MCVs play a pivotal role in many fleets. Simon Foulds speaks to Danie de Beer of Hyundai Automotive South Africa and Jacques Carelse of UD Trucks Southern Africa about growth areas within this segment.
In 2013, sales of MCVs increased by 14.66% to 11 585 units from 2012 figures, and was the best performing sector within the commercial vehicle sector.
Hyundai still only imports the HD65 & HD72 models, at 6 500 kg and 7 200 kg GVM respectively. They are currently the only two right-hand drive models that Hyundai Truck & Bus has available for the South African market. However, the range might be increasing in the future as more right-hand drive units are manufactured.
De Beer, who is general manager: commercial vehicles at Hyundai Automotive South Africa, says: “We mainly target operators that make use of MCVs spread across a wide range of applications – courier, construction, distribution, etc. Looking at the 2013 sales volumes, it is evident that the demand for MCVs are on the rise.”
UD Trucks may not have some of the newest models available on the market today, and this year sees the run out of the UD35, 40 and 40L, but Carelse, MD of UD Trucks Southern Africa, says its trucks have a very loyal following among some of the biggest operators in the country.
Africa
Hyundai Automotive South Africa has the distribution rights for trucks in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. East Africa is handled by different distributors in Kenya and Tanzania, which import the full ranges of passenger and commercial vehicles into their respective markets.
Carelse states: “One of the major challengers for the fleet owners operating in the Southern Africa region is the tough road conditions drivers have to deal with, especially in remote areas.
“Operating in Africa is very different from running a fleet in other international markets. We have tougher road and operating conditions, so you therefore need a range of trucks that is able to effectively handle this type of environment, without breaking he bank when it comes to operating costs.”
2014
Regarding the year ahead, De Beer says: “We foresee 2014’s market to remain flat; obviously we do not have a crystal ball, but our aim is to increase market share in a growing or shrinking market. E-tolls, fuel prices and possible interest rate increases might put a damper on buying activity, but we need to be patient and reassess mid-year.
“We believe that this year’s growth will be spread across all sectors. There are a lot of construction projects on the go and some operators have smaller loads, necessitating them moving from bigger to smaller vehicles and new warehousing and distribution contracts for various products have been awarded recently.”
Carelse adds: “UD Trucks believes that we would rather offer a product range that has appropriate technology and equipment that suits the local environment and operating conditions.
“Our strategy is to continuously adapt to the changing dynamics of our market, which in future will require more operationally practical vehicles of good quality, but which offer customers more profitability per rand spent. We also need to prepare for more stringent compulsory specifications and environmental standards, which will be implemented in 2015.”
Comments are closed.