Driving Change: Journeying on the High Road to Reimagine the Perfect Truck

IVECO revving up investments to provide tailor-made solutions and sophisticated commercial vehicles for its customers

Committed to safe, ef cient and sustainable mobility, IVECO works to develop technological solutions that respect both people and the environment. IVECO initiated and took an early lead in the development of alternative drive systems for over 30 years, explained a senior company of cial from the regional UAE Of ce in an exclusive interview with Global Supply Chain.

Marco Torta

Sales Manager, Middle East and Gulf, IVECO

Marco Torta has been associated with IVECO’s Middle East-Gulf Offices for the past over thirteen and half years. Torta has held multiple positions during his tenure in the region—a vast geographical expanse. He was earlier the Area Manager for the Middle East overseeing UAE, Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, and African countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, and Morocco.

Aformidable, premium, highly regarded, brand name to reckon with in the domain of sturdy, dependable commercial trucks and vehicles with multiple heavy industry applications, IVECO comes with strong industry recognition.

Truck manufacturer IVECO comes with proven, demonstrable, professional credentials. IVECO is one of the few international elite OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to cover all land transport segments comprehensively and exhaustively from light to medium and heavy, including special, on-road and off-road commercial vehicles for multiple industrial verticals.

IVECO, the King of the Roads, is the acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 and since served to symbolize strength, trustworthiness, power, vigour and resilience among other proven attributes.

Marco Torta, Sales Manager, Middle East and Gulf, IVECO, is clearly in the driving seat for the company in the region. The veteran, long-serving Dubai, UAE-based official spoke expansively and extensively to Global Supply Chain on a wide range of subjects from the manufacturer’s origins and track history in this geography, its current performance, the extent of its vast portfolio of reliable commercial trucks and his vision, both long and short-term, for the company’s future.

The following are the transcripts of that exclusive interview.

Global Supply Chain (GSC): Briefly trace your company’s origins in the Middle East and East Africa and update us on how you have evolved and now positioned in the region?

Marco Torta (MT): IVECO is an integral brand of the IVECO Group NV. IVECO designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, and vehicles for applications such as off-road missions.

IVECO’s presence in Africa and Middle East draws on an important and rich heritage dating back to the Fiat 682. Since the launch of the first truck in Africa in the early 1960s, the brand has always been synonymous with reliability and quality.

Today, thanks to a full range of commercial vehicles, IVECO’s capabilities have surged and presently the company can accommodate every mission from urban and international delivery, freight transportation to construction, mining and quarry sectors.

GSC: How important is the Middle East, GCC and East Africa geography for IVECO and how is the brand faring in sales in the region?

MT: In the IVECO vision and context, the Middle East is a crucial area due to its strategic position; the natural crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, and home to many logistics companies. The region is also endowed with plenty of natural resources.

Even until recently, owing primarily to the fallout of the pandemic, the situation in the Gulf has been subject to economic and political instability which has slowed down the commercial vehicles market growth.

Notwithstanding, IVECO continued to invest in the area providing tailor-made solutions for our customers. keeping always in mind that providing the perfect vehicle for customer needs is our main goal and key objective.

To consolidate our leadership in the Gulf region and to keep growing in the rest of the Middle East, we started to improve light range sales considering the big potential of the existing market and understanding the real needs of the customers.

GSC: Which are among the top three countries for IVECO in the region?

MT: The major markets in the region are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar, and Oman in that order. We have a long-lasting core business in all the major markets in the Middle East. The needs of fleets are changing as are the types of vehicles required and IVECO’s off-highway and onhighway ranges offer a superior offer choice for fleet owners. relationship with many customers in the regions because IVECO is a tried and trusted name and appreciated for reliability of its vehicles and the professionalism of the team.

IVECO is particularly strong in both the off-road construction segment mainly Tippers, Pumps and Cement Mixers.

Recently, IVECO launched the new IVECO T-WAY the toughest vehicle engineered for the most extreme off-road missions and the new IVECO S-WAY the driver-centric long-haul truck. The IVECO T-WAY is the offroad vehicle designed and engineered for the toughest missions in the most extreme conditions, which takes over from the legendary TRAKKER.

GSC: What is your range of commercial vehicles; what are some of your recent introductions and which are among your top selling models in the region?

MT: The Heavy range represents IVECO’s

It introduced a new HI-TRONIX automated transmission with functions specifically developed for off-road mobility. The new rear disc brakes, heavy-duty rear suspension system for Tandem axles, lower kerb weight and a host of features such as the off-road mode, together with ESP, Hill Holder and high-comfort cab add up to outstanding efficiency, comfort, and safety.

IVECO completed the IVECO WAY heavy range with the IVECO S-WAY, the on-road truck developed to deliver a complete package of features focused on the driver, on efficiency and manufactured for business returns and providing value-for-money.

The IVECO S-WAY delivers a fuel efficiency increase of up to 4% with a new engine line-up, a redesigned cabin and advanced features, further reducing its Total Cost of Ownership and raising the stakes on business productivity.

Additionally, the garbage collection and the general municipalities business harness the entire ‘Eurocargo’ range, that finds its natural habitat between 12T and 18T GVW because of its advantageous characteristics.

