industry news
Rings the Changes
MAN Truck & Bus South Africa loves to keep the media informed, and it was business as usual at their annual
“MAN Shares the News” info fest at the Turbine Hall, Newtown Johannesburg, on 12 June 2014.
T
he first order of business
was the reiteration of
MAN’s global vision
by MAN Truck & Bus South
Africa’s executive chairman,
Geoff du Plessis, namely
“The best people, customer
orientation as well as superior
technology and service will
make us number one in
commercial vehicles”; and an
overview of global and regional
performance and prospects.
service core processes, parts
availability, breakdown service,
and customer satisfaction.
MAN Truck & Bus South
Africa has also streamlined
its local operations to achieve
standardised customer (CRM)
and vehicle servicing processes
across its nationwide dealer
network.
And then, at the end of the
briefing, a surprise - a man
overboard, or more accurately,
With MAN still strongly reliant
all hands on deck. It was
on European sales (70%
announced that MAN Truck &
of total global sales), the
Bus South Africa’s current chief
➲ Geoff du Plessis thanks Bruce Dickson for his sterling work
pre-buying of trucks in the
executive officer, Bruce Dickson,
over the years
last quarter of 2013 before
would be resigning from the
the introduction of Euro 6 requirements skewed the buying
company to join Alpine Motors, a dealership based in Pinetown,
patterns in the first quarter of 2014, but with MAN celebrating
KZN, as a partner and shareholder. However, this resignation has
its TGX Efficientline’s best in test consumption performance of
been used to enhance customer service levels within the South
25,2l/100km, and its top ranking in quality in the 2013 TÜV Report,
African MAN dealer network and product supply infrastructure.
prospects are good for the rest of the year. However, MAN still
du Plessis and MAN Truck & Bus AG executives have made a
continues with its drive to move away from its dependency on
strategic decision to enhance the senior management team of MAN
Europe.
Truck & Bus SA by appointing new personnel to directly manage
the organisation’s Truck and Bus Sales Divisions, as well as its
From a local perspective, MAN experienced a slow start in 2014,
Key Accounts Division.
but with a good order book, and some big orders streaming in (of
which the 215 TGS 26.440 6x4 truck tractors recently delivered
The new appointees are old hands Dave van Graan
to Barloworld Transport Solutions is a stand out), 2014 totals in
(new head of Truck Sales), Philip Kalil-Zackey (new
trucks are not a major concern. And with its leadership in the bus
head of Bus Sales), and Sally Rutter (head of Key
market remaining unchallenged, the year should end up pretty
well. Another highlight is the impending growth in sub-equatorial
Accounts in the truck sales division). Over and above
Africa, with MAN Truck & Bus South Africa increasing its business
these appointments, additional recent appointees at
partners in the area, to leverage off its good performance in
MAN Truck & Bus SA include: Fritz van Olst (Business
countries such as Zambia, Kenya and Angola.
Performance Management); Markus Nkomo (Product
Beyond 2014, du Plessis says that whilst South Africa is a tough
environment, with pressures on operational costs and the ongoing
concern around the availability and skills of drivers, MAN remains
positive and committed to growing its presence in the country, and
that “South Africa is a country of cycles, and we will come out of
the current cycle stronger than before”. He also emphasised that
MAN is not just about products, but solutions; around competence,
specific design, best knowledge, sales augmentation, application
engineering, and an alignment with customer operations. He also
confirmed a focus on used trucks through the MAN TopUsed
offering, and an emphasis on aftersales, through service quality,
| logistics in action
Management, BRT); Johan Cloete (VW Business
Development); Mondli Ngwane (head of Planning and
Steering); Mario Geldenhuys (Order Management);
and Anna van Rensburg (Strategic Projects). And the
cherry on the cake will be that Dickson will remain a
non-executive member of the MAN Truck & Bus SA
Board of Directors, so his expertise and experience will
not be lost to MAN.
66
july 2014