Sustainable business solutions have always been at the heart of Scania South Africa’s offering. “We’ve always known that we are only successful when our customers succeed,” says Fabio Souza, MD Scania Southern Africa.
Since Scania’s launch in South Africa 25 years ago with Scania’s first dealerships opening in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, Scania South Africa has been driving the shift towards sustainability in the South African transport industry.
“Our customers’ operations and efficiencies are at the centre of our value chain,” says Souza.
“In an industry where performance and reliability make the difference our focus is on ensuring our customers can profitably run their businesses. The foundation of this is uptime and vehicles that deliver outstanding productivity.”
Sustaining a transport business in these trying times requires a focus on cost-efficiencies and that’s where Scania South Africa’s decades’ long commitment to Total Operating Economy (TOE) has ensured them market-leading status.
“The transport industry demands high quality from transport operators,” explains Nomonde Kweyi, General Manager, Marketing and Communications, Scania Southern Africa.
“The struggle to meet those demands is in constant conflict with the small margins. A standard solution would make those margins even smaller which is why Scania South Africa’s vehicles and services are anything but standard.”
Scania’s well-known modular system offers customers both a tailor-made vehicle and a team at Scania South Africa ready to work to find solutions to increase revenues.
Scania South Africa’s highly successful 2019 launch of the next-generation truck range that earned the global title of Truck of the Year, pushed the benchmark for fuel efficiency, safety, driver comfort, higher uptime and low running costs.
“The launch was a milestone for Scania South Africa,” says Kweyi.
“With the next generation range, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand.” Sustainability is also being explored through Scania South Africa’s alternative fuel projects.
In the past Scania has partnered with The Greenscape Sector Development Agency in the Western Cape to assist in developing a business case for sustainable biofuels in South Africa.
The last 25 years have also seen Scania South Africa radically revolutionise offerings such as driver training, maintenance and connected services.
“We offer world-class driver coaching. With a great need for experienced drivers in the South African market, our training is geared towards advanced driving techniques that save fuel, increase safety and maximise uptime,” says Kweyi.
Maintenance has also been optimised with real-time data allowing operators to plan downtime and avoid breakdowns.
“Our Scania Connected Services allows for remote diagnostics, real-time tracking and gives operators unprecedented insight into the status and performance of their fleet,” explains Kweyi.
“And because our systems are so easy to use we’ve found they are used more often, in greater detail and to greater effect.”
Scania’s commitment to sustainably giving back to the communities in which it operates has also been a core focus over the last decades. Scania South Africa has partnered with local communities to create new opportunities in BEE ownership, education and skills training.
“A sustainable society is built when we care about everyone in it,” says Kweyi.
To sustain a business for a quarter of a century is no mean feat. To sustain a business that commands a leadership position in the South African transport industry is testament to the quality of the people at Scania South Africa.
“Our customers have allowed us to be a part of their businesses and our 25th Anniversary is made possible by their support,” explains Souza.
“Our proudest achievement is recognizing that Scania South Africa is truly a local company with a proudly South African spirit.”