Markus Geyer and his colleagues at MAN Truck & Bus have enjoyed an excellent year in the Middle East. The German automotive manufacturer has achieved significant growth across the region, and although the official figures have not yet been totted up, sales of around 1,000 units are expected in the UAE alone.
As senior vice president and head of MAN’s Middle East and Africa sales region, Geyer is – unsurprisingly – complimentary about the quality of his firm’s vehicles. However, he also acknowledges that the automaker could not have achieved this level of regional success without a little help from its friends.
“We are on course to achieve between 15% and 20% year-on-year growth in the UAE market, compared to 2014,” he explained.
“This not only demonstrates the success of our products with local customers; it is also a reflection of the excellent support that we receive from our Emirati importer, Darwish Bin Ahmed (DBA).
“This year, we are celebrating 20 years of collaboration with the company. It is vital that we have local partners like DBA that possess the infrastructure and expertise necessary to supply and support MAN customers,” added Geyer.
DBA was recently named MAN’s number-one Middle Eastern partner in terms of service quality, and this trend for channel partner excellence is evident in other parts of the region.
In October, for instance, Saudi Automotive Manufacturing Company (SAMCO) was deemed to have the best MAN assembly process on the planet.
“This just goes to show that in this part of the world, we are really achieving excellent results,” commented Geyer. In terms of future growth, the MAN VP is cautiously optimistic.
“We expect modest growth during the coming years,” Geyer told PMV.
“It won’t be 20%, year on year. We anticipate growth of 5% to 6%. Of course, this is still significant.
“We are grateful for our business in this region. The Middle East is of strategic importance to MAN, and we will continue to work with our partners to expand our regional presence,” he concluded.
