UD Trucks Southern Africa MD Filip van den Heede
Truck manufacturer UD Trucks Southern Africa achieved a sales growth rate more than double that of industry-wide sales growth for 2022, MD Filip van den Heede revealed at a press junket, in Johannesburg, on January 31.
According to Naamsa | the Automotive Business Council, sales of both medium commercial vehicles and heavy trucks and busses increased by nearly 12%, coming in at a total of about 30 249 units sold in 2022, compared with the 26 969 units sold in 2021.
For 2022, UD Trucks Southern Africa's local sales figures showed steady progress in these same categories, with growth of more than 27% over the previous year, from 2 350 in 2021 to 2 990 vehicles last year.
Van den Heede explained that the Covid-19 pandemic, global sociopolitical unrest and global supply chain constraints had weakened an already fragile economy over the past two years but that UD Trucks managed to keep its business buoyant by growing in emerging markets.
Overall, UD Trucks managed to gain 11.6% market share since 2017, he said.
Part of the reason for UD Trucks’ success in South Africa is the low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions offering. The company launched the Quester and Croner Euro 5 models in 2022, and the Quon in 2019.
These fuel efficient vehicles are fitted with selective catalytic reduction technology, which not only reduces CO2 emissions but also total cost of ownership.
“To date, we have produced and sold close to 1 000 Euro 5 units in South Africa, consistently staying one step ahead of local regulations and market demand,” Van den Heede said.
He said the Quon range would receive further upgrades later this year to further improve vehicle safety. These new features will include traffic eye cruise control, a driver monitoring system and an advanced steering system.
UD Trucks Southern Africa sales director Rory Schultz said the company would be partnering with MiX Telematics to incorporate intelligent telematics solutions into the vehicles.
“There are many challenges facing both industry and customers and one of the most significant challenges is the rising cost of doing business. Consequently, we focus on providing solutions that will improve efficiency and profitability through our smart logistics approach. UD Connected Services helps us achieve this end goal,” Van den Heede said.
The UD Connected Services offering has resulted in enhancements that are designed to limit fuel theft, provide a recovery solution and ensure safety through alcohol detection.
Schultz said the increasingly digitalised logistics industry would benefit significantly from these additional features and would further boost the attractiveness of the UD Trucks brand.
Meanwhile, In 2022, UD Trucks trained more than 2 000 people across its dealer network to improve their skills in mechanics. Through this process, Van den Heede hopes to ensure customers have more uptime and receive reliable service. The company also provided training to diesel apprentices.
Van den Heede also revealed that UD Trucks Southern Africa would be opening three new dealerships this year in strategic areas of the country.
“As a result of the brand-new facilities, we will be able to increase visibility of our holistic solution and increase our dealer footprint to over 40 locations across the country,” he said.
The company has also been investing heavily in the development of improved connectivity, automation and electromobility in its product offering, with some of this technology already included in its vehicles.
For example, UD Trucks Japan carried out an autonomous driving trial with steelmaker Kobe Steel's Kakogawa Works in Japan, using a heavy-duty Quon equipped with Level 4 autonomous driving technology.
Level 4 vehicles can operate in self-driving mode under predefined conditions and will not operate unless required conditions are met. To ensure safety, the route is off limits to people and the driver remains behind the wheel, able to intervene in the event of any unforeseen situation or emergency.
A major goal of this initiative was to alleviate driver shortages at steel facilities and promote digital transformation in manufacturing and logistics, Van den Heede said.
He revealed that the company planned to add a passenger bus offering to its product line in the second quarter, along with a range of additional intelligent connected services.