Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa (DTBSA) wants to grow Fuso’s share of the local new-truck market from 6.1% in 2017, to 10% in 2020, says DTBSA executive director Jasper Hafkamp. Fuso market share in 2014 was 4.2%.

The South African new-truck market reached around 25 000 units in 2017.

Fuso trucks – a Japanese brand – are imported from India in kit form and assembled in South Africa, at Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s (MBSA’s) East London plant. DTBSA is part of the MBSA group.

Fuso trucks are sold mainly in the light-duty and medium-duty truck segments of the market, with some product available in the bottom end of the heavy-duty segment.

DTBSA’s other global truck brand, Mercedes-Benz, is set to turn its focus more to long-haul and heavy construction in the heavy-duty market. This means the lighter-duty Axor and Atego ranges will be phased out in favour of Fuso trucks.

Hafkamp believes it is possible to grow Mercedes-Benz trucks’ market share in South Africa to 25% in the heavy-duty segment by 2020, through the introduction of the new Actros truck, scheduled for launch later this month.

Current market share is just shy of 25%.

“We strongly believe in this strategy. Fuso is our biggest growth ambition,” says Hafkamp. “Fuso trucks are the right products for South Africa.”

He adds that truck dealers will “need volume” to survive in future.

The new focus on growing Fuso volumes in South Africa will see a restructuring of the dealer network, with dealers to show “real dedication” to the Fuso brand through, for example, separating their Fuso and Mercedes-Benz sales staff.

DTBSA also wants truck-only dealerships, with passenger cars no longer allowed in the mix.

Fuso truck sales last year made up around 34% of Daimler truck sales globally, notes Fuso Trucks Southern Africa (FTSA) head Ziyad Gaba.

“Fuso has been a bit low key [in South Africa]. We want to be a serious player, instantly recognisable. If we want to make it a viable brand, we need to start doing things differently.”

FTSA’s goals for 2018 are to introduce new product to the market, develop Fuso staff, increase customer satisfaction in terms of sales and service, and to improve brand awareness and dealer dedication.

Sales will focus on key accounts, with around 2 000 fleets in South Africa sporting between 50 and 3 000 trucks. Another target will be conquest sales – turning consumers away from other truck brands.

“We stand for reliability and quality, value for money and best service support,” says Gaba.

New Fuso products already on offer this year include the new Canter Lift FE4-130, which is the smallest truck within the Fuso line-up, with a gross vehicle mass of 4.9 t.

Potential uses include dry freight, fleet operations, food services, landscaping, public works and refrigerated goods.

The 4x2 FE4-130 has a 3 l, 96 kW/3 500 rpm Euro III engine and is available in manual and automatic manual transmission.

The vehicle comes with a pre-drilled chassis. The FUSO FE4-130 is equipped with fleet management solutions allowing operators to install the telematics system of their choice.  

Pricing starts at R330 900, making it the least expensive truck in the Fuso line-up.