Volvo's Thai-made UD trucks off to SA

Joachim Rosenberg, executive vice president of the Swedish truck and bus maker, said Volvo, the only global heavy-duty truck brand with a presence on every inhabited continent, would continue to strive with its globalisation and localisation strategy.

"The Quester UD truck, for example, is developed on a global platform and was begun in Thailand. It will be localised here in Thailand for Southeast Asian markets and [at other sites for markets] all over the world.

"We’re changing the game, as the Quester has become the only truly Japanese-brand heavy-duty truck," he said.

Speaking at a ceremony held to announce the completion of its Bt5-billion investment in manufacturing and dealership expansion in Thailand yesterday, Rosenberg said the group had exported Volvo trucks made in its Thai-Swedish Assembly (TSA) plant in Samut Prakan to Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines as well as UD Quester trucks to Indonesia and Malaysia.

"We also have started to export CKD [completely knocked-down kits] of the Quester trucks to South Africa," he said.

Rosenberg said the export markets of its made-in-Thailand UD trucks would include "other countries" outside the Asia-Pacific region but declined to give more specific details. Shipments from Thailand will total fewer than 1,000 units this year, since the group has just started to ramp up the production of its UD trucks here.

UD Trucks, previously known as Nissan Diesel, became a member of the Volvo Group in 2007 and has been building trucks in Thailand since 2012.

Over the past six years, the group has invested Bt5 billion in Thailand, including Bt3 billion for the expansion of its company-owned dealership network from six to 15 nationwide, and Bt2 billion to increase assembly capacity at its TSA plant. It also officially inaugurated its new headquarters in Bang Na, which takes care of five other markets in Asean, namely Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Rosenberg said Volvo enjoyed a 35-per-cent share of the premium heavy-duty truck segment here. UD "is still not where we should be", but he is confident that with the new Quester model launched last year, it will improve its position in the market.

As for the global situation, he said he thought the world market would be "shaky" next year. "We see markets moving roughly sideways."

Rosenberg said the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for 20-25 per cent of Volvo Group’s turnover, was obviously very important for the company, which has put a lot of investment into the region over the past 10 years.

"We opened three factories in the Asia-Pacific region during the last two years, one in China, another in India, and Thailand. [In] the rest of the world, we opened zero" new factories, he said.

Rosenberg said Asean possessed growth potential if it could improve its road infrastructure to be on par with China.

The heavy-duty truck market in Asean totalled only about 100,000 units last year, while China’s market was 7.5 times that size even though that country’s population is only double that of Asean, he said.

Jacques Michel, president of Volvo Group (Thailand), said the Thai heavy-duty truck market had dropped by 35 per cent in terms of official registrations and 50 per cent by retail sales this year.

But with a range of new Volvo and UD products, the group is looking forward to "a very strong improvement" in 2015.