Capital Equipment News April 2018

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS NEWS

DAF Trucks gaining traction in SA

Proving its performance and efficiency in pure numbers, the DAF XF 105.460 has secured itself as the best current long-distance truck tractor in the South African transport market. Its sound fuel consumption was one of the leading factors that saw it take top honours in the Tridem flatdeck category at Truck Test 2017, while in 2015 the truck out- performed other brands in the interlink category. Babcock, the exclusive distributor of DAF Trucks in southern Africa, elaborates on why DAF Trucks are gaining popularity in the southern African region. “DAF is Europe’s most popular transport solutions supplier. In South Africa, the DAF XF 105.460 is proving itself time and again as one of the best, fuel-efficient trucks and is well placed to soon become a leading name in the country,” says Alec Jackson, sales executive for Babcock’s Transport Solutions division. “Truck Test 2015 and 2017 proved the DAF XF 105.460 to be the best truck in South Africa, regardless of application or transport requirements.” He adds that the XF 105.460’s results speak for themselves, as the South African DAF customer base expands and existing customers Mahindra South Africa, now in its 14 th year of business in the country, has announced the appointment of Rajesh Gupta as its CEO. Rajesh’s appointment follows the departure of former CEO Sanjoy Gupta, who has taken the role of vice-president: Customer Care Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra India. Rajesh, a result-oriented, seasoned professional with experience of 19 years in spearheading marketing and sales operations across various industries, is an acclaimed and experienced marketer with great expertise in handling senior level assignments in both the product and services environment. He has served leading MNC setups in the plant bio-technology, logistics and automobile industries and has successfully demonstrated abilities to identify consumer insights, convert them into business proposition and New CEO for Mahindra South Africa

Fairfield Long Haul will soon increase its DAF Trucks fleet from eight to 14.

return to Babcock for significant additions to their DAF fleets. Two such customers are Wozani Berg Gasoline and Fairfield Longhaul, both KwaZulu- Natal based enterprises. Wozani Berg Gasoline is one of the leading distributors of fuel and gas in southern Africa with a fleet of over 82 tankers. After initially purchasing 15 DAF Trucks from Babcock in 2017, the company has recently placed an order for an additional 15 DAF XF105.460s to be added to its fleet in the first quarter of 2018. Fairfield Longhaul specialises in transporting perishable, temperature- sensitive products such as diary, meat generate revenue streams in varied market dynamics. A post graduate in Business Management specialising in marketing, Rajesh started his career with Monsanto India Ltd in 1999 and moved to Piaggio in 2007 as its head of marketing. His last role at M&M was that of senior general manager: Commercial Vehicle Sales, Rural Sales and Brand Activation. In his eight years with M&M India, Rajesh has handled several assignments such as head of marketing for sub 1 t LCVs and head of rural sales including spearheading small commercial vehicle sales for the automotive division in India. “Taking a lead from our core philosophy of Rise, we would be working on our strategy to position Mahindra as the most passionate company in SA. We have a desire to

and fish across South Africa and will soon be increasing its DAF Trucks fleet from eight to 14. Jackson comments that although Wozani Berg Gasoline and Fairfield Longhaul are relatively new customers to Babcock, both companies were quick to realise the quality and cost saving benefits associated with the DAF Trucks brand. With fuel becoming an increasingly costly commodity, Jackson explains that most transporters allocate approx- imately 45% of their monthly budget to fuel costs, so any saving in this regard equates to a significant reduction in overall monthly expenses. b

Rajesh Gupta has been appointed CEO of Mahindra South Africa.

lead this transformation across all our touchpoints of sales and service. We know that our right to win will revolve around our abilities to pursue every single additional sales by offering delight to our customers,” he says. b

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