UD Trucks is marking one of its best performing years in the Middle East and East Africa.
Despite challenging conditions in some markets, the Japanese truck manufacturer has achieved significant sales growth across the entire region, with particularly strong results in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
In Saudi Arabia, sales increased by more than 50% in 2017 compared to the previous year, despite the total market decreasing.
The biggest downturn in the market was seen in the heavy-duty sector which dropped by more than 30%. However, UD Trucks successfully penetrated the market with the new Quester truck securing a good market share in the heavy-duty segment.
In Bahrain, the total truck market grew slightly aiding UD Trucks in beginning to reclaim its stronghold in the market with confidence. In 2017 sales doubled compared to 2016, partly due to the newly introduced Quester truck.
Conversely, market conditions in Oman, Qatar and the UAE have been challenging. Oman saw a drop in the total truck market of more than 15%, Qatar decreased by more than 30% and the UAE declined by around 7% in 2017. Despite the tough climate in these markets, UD Trucks sales grew year on year in Oman, and stable sales have retained the UAE.
Kuwait is also an important market for UD Trucks, the market is slowly growing and 2017 was a transition year for UD trucks as the brand’s new range of products were only available in the market for half year.
All in all, 2017 was a transition year for UD Trucks in Middle East and East Africa as it marked the launch of new products; however, the brand has enjoyed a double-digit growth putting its ambitions very high for the upcoming years.
Mourad Hedna, president of UD Trucks Middle East, East and North Africa said, “2017 has been a significant year for UD Trucks because of a combination of factors. Firstly, the close cooperation we have with our retail partners to sell our comprehensive range of products along with our strong focus on Japanese quality and the fully extensive services we offer have ensured that we’ve stayed a step ahead of our competitors. Looking towards the year ahead, our strategic focus for 2018 will be all about customer satisfaction; ensuring we retain our existing, loyal customers and attract even more new truck sales. We plan to work with our partners to improve the retail experience and aftermarket support as well as deliver more technical and driver training courses for our customers. Also, service agreements and telematics systems which are currently available in some markets will be rolled across the entire region.”
