Following a slump in truck sales in South Africa in 2015, MAN Truck & Bus South Africa (SA) and MAN Sub-Equatorial Africa MD Markus Geyer is confident the company can win back its lost market share “within a year”.

The local arm of the German group sold 1 317 trucks in South Africa in 2015, at a market share of 6.9%, compared with 1 564 units in 2014, at a 8.1% market share.

Local bus sales fared better, however, at 489 units in 2015, compared with 498 units in 2014. MAN recorded a market share of 43.7% in the local bus market in 2015, up from 39.7% in 2014.

“We have some work to do,” admits Geyer.

He says a two-year internal restructuring process at the local company “took some focus away” from the truck market.

“But we now have the right platform in place to take the business forward. We got our house in order and we are in a better position to address the market.”

Geyer says MAN Truck & Bus SA truck sales have also been hit by the severe downturn in the mining industry.

However, he is positive that “mining will bounce back” sometime in the future.

He adds that MAN Truck & Bus SA is, in general, actively “hunting orders”, with “several big deals in the works”.

There is also the possibility of growing Volkswagen truck sales in South Africa and Africa, urged on by the troubled Brazilian economy.

Volkswagen trucks are manufactured in Brazil.

MAN Truck & Bus SA sells Volkswagen trucks in South Africa. MAN is owned by the global Volkswagen group.

Brazil is not a cheap production location, says Geyer.

While the Volkswagen truck line-up has some “good products” for the African market, the strong real has, in the past, made it difficult to bring these products to market, he adds.

However, a weaker real has created “some new business opportunities”, increasing the competitiveness of Volkswagen trucks.

Brazil has also, in the past, been more focused on its large domestic market, rather than assisting in delivering the perfect product for South Africa’s smaller-volume truck market.

“Now their market is down 50% and they are talking to us,” says Geyer.

Volkswagen trucks have a market share of roughly 0.5% in South Africa, while the potential exists for a market share of between 3% and 5%, he notes.

Outside South Africa, Angola and Mozambique are “very, very difficult markets”, says Geyer, owing to a combination of a decline in the oil price, foreign currency headaches and declining economic growth.

“We believe these markets will come back.”

Nigeria and East Africa remain strong markets for MAN.

New Head Office
MAN Truck & Bus SA and MAN Sub-Equatorial Africa have completed their move into a new head office in a secure Modderfontein office park – a location which “better reflects the brand”, says Geyer.

MAN in South Africa looks after 43 dealers, of which 27 are in South Africa and 16 in subequatorial Africa.

MAN Truck and Bus SA continues to assemble trucks in KwaZulu-Natal and buses in Gauteng.

A new three-phased strategy should see the global MAN group develop a range of new trucks and buses, as well as a van, while it will also increasingly focus on digital innovations, as well as connectivity and mobility solutions.

“We need to reinvent ourselves all the time. The markets are moving, our competitors are moving, so we need to move as well,” notes Geyer.

He says MAN’s new van should enter the European market in 2017.

“We are considering it for South Africa.”