engineer.

He came to the Blue Oval brand from French-based global automotive supplier Faurecia, where from 2009 to 2012 he worked as a program manager for commercial vehicle exhaust systems.

Prior to that, he spent five years as principal engineer with Emcon Technologies – the US-headquartered automotive emissions control technologies firm, originally known as Arvin Industries and subsequently purchased by Faurecia in 2009 – and almost three years as a development engineer on diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems for independent Austrian-based powertrain engineering company AVL List GmbH, working on programs such as a diesel particulate filter for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

He earlier spent around six years with Arvin as a project/development engineer, working on exhaust and catalyst development programs for various vehicle platforms, including Ford and Land Rover models.

Daniel Ciantar

At Isuzu, Mr Topping will work with the Australian and Japanese engineering teams “to ensure that the Isuzu truck range continues to offer the right mix of technology, efficiency, power, reliability and ease of operation that the brand is known for”.

IAL director and chief operating officer Phil Taylor said the management team “feels fortunate to have someone with Nic’s extensive experience developing emissions systems on board” with the stringent Euro 6 mandate “on the horizon” for the Australian market.

“In addition to his experience at Ford Australia, Nic worked for European OEMs for over 15 years,” Mr Taylor said. “During that time, he helped pioneer emissions systems technology that met the Euro 6 benchmarks of efficiency and pollution reduction.

“With the introduction of a Euro 6 mandate on the horizon in Australia, tapping Nic’s extensive knowledge and direct experience with the implementation of emissions systems will help ensure IAL’s product offering remains both ahead of the legislative curve and competing manufacturers.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ciantar steps up from his previous role in fleet planning and support to fleet sales manager for the southern states.

He has worked for IAL since 2008, working as a logistics and material controller before stepping up into fleet in 2015.

Mr Ciantar previously worked as a production supervisor for TRS Tyre and Wheel, and earlier spent several years with Patrick Corporation in various roles including customer liaison.

By Terry Martin