“The MAN lion is going to roar loudly in 2023!”

January 23, 2023

While 2022 was a challenging year for many truck and bus suppliers, the MAN Automotive team is convinced that 2023 will be a year to remember… for all the right reasons.

“An incredible year in terms of truck sales.” That’s how Philip Kalil-Zackey, head of truck sales and product at MAN Automotive SA, describes 2022. “Last year was one of the biggest growth markets we’ve ever seen in terms of the extra-heavy segment,” he enthuses.

Rather frustratingly, though, Kalil-Zackey and his team couldn’t capitalise on the burgeoning market. “It was an excellent year for my team, and I want to commend them; they did an excellent job of managing customer expectations. However, we had a challenging year because of stock shortages. Three of our harness suppliers are based in Ukraine and we simply couldn’t get harnesses. A lot of markets – South Africa included – had to drop their numbers, which wasn’t ideal,” he explains.

Harness shortages were not the only lowlights of 2022, in fact there were many others. “There were a lot of constraints in terms of the supply chain in Europe. Distribution of trucks was challenging; everyone was fighting for space on the carriers; there were insufficient containers. Costs soared, thanks to an escalation in gas prices and other price increases. Factories also battled to find people to work – and those who did come to work came at a cost. A multitude of different issues hit us hard last year,” he says ruefully.

But Kalil-Zackey – who is known to be one of the most professional and also optimistic people in the commercial vehicle game – is undeterred. “It was tough and we’re not out of the woods, but as I say to my kids: ‘Things don’t get easier, but you get stronger’. MAN is a robust company, and we will bounce back. Of that you can be certain,” he emphasises.

Talking to him about plans for 2023, there’s every reason to believe that Kalil-Zackey’s 100% right. For one, the company is selling its finest trucks ever. “The New Truck Generation is a real hit with customers. Last year was our first full year of selling the new truck and unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough stock. But we know that we will do much better in 2023. The feedback from the customers in terms of the new range is excellent!” he notes.

“They like the fact that the new truck has the latest technology and they’re also very happy that we maintained the drivelines. This has helped with ensuring that our fuel consumption has improved; the vehicle has better aerodynamics, so of course the fuel consumption is lower. This was proven in the 2022 FOCUS Truck Test, where we achieved the best fuel consumption by far,” he relates with one of his characteristic big smiles.

“It is still early days – and the customers can only really properly evaluate the vehicles after a year or two – but I’m delighted to say that the initial feedback is very positive,” he adds.

Kalil-Zackey is equally positive about prospects for 2023. “It will be a much better year for us; we certainly intend to regain market share this year. Customer satisfaction has always been our strong point and this is something we will continue to focus on in 2023,” he asserts. “We are working on internal initiatives in order to make us more agile, and we have lots of other plans up our sleeves too – such as an exciting new way of putting together product offers for customers.”

While the company has already launched the very latest MAN trucks (meaning there are no further MAN launch plans) the company will be launching Volkswagen trucks this year. “We are launching 24-250 6×2 rigids, and we are in the process of delivering units to Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev. They will be on the roads by March,” reveals Kalil-Zackey.

There are no plans to bring Volkswagen’s e-Delivery to South Africa, though. “While there is considerable local appetite for electric trucks here, we are probably the only right-hand drive for Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus. It simply doesn’t make sense to develop a right-hand drive model purely for our market. On the other hand, we look forward to welcoming MAN’s new eTruck to our country when it becomes available,” he explains.

The eTruck will obviously only arrive in a couple of years, so what about the here and now? Kalil-Zackey and his team are keen to achieve massive success in the truck market during 2023. Of course, stock will be key to that success, and he says it “won’t be a walk in the park”, but that he’s hoping for a far better situation than in 2022. “We have secured our production and we have placed massive orders with Germany for up to 2024. I think I placed the biggest order in the history of MAN South Africa. The MAN lion is going to roar loudly in 2023,” he predicts.

Based on this planning – and of course the quality of the trucks – roar it most certainly will!