MAN brings predictive cruise, new safety assistants and 50 more charging sites to IAA 2026

MAN Truck & Bus is bringing a broad package of truck updates to IAA Transportation 2026, focused on three areas: efficiency, operational availability and safety. The changes are grouped under the 2026 model year and apply across its truck ranges. On efficiency, the company has further developed its GPS-based cruise control MAN EfficientCruise with PredictiveDrive; on availability it adds over-the-air map updates, 50 additional Charge&Go charging locations and a new fuel anti-theft device; and on safety it introduces new and expanded driver-assistance systems. According to MAN, the new features benefit drivers, fleet operators and other road users.

PredictiveDrive is the further development of MAN's terrain-aware cruise control EfficientCruise, offered for all truck series from TGL to TGX with combustion and electric drivetrains alike. Using high-resolution three-dimensional maps, the GPS-based system reads the route of the selected navigation path up to three kilometres ahead and chooses the optimal driving and gear-shifting strategy. It accounts not only for gradients and the shape of the road but also for traffic infrastructure such as roundabouts, junctions and speed limits, reducing speed before them, combining the endurance brake or recuperation with the service brake, and then accelerating the vehicle back automatically and energy-efficiently to the permitted speed. Because the driver no longer has to adjust the cruise control manually, MAN says driving comfort and acceptance of the system improve markedly.

MAN is also working on uptime. With Connected Maps, map data is from now on updated automatically over the air, so workshop visits for map updates are no longer needed, and traffic-sign recognition and PredictiveDrive stay at a consistently high level even when road infrastructure changes. For battery-electric vehicles, MAN is expanding its MAN Charge&Go service by 50 additional charging locations in Europe, including in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Portugal. The service gives fleet customers access to a charging network that MAN has checked for electric-truck suitability, that grows continuously and can be used across countries, with transparent pre-negotiated conditions, central monthly billing, a real-time overview of all charging sessions and integration into the RIO Fleet Monitor and the MAN Driver App. For diesel vehicles, a new electronic and mechanical fuel anti-theft device offers extra protection against unplanned costs: the electronic version continuously monitors the fuel level in the tank, can detect tampering attempts at an early stage and triggers visual and acoustic alarms as a deterrent.

For demanding transport operations, MAN is adding an electronic trailer stability brake for heavy vehicle combinations, particularly in timber transport, on mountain routes, forest tracks and forest roads or in difficult weather conditions. The system stabilises the combination during braking, in corners and on slippery surfaces and significantly reduces the risk of a jack-knife effect, in which the trailer pushes the towing vehicle out of its lane. Once activated by the driver it works fully automatically, and MAN says it is the first manufacturer to additionally offer pedal- and manually controlled operating modes; the function is available for electric and diesel trucks alike. For demanding operations MAN is also presenting two functions for diesel drivetrains for the first time at IAA 2026: simplified activation of the off-road reduction gear to improve traction off-road via a button or driving programme, and a new split adjustment on the power take-off that lets the driver set different speed ranges quickly and flexibly from the workplace — something that previously required reprogramming in the workshop.