UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA)’s historic founding dates back in 1962 and this year, marks 90 years of the brand’s existence globally. As is customary, UDTSA started the year with its Annual Press Conference on 27 January 2025, at Cradle Boutique Hotel near Johannesburg with local media stakeholders in attendance.
UDTSA announced its annual business results, and highlighted the overall new vehicle market at 10.2% with aggregate industry sales at 32 912 compared to the total sales of 30 807 in 2024. Filip Van den Heede, Managing Director UD Trucks Southern Africa says: “2024 was a year marked by both domestic and international unpredictable operating conditions which to a certain degree impacts how we do business. However, I am particularly pleased at the company’s overall performance and the unwavering support we offered our customers throughout the year despite the prevailing industry conditions. This is testament to the right resources we have in place that helps us continue to go the extra mile for our customers to keep their trucks on the road where they belong – a robust nationwide dealer network, excellent OEM support, fit-for-purpose products and aftermarket services, parts availability, and most importantly, improved uptime, ensuring our customers profitability, productivity, and continuing to pave the way for Better Life for South Africa and its people with more sustainable transport solutions.”
UDTSA continues to challenge itself with product development and future mobility solutions to cater directly to the customer’s business requirements and industry’s demanding safety and environmental standards with modern technology. Rory Schultz, Sales Director, UD Trucks Southern Africa, says: “Our aim is to be our customers’ ultimate business partner to help them move their businesses forward. It is for this reason that as a brand, we constantly review our local product range in line with customer business requirements. Over and above these enhancements, UD Trucks globally continues to innovate in the new NEV spaces through engaging in different partnerships.”
Maximising uptime and profitability remains at the core of UDTSA’s offering, ensuring customers avoid unexpected interruptions and costly repairs. These solutions allow vehicles to spend more time on the road driving business success and less time in the workshop. The uptime services include among others: UD Trust Standard or Ultimate Service Agreements (offering predictable maintenance costs for up to five years with options for service-only). With these comprehensive plans, UDTSA continues its strong trajectory of growth, with penetration rates reaching new heights. In 2023 the brand indicated an increase of over 40%, whilst in 2024, the team took it a notch higher with a further realization of 50% Year to date (YTD). This success underscores UDTSA’s commitment to delivering lifetime value to its customers, guaranteeing uptime, profitability, and increased second-hand value.
Sanjay Naipal, Aftermarket Director, UD Trucks Southern Africa, emphasizes the importance of these solutions: “As UD Trucks, we understand that for any fleet owner, the biggest pain points are unexpected breakdowns and downtime. With our fully-fledged uptime solutions, we are confident in giving our customers complete peace of mind, reaping the benefits of the preventative measure which result in significantly improved organisation of workshop visits and huge reduction on breakdowns.”
The UD Trucks mantra was emphasised by all the speakers: With the brand promise of “Going the Extra Mile”, UD Trucks offers products with a high level of fuel efficiency, uptime, reliability, durability, drivability, while meeting future mobility solutions. Always providing the best solutions to transportation challenges, UD Trucks will continue to support the development of the logistics industry and contribute to the economic growth in all the markets it operates in for the next 90 years.
“As we gear up to the remarkable future, we remain dedicated to the success of the Southern Africa region and going the extra mile to provide our customers with ultimate dependability for the next 90 years,” concludes Van den Heede.