UD TRUCKS

THE NEW QUESTER ARRIVES IN THE REGION The New Quester came to the Middle East last year and introduced a range of enhancements, such as the automated ESCOT (Easy Safe Controlled Transmission) and UD Telematics.

Founded in Japan in 1935, UD Trucks has been present in the Middle East for well over six decades. For many years, regional operations were managed directly from Japan, then on 20 March, 2006, it opened the UD Trucks Middle East regional office in JAFZA, Dubai, UAE. The team was further expended in 2016 to answer the growing demand for the brand in the region.

The JAFZA regional HQ and parts distribution centre (DC) employs 16 staff with fully dedicated teams for business partners. It also receives support from (owner) Volvo Group functions such as IT, HR and logistics; and has the full support from the Group’s technology teams. It effectively has all functions needed to help MEENA customers and is active in all GCC countries, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, and North and East Africa (mainly Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Tunisia) – where it has, in recent years, reactivated operations in several key markets. Demonstrating its reach, customers in EastAfrica benefit from a large range of support excluding warehouse staff and functions such as HR and IT.

Overall, its most important market is Saudi Arabia, given its position as the single largest truck market in the region. This is followed by the United Arab Emirates and Oman, as well as Qatar and Kuwait, which are important markets for specific segments. In Bahrain it is the market leader with a share of approximately 50 percent.

While the support infrastructure at UD Trucks ensures closeness to customers, its two recently revised core models – the heavy-duty range Quester and mediumduty truck range Croner (both tested locally prior to launch) – are fundamental to its growing success in the region.

“The Quester and Croner have both proven profitable for us. This is not altogether surprising given that they were specifically designed and built with Middle East customers in mind,” explains Mourad Hedna, President, UD Trucks Middle East.

“Our models are designed with customers’ demands and business needs in mind, and so we have focused on the areas that help businesses grow. These include fuel economy, payload, robustness and a wide range of applications to extend the uptime of the truck and provide a higher ROI for our fleet customers.”

In keeping with this approach, both Quester and Croner have been specifically engineered for the Middle East to help its customers stay ahead of the competition. The strategic location of the UAE-based parts DC ensures that importers enjoy short lead times, as well as lower transport and inventory costs which, in turn, benefits customers.

Hedna adds: “At UD Trucks, it is not only about the products but the people behind the products. Our Gemba spirit means being close to our customers; listening to their needs, and going that extra mile to ensure they only enjoy the very best ownership experience.”

UD Trucks’ models are designed to allow customers to tackle critical industry challenges such as fuel efficiency, productivity, connectivity, and supporting and developing drivers. For example, Quester comes with a real-time Fuel Coach system that delivers instant feedback and assistance to the driver to help him or her drive as economically as possible. This has resulted in fuel savings ranging from 10-30%. Quester also offers telematics hardware that allows trucks to collect data while on the road. With this, it can assist its customers with a variety of services, including breakdown assistance, preventive maintenance analysis and corrective service scheduling, reducing downtime.

UD Genuine Parts, meanwhile, demonstrate a long-term commitment to our customers and provide complete peace of mind. They guarantee maximum uptime and a minimum of 12 months warranty which is increased to 24 months when fitted in an authorised workshop. Helping to cut customers’ long-term costs, using UD Genuine parts and lubricants means that

DID YOU KNOW? UD TRUCKS’ QUESTER’S REAL-TIME FUEL COACH SYSTEM CAN DELIVER FUEL SAVINGS RANGING FROM 10% TO 30% FOR FLEET OWNERS

SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE MIDDLE EAST Both Quester and Croner have been specifically engineered for the Middle East with millions of kilometres of testing conducted in the region.

Quester can sustain service intervals of up to 60,000 km. This is a major improvement on industry standards, meaning that Quester customers may only visit a workshop a few times per year rather than the average of 6-8.

UD aftermarket support further provides highly trained technicians who only use the most up-to-date diagnostic tools to ensure that their vehicles spend the minimum amount of time in the workshop and the maximum amount of time out on the road.

“We are fully committed to providing the very highest standards of customer service, ensuring that our customers can enjoy total peace of mind and confidence in their trucks, and allowing them to focus on their business.”

Following the launch of the New Croner in 2017, the New Quester came to the Middle East last year.This new version of the heavyduty truck builds on the Quester’s major impact in the region by introducing a range of enhancements, such as ESCOT (Easy Safe Controlled Transmission) and UD Telematics, to enable logistics companies to tackle critical industry challenges such as fuel efficiency, productivity, connectivity, while supporting and developing drivers.

This latest launch followed on from the Middle East introduction in 2018 of two new Quester models designed for the heavy construction industry, the Quester 6x4R40 T and 8x4R- 46 T with hub reduction.

Although 2019 was a challenging year for the Middle East truck market in general, UD Trucks witnessed a strong performance across many of its key markets, says Hedna: “In the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar our sales either held steady or increased, bolstered by a number of major deals such as that with UAE-based waste management company Lavajet, who bought 118 Questers and Croners, and Oriental Trading Co in Qatar, which took delivery of a further 25 Questers and Croner models.

“A key factor in our positive 2019 performance was the nature of UD Trucks’ fleet sales across the region. We signed major deals with some of the region’s leading companies. For example, a first-of-its-kind deal with Oryxmix in Dubai for 20 Quester 8x4 Mixers, and an unprecedented multimodel deal in Kuwait for 106 units for Kuwait Municipality. This agreement in Kuwait was just one of a number of major contracts in the waste management sector that we have sealed over the past three years, including in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as we have become a major player in this sector.” 2019 was very much a year of transition in Saudi Arabia. Following a mutual agreement to terminate a collaboration with Rolaco Group, Zahid Tractor was appointed as the exclusive importer and distributor of UD Trucks in KSA. As a result, the brand is committed to returning to growth in 2020 and working ever more closely with its existing customers, Hedna explains.

“Across the region, we will continue to further support our business partners and customers to grow their businesses, with a focus on maximising their efficiency and profitability,” he adds.

“Customer satisfaction will continue to be a major focus for all of us in 2020. A key driver for our efforts in this field is what we call Quality Customer Pulse – this is a weekly meeting held at UD Trucks’ regional head office, bringing together the sales, aftersales and marketing teams to discuss customers issues and feedback. We will work to solve issues raised by the customer in order to keep their businesses running; listen to feedback from customers across all markets so as to come up with tailored solutions; and communicate best practice to all markets to optimise the use of our trucks.

“In 2020, our primary focus will be to maximise our presence in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with Zahid Tractor, while at the same time continuing to work closely with our existing regional partners to build UD Trucks’ presence across all other markets. We will also continue our planned expansion in East Africa, and in particular in Kenya, a market we reactivated in 2019 with a new product range and the launch of a new KD facility with our strong local importer, CMC Motors, part of the Al Futtaim group.”

“We will continue our journey towards growth by reinforcing our market share and conquering new markets. Our focus has always been, and will always be, customer satisfaction, because this is the only guarantee of sustainable growth. We will continue to do this by engendering a strong spirit of collaboration with our partners, while simultaneously focusing on the most valuable human capital: our employees.”

MOURAD HEDNA President, UD Trucks Middle East.

CONTACT UD Trucks Middle East Rochdi Majda Marketing and Communications Director S-10122 Jafza South P.O Box 261857 Dubai, United Arab Emirates E-mail: majda.rochdi@volvo.com

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