Onwards and upwards for Ever Star
Onwards and upwards for Ever Star
While challenges abound within the transport sector, it’s a case of onwards and upwards for Ever Star, as two of the company’s senior executives reveal…
Established in August 2010, Ever Star Industries is the sole distributor of the Powerstar FT Series of light, medium, and heavy trucks – as well as extra-heavy Powerstar trucks – in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
In his capacity as national brand manager: FT at Ever Star, Justin Bennett is responsible for the light, medium, and heavy portfolio. This includes the FT3, with its three-tonne payload – which affords the company entry into the light commercial sector – all the way up to the FT10 MAX 6×2 with its
13-tonne payload. Trucks aren’t the only products within this division; it also markets the 35 + 1 seater FT5 Bus.
Mike Hawkins, senior manager: commercial, is responsible for the extra-heavies, including the Powerstar VX range for the construction and mining sector and the V3 tractor for line haul.
While Bennett and Hawkins are responsible for different industry sectors, they speak with one voice when it comes to the success of their product portfolios. “FT performed exceptionally well in 2022, reaching our annual target of 240 units for the year. We managed to close off on 244 units (versus 2021, where we wholesaled 175 units into an increasingly tough and demanding market),” reveals Bennett. “Our current market share stands at 3% and we’re seeing year-on-year growth of 69 units. The intention is to grow our market share annually as the product proves itself in the commercial field.”
Similarly, Hawkins reports that the extra-heavies are also meeting with success in the marketplace. “We faired reasonably well in 2022, with 546 units sold. With more stock, we would have achieved even better sales results,” he notes.
“The construction and mining sector – where many of our VX trucks are sold – is steady. We are still catching up on back orders, as a result of shipping delays from China during the back end of 2022. The truck tractor sector appears to be rather buoyant, but I believe this is also due to many OEMs being short of stock over the past two years,” Hawkins asserts.
Ever Star’s team is also proud of its performance beyond South Africa’s borders in our neighbouring countries. “We have one of our flagship dealers in Zimbabwe. Despite what they go through daily from a financial point of view, they never cease to amaze us. We also have cross-border dealers in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, and Swaziland,” reports Bennett.
Hawkins concurs that Zimbabwe is surprisingly buoyant. “Zimbabwe is extremely active and is one of our top sales areas, with the only downside being the money transfer complexities out of the country,” he notes. “Namibia was one of our best-performing regions until the recent downturn in the construction industry a few years back; 2023 has seen a definite improvement in sales there, as government tenders have again started to flow. We have also just appointed dealers in both the DRC and Zambia,” he continues.
Customers in those countries – and, of course, in South Africa too – are purchasing FTs for a variety of reasons. “One of the biggest differentiators for us at FT is our newly announced five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. The warranty is broken down into first year – mechanical; second year – driveline; and third/fourth/fifth year – base engine. This means we’re delivering great value in the FT brand, and the uptake has seen extremely positive results from our FT dealers nationally. This warranty is also included for our cross-border dealers,” says Bennett.
“Then there are our extremely low maintenance costs – the parts for the ‘A’ service on the FT5 come in at just under the R1 000 mark,” he adds. “The low fuel consumptions that we read off our demo units are impressive. Our vehicles have also proven to be extremely reliable and cost effective. This gives our clients peace of mind when joining the family.”
Low costs are also a factor for customers deciding to invest in the extra-heavies. “Powerstar extra-heavies are seen as a value option, and some buyers are moving to our products as opposed to the more expensive offerings, especially from Europe and Japan,” points out Hawkins. “Our success has been built on offering reliable, robust vehicles that are relatively inexpensive to operate and maintain. We are well known for our VX range, in the form of our 10- and 18-m3 tippers and water tankers.”
Ever Star has just launched the FT9 M4 into the South African market. “This model comes with the latest offerings from Cummins, ZF, and Wabco. The key feature to look out for is the 4.5-litre, four-cylinder Euro 3 Cummins engine, which produces 740 Nm at 1 400 r/min. Most competitors are still offering Euro 2 and six-cylinder engines,” comments Bennett.
There are more new products and innovations to come from the company. “We are in the completion phase of the ZF Ecolite automatic gearbox. This will be launched by Q3 of 2023 on all FT models,” says Bennett. “The dynamics with this gearbox will allow us to venture into fields that almost always require such a vehicle with an auto gearbox.”
Hawkins also has a number of innovations up his sleeve. “We will launch a revised V3 model this year. We plan to offer the V3 with maintenance plans, with the possible inclusion of our VX range at a later stage,” he reveals.
Bennett and Hawkins are optimistic about prospects for 2023 – but it won’t be plain sailing for the transport sector. Hawkins reckons that South Africa is far too reliant on road transport. “I do believe that this should ease up in the medium term, though, as South Africa invests more into the refurbishment and growth of its rail infrastructure and network,” he says, noting: “The challenges of road transport are further exacerbated by the ongoing driver strikes, labour unrest, and violence, as well as power constraints, rising fuel costs, and the ever-increasing toll premium to run a truck on South African freeways.”
While uncertainties remain within the transport sector, Hawkins is convinced that the Powerstar brand will prosper in South Africa this year. “We want to maintain our construction market share and grow our truck tractor market. We are aiming for an increase of about 20% in sales, which should maintain our 4% market share. We are extremely optimistic about the future of the Powerstar brand in SA,” he states.
Bennett is equally optimistic, noting proudly that the company has a 95% order fulfilment rate, with dealers and clients having to wait no more than two weeks to receive a standard chassis cab. “This year, we are striving to break into larger national fleet operators. After all, we offer the latest products and technologies from our main component suppliers: Cummins, ZF, and Wabco,” he expands. “In 2023, we want to reach the target set out by our shareholders of 300 units. This is a 25% increase year-on-year. The FT team is excited about the challenge and the future is bright at Powerstar.”
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