War, inflation and shortages muddy growth picture for truckmakers.
Their vehicles keep the wheels of SA trade and commerce rolling — particularly in the absence of a decent railway alternative — but truck companies are content to play a low-profile role in the local motor industry.
Like the rest of the sector, the truck market is still recovering from two years of Covid. Some analysts think it could return to 2019 levels this year, but UD sales director Rory Schulz suggests it could take a bit longer. By the end of August, year-on-year sales of medium-sized commercial vehicles were down 0.4% on 2021 but heavy commercials were up 20.3% and extra-heavies up 19.1%.
No-one can be sure, though. As MD Filip van den Heede points out, components supply constraints continue to hamper companies’ ability to deliver everything customers require. UD’s Rosslyn assembly plant, in Tshwane, has capacity to manufacture about 4,500 vehicles annually on the current single-shift working pattern. This can be doubled with a second shift. UD’s lineup includes the Quon, Quester, Croner and Kuzer truck ranges.
Even the global components supply crisis and massive increases in freight rates, which have persuaded light-vehicle companies to urgently look for local components, is unlikely to change much. “We simply don’t have the volumes to justify the investments needed to source locally,” says Van den Heede.
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