Volvo Trucks announced earlier today that it has recorded its best truck sales performance ever in the 50 years of the company conducting business in Malaysia. Volvo Trucks Malaysia sold 479 units of prime movers and rigid truckslast year and this was a 6.5% increase of 29 units more than the total number sold in the previous year. According to the company, approximately 70% of the units were their Volvo FM series of trucks while the rest were the Volvo FMX and Volvo FH heavy duty models. This was a 29% share in the prime mover / heavy hauler market segment based on date from the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA).
According to Volvo Trucks, its sales volume numbers have been growing over the past decade with a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13% since 2010. They currently lead in terms of sales in the prime mover segment. Aside from that, we have also heard that their order books for this year is up to at least June of 2020 and this looks like another good year for the Swedish truck manufacturer.
Mitch Peden, Managing Director, Volvo Malaysia Sdn Bhd said, “We are extremely pleased to have achieved such a remarkable and record-breaking overall result for the year despite some market challenges such as the changes in regulations, more intense competition and stringent loan approvals. Our sales volume increased despite the local heavy-duty truck market having experienced a decline by an estimate of 13% last year."
Yes. With the advent of the recent change in political party running the country, things have actually gotten much more stringent in terms of reaching a final sales price for vehicles in Malaysia. Even Volvo Trucks had to go through a much tighter process in order to finalise their trucks. This usually affects their special order requests, like for example a rigid truck ordered for their CSR project with Kechara Food Kitchen requiring more paperwork to be filled in than before. Of course, do note that this has actually affected the passenger car industry to such and extent where we have heard car manufacturers like Honda Malaysia actually 'suffering' due to this extra 'fine tuning' of the current pricing system.
Anyway...Mr Peden goes on to say that they are actually quite pleased that despite all of this, they still managed an record breaking performance.
“Our sales performance is a positive sign of Volvo Trucks’ continuous and sustained growth in
Malaysia, enabling us to start the new year with stronger momentum and energy.” added Peden.
“Our stellar truck sales performance in 2019 is the fruit of our labour from all the continuous
commitments we have underscored in conjunction with Volvo Trucks’ 50 years’ anniversary in Malaysia. It is a very significant achievement for us, which is partially supported by fleet
replacement exercises by several of our key customers,” added Peden.
Of course, it isn't just the quality of the trucks itself. While the trucks are good and all, it is also Volvo Trucks' quality in terms of sales and aftersales.
In conjunction with its 50 years’ anniversary, Volvo Trucks had also introduced several improvements on product and service quality for enhanced aftermarket support. Among these were
the launch of Volvo Uptime Promise, a first-in-the-market feature for its Gold Service Agreement
customers. This unique benefit provides monetary compensation to customers who has a truck on a
breakdown time that exceeds Volvo Trucks’ 12 hours committed time to put the truck back on the
road.
“The introduction of Volvo Uptime Promise has helped to strengthen our aftermarket offers and value proposition in the market through the Gold Service Agreement, and this is one of the important contributors to our success last year. Eventually, truck uptime is very crucial for transport operations and we are very committed to helping our customers maintain this aspect,” Peden futher added.
Volvo Uptime Promise also includes effective planning and prediction of truck component wear and tear, enabling Volvo Trucks to proactively help their customers plan truck maintenance schedule.
“Last year, our management team took the opportunity to visit many of our key customers in
various parts of Malaysia and to celebrate our 50 years’ anniversary with them. We recognize the
importance of customer engagement and we want to understand their business needs and further
strengthen ties,” said Peden.
He also stated that many of Volvo Trucks’ key customers in Malaysia have grown together with the company through repeated purchases. Like most industries here in Malaysia, it is the close relationship between the parties that makes things work or happen here. The rapport between their customers and Volvo Trucks is one of the reasons that makes their sales a success. It actually goes beyond just selling or buying a truck but something long term.
Mr Peden attributed their support and trust to Volvo Trucks’ continuous improvement in enhancing
quality deliverables for its products and services, and consistent aftermarket support through all its
13 dealers in the country. This also include value-added features that offers 300,000km warranty
and 24 months’ fitted parts warranty, and financing scheme by Volvo Financial Service (VFS)
with 2.88% special interest program for customers who fulfilled selected criteria.
In addition, last year the company also introduced two other features in its product offering, the
Volvo Torque Assist (VTA) and Active Safety Package, which help to improve on fuel efficiency
and streamline the execution of safe driving on the road respectively.
“We want our customers to know that we truly value their loyalty and support and that Volvo
Trucks is committed to be their long-term partner. The strong relationships that we have built with
our customers is without a doubt, a very significant factor to our success. We continue to look
forward to progress into this new decade with them,” Peden concluded.
Somehow, this is another one of those bits of news that shows that while we are hearing all gloom and doom which is supposed to happen in the Malaysian economy, things are still happening around us. Be it the passenger car industry or the commercial vehicle industry.
It does boggle me a bit actually.
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