The South African truck market is “going through an interesting dynamic at the moment”, says UD Trucks South Africa (SA) marketing director Rory Schulz.
The medium commercial vehicle (MCV) market continues to drop – “it’s quite frightening” – while the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) market is also declining, he notes.
“Normally the HCV market is relatively stable. It maybe goes up and down in small percentages. This is the bread and butter sector, it tells you how the economy is doing.”
The extra-heavy commercial vehicle (XHCV) market is the only segment that has been delivering some good news for the domestic truck market.
“Somewhere there is a fundamental shift taking place,” says Schulz. “Things are not as they should be. I’m a little bit nervous. I think the economy is struggling. I have a suspicion it has to do with the build-up to the [2019] election.”
At the halfway market for 2018, Schulz says he expects truck sales to remain flat in 2018 compared with 2017, at between 26 000 and 27 000 units.
From a UD Trucks SA sales perspective, Schulz says the local arm of the Japanese manufacturer has been “tracking the market” this year.
Department of Trade and Industry data shows that the local truck market is down 2% for the first six months of the year compared with 2017. The MCV market is down 9%, while the combined HCV, XHCV and bus markets are up 1%.
UD Trucks chairperson Joachim Rosenberg says the parent company is hopeful of increasing its market share in the South African market, up from the current 10.8%.
“We want to grow. South Africa is a core market for us.”
He believes that winning market share happens with “hard product” – the truck itself.
UD Trucks SA currently has only three of the six UD Trucks truck ranges available in the local market – the Quester, Quon and Croner. What is not available are the Kuzer and Kazet MCV ranges and Condor HCV range.
UD Trucks is currently not active in the South African MCV market.
It is expected that the company will expand its local product range within the next three years.