In general, and due to the wide line up offered, IVECO is able to cover all the main segments in the region from mining and quarry, to construction, contracting companies, logistics and transport, municipality and tenders. In the meanwhile, medium and light ranges are gaining momentum and play a relevant role in the market, experiencing a constant growth among UAE customers.

In particular, the Daily Hi-Matic will be available in the near future on Euro V markets (UAE), version equipped with carlike automatic gearboxes that will enrich an already big Daily range offer covering the segment from 3.5T till 7.2T with Panes Van and Chassis cab models.

GSC: Tell us about the IVECO S-Way and T-Way....their characteristics and highlights…. when do you propose to introduce the model in the region? MT: Aerodynamic solutions, new cab interiors fuel-saving technologies and tools, existing and brand-new services have been designed to offer our customers the most advanced, comfortable and productive IVECO heavy-range ever.

A complete portfolio has been designed to offer an unprecedented mix of value for the driver, and value for the owner. A mix that represents ‘The IVECO Way’, our answer to the heavy transport requirements of the next decade.

With the launch, IVECO now offers a complete line-up for every heavy-duty mission: The T-WAY is the toughest vehicle on the heavy market that takes performance, reliability and versatility to the extreme; the S-WAY ON is designed for long haulage on highway where fuel economy is key; the S-WAY ON+ is designated for regional and light off-road mission, the perfect trade-off between performance and reliability.

The S-WAY OFF is the hybrid between S-WAY and T-WAY which replaces the Trakker

4x2 rigid and articulated. The first S-WAY units were available in the markets starting in the first half of 2022, and the T-WAY will subsequently follow.

GSC: What prospects do you foresee for these models in the region?

MT: The products we present now are the symbol and the nucleus of our re-creation and re-invention. The new Heavy Range is our new business opportunity for the next decade, collecting the improvements and modifications of years to win the future challenges and positioning ourselves as market leaders.

IVECO now offers a complete, renewed line-up for both off and on-road missions.

GSC: What are your expansion plans for the region, and do you have / plan to set up a manufacturing plant in the region?

MT: Our expansion plan is to focus on the customer satisfaction and on the increasing of services. IVECO products raise the productivity beyond all limits, while further reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and minimizing running costs.

GSC: What opportunities and challenges for the present and future do you foresee going forward?

MT: The IVECO objective and commitment is to define a strategic approach to the market in order to exploit all possible market opportunities.

We are working hard on exhaustive markets studies to get the data and information to build up the perfect customized solutions for our customers in every country of Middle East we operate in. The perfect vehicle for each customer is our main goal. IVECO already gained many results in terms of customer satisfaction and want to improve in the future.

GSC: What are IVECO’s brand strengths and how are you leveraging these to gain a larger market share?

MT: IVECO is one of the few OEMs to cover all sectors from light to medium & heavy, including special, on-road and off-road vehicles.

Committed to safe, efficient, and sustainable mobility, IVECO works to develop technological solutions that respect both people and the environment. IVECO has been investing in the development of alternative drive systems for over 30 years.

GSC: Do you customize vehicles for specific clientele?

MT: IVECO offers versatile vehicles that adapt to different missions. Furthermore, IVECO has a dedicated department that manages relationships between customers, dealers, and bodybuilders in order to develop and match the perfect solution both in terms of product and economics. The bodybuilder department supports the customers in the configuration of the vehicle from start to finish to get the best results and satisfy customer needs.

IVECO cooperates with a carefully sourced network of certified bodybuilders; however, the customer is free to choose the preferred bodybuilder and IVECO supports providing all the necessary information related to the adaptation to the truck through a dedicated bodybuilder manual.

GSC: How would you describe your partnership with your dealers in the region?

MT: The partnership with our dealers in Middle East is fundamental to our business and to our success and to customer satisfaction.

The development of the new Heavy Range as a whole has inspired improved driver experience, cut Total Cost of Ownership and therefore offer to our dealers to increase sales and competitivity in the markets, in terms of sell out and brand awareness.

IVECO WAY is solid base on which we build our success, we have to work hard together to attain the accomplishments and fulfillment that we deserve.

Let’s not forget that our success in Middle East is a matter of perseverance, dedication and commitment; thanks to our network comprising 11 dealers, 20 sales points and 38 service points IVECO can be counted among the protagonists in the commercial vehicle industry in the region.

GSC: Tell us about your CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities particularly in the light of the growing public concern about sustainability and vehicle pollution and its impact on the environment?

MT: Our corporate philosophy is based on our solid vision to uphold the IVECO principles we hold dear. IVECO’s vision is to develop modes of transportation that reach their destination in the most efficient, ecological, and safe way.

The company places an emphasis on its innovative practices to enable improvement and enhancement in its technologies. Innovation follows the guiding principles of Sustainability and Customer Obsession. It is the approach adopted by IVECO in its research and development processes to develop what customers will require in the future from a vehicle.

GSC: What is the wider vision, long term and short term, for IVECO in the region?

MT: Thanks to some new trends and technologies that strongly influence the transport business as well as the truck industry, the new Heavy range is our new business opportunity, for the next decade.

We have been initiating improvements from the 2016 to 2023 Heavy trucks generations that adds on top a completely redesigned cabin and important technological innovations and inventions improving the driver needs and professional requirements.