Network in Africa supports expansion aim
INDUSTRY NEWS/ Volvo Trucks and its brands are looking to the rest of the continent to increase growth
Volvo Group Southern Africa says it is expecting to grow its market share in Africa during 2017 and beyond through an enhanced footprint.
The company already has 30 dealer sites across southern and eastern Africa, with new sites in Alrode and Angola completed in 2016 and fully operational. New facilities are being developed in Pinetown, Port Elizabeth, Kenya and Zambia.
Locally, Volvo Group is represented by Volvo Trucks, Volvo Bus, Volvo Penta and the UD Trucks brand. UD Trucks in March announced the appointment of Gert Swanepoel as its new MD. More than 1,000 staff are employed by the group in Southern and Eastern Africa through various representative offices and brand headquarters, as well as two factories in Durban and Rosslyn, shared back office support and a regional distribution centre for parts.
“The company combines the best of two worlds: synergies by having global organisations for product development, manufacturing and purchasing but still clear leadership and responsibility for each brand to make sure customer needs are understood and met throughout the entire organisation,” says Torbjörn Christensson, president of Volvo Group Southern Africa.
He says the company is also constantly exploring ways to develop and improve the way it supports its customers. “There are high market demands on new financial solutions and we are therefore developing financial solutions as part of our total offering. We should be able to make some announcements in this regard during the second quarter of 2017,” he says.
Volvo Trucks’ customer service strategy has seen its CSI ratings improve significantly over the past year. In the sales category, it moved from third to first position with a 98.5% customer satisfaction rating.
LEADING BRAND
Its service score also improved to 94.86% moving the brand from 12th to fourth, while parts CSI improved to 94.46% from eighth to fourth position.
The combined scores make Volvo Trucks the leading brand in the European commercial vehicle segment.
“We may do business with other companies, but people make the decisions. Trust and relations are as important as the total offer. We have branded products and services and it is with these and our representatives that our customers form relations. By bringing together the best of everything, from the offer to the relationship, our customers will reap the rewards of a profitable and successful business,” says Christensson.
As part of its commitment to road and driver safety, new safety features will be introduced on the Volvo Trucks extraheavy commercial vehicle range locally. “The new innovations include electronic stability control, adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning and emergency braking, lane keeping and lane support, as well as driver alert support — all aimed at assisting the driver to operate the vehicle safely and responsibly,” he says.
“It also enhances the overall driving experience by minimising fatigue and increasing productivity,” he says.
These new safety trucks will be assembled at the brand’s Durban factory, which was recently renovated at a cost of more than R6.5m to enable, among other things, the assembly of these specialised units.
Looking back at the group’s performance in Africa during 2016, the company managed to grow its net sales 1.2% despite challenging market conditions. Volvo Trucks claimed a 15.6% market share of the local commercial vehicle market in 2016 with a total of 1,957 units sold.
On a global level, Volvo Bus increased sales 10% during 2016, which includes 3,000 hybrid technology buses. Volvo Bus SA says it increased its market share of rear-engine buses to 27% and forecasts total market share of 8% to 10%.
DEVELOPMENT
The company continued its commitment to the development of staff and dealer employees, investing R25m during 2016 in its diesel technician apprenticeship programme, and several learnerships and bursaries.
It has renewed its commitment to Star for Life, a nonprofit organisation that aims to provide young people in Southern Africa with essential life skills, sport training and health education. Over the next three years, it will invest R8.1m into the lives of pupils at 17 schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to provide life skills support.
“Star for Life is an exemplary project that creates new opportunities for young people in SA to complete an education and to create good lives for themselves,” says Christensson. “We are proud to invest in a project that aims to better living conditions for people and enhances the economic society of SA.”
VOLVO TRUCKS’ CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY HAS SEEN ITS CSI RATINGS IMPROVE OVER THE PAST YEAR