Scania bucks the trend

Against the backdrop of a tough local market, Scania Australia CEO Roger McCarthy says the brand has steadily grown its business throughout 2014

The CEO of Scania Australia, Roger McCarthy, says the Swedish brand is on track to deliver in excess of 700 new trucks here in 2014, the figure representing significant growth in a struggling heavy-duty segment.

Addressing transport journalists at a Scania function in Sydney yesterday (December 18), Mr McCarthy said the company had continued on its path of steady progress in 2014, achieving significant successes in truck, bus, static engine and marine applications.

To the end of November 2014 Scania had delivered 653 new trucks (T-Mark market data) – that's one more than Scania delivered for the full year in 2013, which in itself represented significant growth over 2012.

"The truck side of the business has been very strong this year," he said.

"We've been developing into new market segments and we're pretty confident that come the turn of the year we will probably be at something in the order of 700 Scania deliveries.

"That's very good for Scania; we haven't really got up to those sorts of figures for a number of years now.

"Last month we registered just over 100 units. That's a record for Scania, so there are some positive signs in terms of growth."

Mr McCarthy said Scania has been making especially good progress with its V8 truck offering.

"Our V8 product now represents something in the order of 30 per cent of our deliveries so we're moving steadily forward both in our B-double applications and in Western Australia, where we are seeing an increased demand for our 120- and 130-tonne applications," he said.

"We're doing particularly well in the mining segment, where we're working not necessarily with the large mining companies but certainly with the companies working with the major miners."

Scania has also sold around 300 used trucks in 2014, spanning a variety of both European and American brands, and is handling around 1500 repair and maintenance contracts. The company now has offices for its truck rental business in Queensland and Victoria, with around 100 trucks on its rental fleet.

Scania's growth is all the more impressive when you consider the challenges with which the heavy-duty truck segment is currently faced. To the end of November 2014 a total of 9678 new heavy-duty trucks had been sold, the figure down 4.7 per cent on the corresponding 2013 period. Despite the difficult outlook, Scania's year-to-date sales (to the end of November) equate with impressive growth of 14 per cent.

Mr McCarthy said the Swedish brand was facing the future with great optimism, as it continues on its trajectory of sustainable growth.

"For the future, the Scania way is that we continue with our improvement – not just for our product portfolio but in how we run the business," he said.

"We are steadily increasing our market share and I use the word 'steadily' because that's the Scania way. We are working in segments where we feel we can demonstrate to the client that we can improve their profitability, and that is very much a mantra within the Scania organisation worldwide.

"That's the first thing we talk to customers about: how can we work with you to improve your profitability by reducing your operating costs, and that can be done in a variety of ways."

Scania bucks the trend

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