S07 ATR March 2022 Power_ATR - New Master Template 2016 24/02/2022 05:22 Page 23
INTERVIEW | COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
Conquering the toughest terrains Commercial vehicles delivered by Torsus, a brand of Pulsar Expo, are designed with durability in mind to meet the unique demands of the African continent. Torsus’ Terrastorm has been prepared to operator on the quality of fuel found on the continent.
Image Credit: Torsus
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here are several challenges which must be considered when selling commercial vehicles into Africa, notes Dmytro Kalashnyk Sales Manager of Torsus, in an exclusive interview with African Review. “In terms of logistics, there are limited options for roll-on-roll-off ports – since our vehicles are quite big, they have special requirements to be able to drive off safely and securely. Recently, we delivered vehicles to Port-Gentil in Gabon, but had to deliver into another city nearby as the facilities were not available,” Kalashnyk says. “There is a similar challenge with inland transportation, as there are few companies which can provide sufficient transportation for big vehicles, such as ours.” But Kalashnyk points out that within these tribulations is also opportunity. “Underdeveloped infrastructure in some African regions is the reason why we are so popular. Our vehicles are designed to go off-road and can function effectively on poor roads. “Another challenge is the low quality of fuel which is not suitable for modern vehicles with modern engines. We have addressed this and have specifically prepared our engines for this kind of fuel – thereby solving the problem for the client. These challenges, therefore, are more like opportunities for us and, in addition, they result in smaller competition in the commercial space as many suppliers cannot meet these needs,” Kalashnyk adds.
An earmarked market While the company delivers its vehicles worldwide, its main focus is currently on the European, Asian and African markets. Kalashnyk notes, “We have successfully supplied to countries across Africa such as Gabon, Ghana, Egypt and Senegal. We don’t have a particular distributor for the African region so we serve the countries from our headquarters. We are, however, searching for an African distributor with which to build a strong partnership.” Within Africa, Torsus’ top seller is the Praetorian, which is the company’s biggest model. The 4x4 off-road bus is designed for passenger service and is favoured in the region because it is
Image Credit: Torsus
The Praetorian is the company’s biggest model.
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based on MAN TGM trucks which are very popular on the continent. The company is also working to promote its smaller model, the Terrastorm (based on the VW Crafter and MAN TGE), which has been specifically prepared to operate on the quality of fuel found on the continent. Kalashnyk believes the vehicle will have a big future on the continent especially because there are not many competitors of a similar size in the market and fewer that can match its robustness. “Our vehicles are extremely durable because we have chosen great partners in MAN and VW. Their vehicles have a long history on the continent and are incredibly robust, which now feeds into our buses. MAN has a presence in most African countries and the end-user can easily approach them for quick access to spare parts which will be usable on our buses.” Kalashnyk surmises, “We also have a great engineering team who are constantly working on developing our vehicles and they incorporate feedback from clients who operate the trucks in the harshest conditions. The result is some of the world’s toughest, safest and most efficient buses with impressive off-road capabilities.” Looking to the future, Kalashnyk concludes, “So far on the continent, most of our clients come from the commercial sector and established industries such as mining or law enforcement. “Africa is a very important market for us and we believe it has great potential. We hope to develop this market and are looking to open representation there soon.” ■
MARCH 2022 | AFRICAN REVIEW OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY
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