CEO of Volvo Group Southern Africa, Torbjorn Christensson Photo by Brett Eloff
VOLVO Trucks’ Durban factory is at the centre of Volvo Group Southern Africa’s plans to aggressively grow its market share in Africa this year.
As part of that drive, and in line with its stated commitment to road and driver safety, the group has announced new safety features that will be introduced on the Volvo Trucks Extra Heavy Commercial Vehicle range locally.
“The 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. It also enhances the overall driving experience by minimising fatigue and increasing productivity,” said Torbjörn Christensson (pictured), president of Volvo Group Southern Africa.
These new “safety trucks” will be assembled by Volvo Trucks at its Durban factory, which was recently renovated at a cost of over R6.5 million to enable, among other things, the assembly of these specialised units.
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 also currently being developed in Pinetown, Port Elizabeth, Kenya and Zambia.
Locally, Volvo Group is represented by Volvo Trucks, Volvo Bus, Volvo Penta as well as the UD Trucks brand. More than a 1000 staff are employed by Volvo Group in southern and Eastern Africa through various representative offices, brand headquarters, as well as two factories in Durban and Rosslyn, shared back office support and a Regional Distribution Centre for parts.
Volvo has representative offices in Zambia, Ethiopia, East Africa and Angola to bring support closer to customers in those regions.
“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 that customer needs are understood and met throughout the entire organisation,” said Christensson.
He said the company is also constantly exploring ways to develop and improve the way they support their 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.”
In Africa during 2016, the company managed to grow its net sales by 1.2% despite challenging market conditions. Volvo Trucks claimed a 15.6% market share of the local commercial vehicle market last year with a total of 1 957 unit sold.
Volvo Penta, a leading supplier of engines and complete power systems for marine and industrial applications, also continued its strong run in the local market in especially marine diesel and off-road engine sales. During 2016, Volvo Penta recorded a 20% increase in orders and a significant 55% market share of the power generation segment.
Volvo Bus South Africa increased its market share on rear engine buses to 27% and is forecasting a total market share of between 8% and 10%.
The company continued its commitment to the development of its staff and dealer employees, investing R25 million during 2016 in its Diesel Technician Apprenticeship Programme, several learnerships and bursaries – a total of 2 308 people in total.
Volvo has also renewed its commitment to Star for Life, a non-profit organisation that aims to provide young people in southern Africa with essential life skills, sport training and health education. Over the next three years, Volvo will invest R8.1 million into the lives of learners at 17 schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to provide crucial life skills support.