In the absence of the cancelled Johannesburg International Motor Show (JIMS) last year as impetus, Tristan Wiggill finds out how truck manufacturers engaged and interacted with their customers.

Scheduled to run for 10 days in October 2015, commercial vehicle manufacturers took different approaches to the news of the event’s cancellation, confirmed by the show organisers in May.

Daimler Trucks, comprising the Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Fuso, Freightliner and Western Star brands, used its JIMS budget to interact with the media, its dealers and its customers during a weeklong “JIMS without a JIMS” event alongside the Vaal River. This allowed each brand “quality time” with customers, and allowed Daimler Trucks to promote its range of after-sales products and services, from finance and insurance to vehicle tracking and monitoring. It also gave its booming used-trucks arm, Truckstore, time in the spotlight.

MAN Truck & Bus wrapped up its rather innovative MAN Kann campaign, which saw adventurer Riaan Manser travel from South Africa to Kenya alongside Manline’s Nduna Chari. With a film crew documenting their every escapade, Manser learnt how to drive a 16 tonne MAN rig before being given the company’s new range-topping TGX extra-heavy to drive. The adventure was given plenty of airtime on social media, which allowed a global audience to get a glimpse of real-world road transport in Africa.

Isuzu Trucks South Africa (ITSA), meanwhile, chose the Gerotek vehicle testing facility outside Pretoria to introduce – and visibly demonstrate – the concept of “Trk’eneurs”. It also used the opportunity to show what an enterprise-type business looks like. For ITSA, it is all about the creation of custom trucking solutions, which it can turn around quicker these days, following its strategic acquisition of vehicle body builder Kanu in Port Elizabeth. Like Daimler Trucks, it too spent a week interacting with the media, dealers and customers, explaining how every truck is a mini-economy in its own right.

Toughing it out

Truck manufacturers will have to innovate, again, in 2016. “We are in for some challenging times ahead, with a range of macroeconomic factors, as well as decade-low business confidence levels, having a negative impact on the South African truck market,” says Torbjörn Christensson, president of Volvo Group Southern Africa.

“In these tough market conditions, it is those truck manufacturers who excel at aftermarket support and quality service who retain customers and win new business. Every sale and every service counts in this extremely competitive environment,” he adds.

Some manufacturers, like Scania, won’t have the luxury of relying on new models to stimulate the markets in which they compete. “At Scania, we focus on the complete solution because our business is so much more than just the vehicle,” says Alexander Taftman, product and marketing director, Scania South Africa.

“Taking customer feedback into account, we provide different kinds of products, be they in insurance, finance, driver training or vehicle tracking. Our approach is to tailor solutions for each customer, because every transport operator is unique and has individual needs and challenges. Our intention is to look at our customer’s business and find ways in which we can optimise the revenue side of their business as best we can. Ultimately, that is what business is about for them,” he concludes.

Apart from greater focus on aftersales and non-vehicle products, commercial vehicle manufacturers will continue to promote new technologies this year. These will include more advanced telematics systems, engine protection systems, fleet management programmes and technologies that will enable trucks to be used in a number of different applications.

JIMS has been replaced by the SA Festival of Motoring, set to take place at the new-look Kyalami Raceway and Conference Centre later this year.