Record orders for Scania Australia in 2018…

Scania Australia says it's had another bumper year, with all-time-record orders for 2018 and strong carry-over into next year, although new truck registrations for the brand fell from record 2017 levels due to supply issues of the brand's new-generation trucks.

Speaking at Scania Australia's annual December media event, company Managing Director Mikael Jansson (pictured below) said the brand was currently enjoying a surge in interest and orders thanks to the arrival of the latest range of Scania products and a booming domestic market.

"It's been a very busy year," he said.

"We've had a very successful launch and introduction of our new truck generation at the beginning of the year, and the feedback from media and also customers has been very positive."

Mr Jansson said there were now nearly 200 new-generation Scania trucks operating in Australia, which was also the first nation to launch all the new models – including the Scania XT – at the same time.

However, multiple booming truck markets around the globe and the transition to a new product range have also led to supply issues for the Swedish manufacturer – issues that have seen production fail to keep pace with demand.

"It's a booming market in Australia and it's a booming global market, so when Scania changed its product program, we have had some challenges in ramping up production," said Mr Jansson.

"This year, for us, registrations will be a bit less than last year – around 950 for the year – but the order intake is much higher."

Substantially higher, in fact, with Scania Australia's National Sales Director, Dean del Santo (pictured below), saying the company will secure orders for between 1250 and 1300 trucks by the close of 2018.

"Our order books at the moment are at record level," he said.

"If you look at the stats it's not a true reflection of demand for the new product. If we had low order books and low carry-over into next year we'd be seriously concerned, but we've got all-time-high orders and all-time-high carry-over – we just can't get them out, it's as simple as that."

Those record orders extend to Scania buses too, as well as Scania trucks.

The local supply issue has been compounded by the detection of the brown marmorated stink bug – a pest that represents a significant threat for Australian agriculture and whose detection in recent times has led to several boats carrying new Scania trucks being turned around from Australian ports.

"So we've got lack of supply, but we've also had some boats turned around for quarantine issues," said Del Santo.

Scania's V8 truck is also in short supply, with knock-on effects in markets like Australia where the brand lays claim to the only V8 heavy-duty truck engine.

"We are one of the markets with the highest V8 share so that is affecting us more than more or less all the countries," said Mr Jansson.

Still, it's clear the new product has been received warmly in Australia, as it has in so many other global markets, and it's far preferable to have a full order book with supply issues than no orders at all.

"The feedback from the media globally and the customers is that good, I would also say especially on fuel consumption," said Mr Jansson.

"We have this fantastic new product portfolio, but for us it's all about total operating economy. It's still early days in Australia, but we're sure this new product will bring more to the bottom line for our customers."

Mr Jansson also listed the roll-out of 'Scania Maintenance with Flexible Plans', its data-driven servicing contracts, as a highlight for 2018.

"We launched last year flexible maintenance and this is now standard in our products," he said.

"[This allows us to] adopt reading information from each and every vehicle and adjust the perfect maintenance interval and content, which increases customer uptime and reduces costs.

"We are selling a lot of R&M contracts, the portfolio is growing a lot, and most of the customers coming to our workshops are taking R&M contracts.

"What I really like is that we have a pricing model that depends on driver scoring – the better the driver scoring, the lower the price of the R&M contract – so you have a direct impact on the customer's bottom line.

"And, of course, a higher driver score and better driving has an impact on fuel consumption, so it's really a win-win situation for the customers using our R&M contracts."