Scania holds ground in 2015

Truck sales fall short of record 2014 year but positives for the Scania bus and service arms

 

Scania has announced a slight dip in local truck sale numbers for 2015, with a December surge in truck deliveries unable to reach 2014’s record high.

While 2014 saw almost 800 trucks roll off the lot, Scania says sales for 2015 amounted to 707 trucks, 134 of those coming in December.  

Scania Australia managing director Roger McCarthy says the company maintained its market position as the third-biggest seller in the segments in which it operates, headlined by the cab-over segment above 16-tonnes.

“We delivered more than 700 trucks for the second year in a row and we finished 5th overall in the market over 16-tonnes, and 3rd overall if you look only at the cab-over segment in which we compete,” McCarthy says.

“As the market numbers show there was a significant downturn in single trailer ‘supermarket’ specification type deliveries (trucks with outputs ranging from 421-499hp), which affected us, and some other competitors, during the year.”

Dismissing the truck numbers as a concern, the Scania boss says it has seen growth in parts sales, its truck rental business, and its new Driver Services Division, all of which have “played a key role in supporting our growth and our continuing financial stability.”

“Our parts division has been hard at work delivering more genuine Scania replacement parts to customers; our wholly-owned Truck Rental business continues to run at very close to 100 per cent utilisation; and our newly established Driver Services business signed up more than 830 vehicles to our connected services programme in 2015,” he says.

“We were also able to deliver our Scania Peak Efficiency Training programme to 846 drivers in 2015, helping operators to reduce their fuel consumption, vehicle wear and tear, and driver fatigue.”

In terms of used truck sales, he says they continue to show “solid performance”.

McCarthy says it has also increased its in-house sales and dealership reach, making it possible to purchase a new Scania at 14 outlets across the country.

Having delivered just over 270 buses in 2014, the news was good for the company’s bus arm, with the delivery of 297 locally built buses and factory fully built Scania-Higer A30 school and charter buses.

Looking to 2016, McCarthy says the focus will be on the Scania OnBoard and Optimise Driver Services.

 

 

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