While UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA)’s founding dates back to 1962, this year marks 90 years of UD Trucks’ global existence. The significant milestone reflects the brand’s legacy locally as one of the leading brands in the commercial vehicle industry. The company is renowned for offering cutting-edge products in the Light, Medium, and Heavy segments, produced from its assembly plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria.
As is customary, UDTSA started the year with its annual press conference on 27 January 2025, at Cradle Boutique Hotel near Johannesburg with local media stakeholders in attendance. At this exclusive event, UDTSA announced its annual business results, which highlighted the overall new vehicle market growth of 10,2% with aggregate industry sales of 32 912 compared to 30 807 total unit sales in 2023.
Additionally, UDTSA recorded laudable growth of over 50% in Service Agreements and remains market leader in Euro 5 vehicle sales, attesting to its vision of “Better Life” and bringing more sustainable transport solutions to South Africa.
“Year 2024 was a year marked by both domestic and international unpredictable operating conditions which to a certain degree impacts how we do business. However, I am particularly pleased by the company’s overall performance and the unwavering support we offered our customers throughout the year despite the prevailing industry conditions,” says Filip Van den Heede, MD UD Trucks Southern Africa.
“This is testament to the right resources we have in place which helps us continue to go the extra mile for our customers to keep their trucks on the road, where they belong. A robust nationwide dealer network, excellent OEM support, fit-for-purpose products and aftermarket services, parts availability, and most importantly, improved uptime, ensure our customers’ profitability, productivity, continuing to pave the way for Better Life for South Africa and its people.”
Product improvements
With the brand’s proven success of providing ultimate dependable trucks that that are renowned for greater fuel efficiency, reliability, durability, drivability and uptime, UDTSA continues to challenge itself with product development and future mobility solutions to cater directly to the customer’s business requirements and industry’s demanding safety and environmental standards with modern technology.
With innovation that puts people first, the Quon features enhancements that speak directly to safety and uptime. Thes include traffic eye control cruise with stop and auto go, improved traffic eye brake system with VRU (Vulnerable Road User), improved driver alert system and emergency brake signal.
Rory Schultz, sales director, UD Trucks Southern Africa, comments: “Our aim is to be our customers’ ultimate business partner to help them move their businesses forward. It is for this reason that as a brand, we constantly review our local product range in line with customer business requirements. Over and above these enhancements, UD Trucks globally continues to innovate in the new NEV spaces through engaging in different partnerships.”
In addition to product innovations, UD Trucks places a strong emphasis on driver training as a core offering to ensure customers derive maximum value from their vehicles. This commitment was exemplified in 2024 when UDTSA participated in the global finals of the Extra Mile Challenge where it received notable recognition for performance excellence.
The challenge highlights not just vehicle reliability but also the critical role of skilled drivers in delivering value for customers’ businesses. By focusing on comprehensive solutions that include both advanced products and driver training, UD Trucks truly goes the extra mile for its customers.
Maximising uptime and profitability
Maximising uptime and profitability remain at the core of UDTSA’s offering, ensuring customers avoid unexpected interruptions and costly repairs. These solutions allow vehicles to spend more time on the road driving business success and less time in the workshop.
The uptime services include, among others, UD Trust Standard or Ultimate Service Agreements (offering predictable maintenance costs for up to five years with options for service-only). With these comprehensive plans, UDTSA continues its strong growth trajectory, with penetration rates reaching new heights.
In 2023, the brand indicated an increase of over 40%, while in 2024, the team took it a notch higher with a further realisation of 50% year-to-date (YTD). This success underscores UDTSA’s commitment to delivering lifetime value to its customers, guaranteeing uptime, profitability, and increased second-hand value.
Furthermore, one of the biggest impacts on customer uptime is the time lost while waiting for parts and improving customer uptime is when parts are available at the dealership. Through the support from Japan with specific focus on the South African market, implementation of predictive systems, a dedicated team that investigate exceptional demand patterns, as well as the data received from vehicle sales and collaboration with Service Agreements data.
UDTSA has been able to strive for a minimum availability of 96%, the best achievement in the last decade. This has ensured that at dealerships parts are available in the morning when they start working on the trucks, resulting in efficiency and productivity in the workshop, demonstrating ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction and uptime.
In addition, UDTSA’s uptime services also include industry-leading UD Connected Services, telematic solutions that enable business owners to monitor driver behaviour and vehicle health, ensuring operational efficiency, and safety. Genuine Service is also a key contributor to delivering uptime by providing maintenance schedules customised to individual specification and conditions of the vehicles, keeping them in prime condition to deliver the maximum uptime.
Lastly, complementing these offerings is the UD Road Support Call Centre, available 24/365 days, working hand in hand with the robust nationwide and strategically positioned dealer network which allows customers access to expert assistance whenever they need it.
Sanjay Naipal, Aftermarket Director, UD Trucks Southern Africa, emphasises the importance of these solutions: “As UD Trucks, we understand that for any fleet owner, the biggest pain points are unexpected breakdowns and downtime. With our fully-fledged uptime solutions, we are confident in giving our customers complete peace of mind, reaping the benefits of the preventative measure which result in significantly improved organisation of workshop visits and huge reduction on breakdowns.”
Commitment to southern Africa
Last year turned out to be a triumphant year for UDTSA, as the company was once again recognised by naamsa, The Automotive Business Council amongst the best-performing brands in the entire automotive value chain, across various segments and categories. At naamsa’s 2024 Accelerator Awards, UDTSA scooped three awards for its distinguished efforts of driving transformation and empowerment in the medium-heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) sector, namely: Job Creator – MHCV Employment Award, Youth Empowering MHCV Award, and Women Empowering MHCV Award.
The recognition not only highlights UDTSA’s ongoing efforts in driving meaningful change in the industry and societies but further strengthens the company’s dedication and commitment in making Better Life for people – particularly in the areas of job creation, youth development and gender inclusivity.
In another noteworthy industry recognition, UDTSA was bestowed with a gold award in the commercial vehicle sector by National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) DSI Awards – a coveted recognition that speaks to the company’s relentless commitment to going the extra mile and the confidence and faith dealers have in the brand. The awards follow a stringent survey of the local dealer network, which measures areas such as dealer standards, communication, relationships, training and overall aftermarket support.
