Capital Equipment News January 2021

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

crucial role in maintaining the relationship between the company as the OEM and the customer. “That’s really key for us and the target is to keep investing in our dealer network going forward,” he says. Market outlook Commenting on the outlook of the market, Souza foresees a significant recovery in 2021. He is of the view that the extra heavy commercial vehicle segment will reach around 13 000 vehicles per year in the next few years, but not necessarily this year. “We will, however, potentially see a continuous improvement going into 2022,” he says. “I also believe that we will see a radical technological shift in the coming few years. We are based in a market where the emission legislative requirements are not that demanding. The best tech we have today is Euro 3. I do, however, believe that this will change in the next few years, regardless of the legislation. The market will start moving towards better technology such as Euro 5 engines, seeking better cost of operation through reduced fuel consumption and better control of emissions in the process,” he says. Souza also believes that the market will see increased demand for premium products with better technology and load capacity. For example, Scania last year brought its first Performance-Based Standards (PBS) vehicles to the local market. The PBS approach to heavy vehicle regulation specifies on-road performance and safety requirements, allowing a relaxation of vehicle mass and geometry. The PBS combination is an adaptation of the baseline vehicle, and employs one additional axle per trailer, which allows for a higher load capacity than a normal configuration. While fleet management technology is already a reality here and the world over, Souza believes that the big change will be that both the OEM and the customer will work closely to make sense of the data generated by fleet management solutions. “Traditionally, we have been good at generating data, and I think the big change will be around transforming data into useful information, and transforming information into action,” he says. “The data has always been there, but not the actual useful information. There is no crystal clear picture of what needs to be done with the data generated, and without a clear picture, there is no action. That’s what we want to invest in to help customers take this data and produce the big picture, and also to transform the big picture into action,” concludes Souza. b

Scania last year brought its first Performance-Based Standards (PBS) vehicles to the local market.

Based on Scania Southern Africa’s 13 000 connected vehicles operating in the field, the average monthly mileage for local transporters is 10 000 km.

significant part of our business,” he says. “We also see some recovery on the volumes side of our business, with demand and order intake steadily improving, and I believe that all the conditions for recovery are already in place. As a business we have done our homework to adjust to new realities. We are in a much better shape for 2021 and I am confident that we will have a better year than 2020.” One of Scania’s key strengths has always been its retail network. Souza believes that the network will further reinforce Scania’s resilience as a business. “I am really proud of the dealer network that we have in southern Africa. We have workshops in all the most important points of the region. I have visited most of our workshops and I am pleased to say that we have good infrastructure in all of them, which offers peace of mind to our customers,” he says. This service capability, he says, is at the centre of the long-term relationships that the company has with its customers. Souza is well aware that Scania’s retail network plays a

“The main target for us is to be closer to our customers and to add real value to their businesses by delivering beyond what we offer today. I am convinced that we are on the right track as a business, but there is room for improvement and that’s the position we will take this year.”

Fabio Souza, MD Scania Southern Africa

TALKING POINT

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