MAN Truck & Bus South Africa and MAN Sub-Equatorial Africa have relocated their head-offices to new premises in Modderfontein, Johannesburg; a move that is representative of the organisation’s new strategy to satisfy markets across South Africa and Sub-equatorial Africa by leveraging synergies between the two regional divisions.
With the retirement of former MAN Truck & Bus SA Managing Director, Geoff du Plessis in December 2015, MAN AG has appointed erstwhile Chairman of MAN Truck & Bus SA (and Head of Sub-Equatorial Africa, Middle East and India), Markus Geyer as the new Managing Director of MAN Truck & Bus SA and MAN Sub-Equatorial Africa. Relocating from Munich, Geyer is now based in Johannesburg and is contracted to occupy the position for four years with the option of extending the term by two years.
Joining Geyer on the Board of Directors of MAN Truck & Bus SA are Arshad Hassim (Financial Director) and Sarah Luthuli (Non-Executive Director).
Ian Seethal, Head of Network Development, adds the position of Head of Marketing Communications (South Africa and Sub-Equatorial Africa) to his portfolio of responsibilities. Robert Clough is Head of MAN Sub-Equatorial Africa.
“The streamlining of our management structure extends to our proprietary dealerships in Centurion, Pinetown and Cape Town, where we have created branch manager positions to elevate decision-making power at the point of sale. This forms part of MAN’s new global project PACE2017. The project is designed to enhance customer-centric product and service delivery for our customers and increase efficiencies within the company,” explains Geyer.
Behind this commitment to customer satisfaction is the MAN portfolio of truck and bus products which continue to prove their ability to lower total cost of ownership through engineering excellence, says Geyer. MAN notched up its fourth consecutive number-one position in the 2015 TÜV Report, a German quality assurance audit of trucks and buses in active duty undertaken regular intervals.
“Our new head office reflects our premium brand positioning and our values of transparency and openness. A total investment of R75-million demonstrates MAN’s commitment to long-term investment in South Africa, to establishing the organisation as the leading employer in the heavy commercial vehicle sector by attracting the right talent to ensure market-leading customer orientation,” adds Geyer.
“We now have full decision-making power for the entire sub-equatorial Africa region, including South Africa, under one roof. MAN Financial Services, a joint venture between ABSA and VW Financial Services, will also relocate to our new headquarters, which will ensure stronger support between sales and finance, thus ensuring better customer service. Having our sales and aftersales teams sitting next to each other will also strengthen our ability to support our customers more effectively. Furthermore, having all strategic business units in one building enables us to not only share business intelligence from respective market bases more easily between operational divisions, but also cultivates concentrated effort to enhance efficiency in dealing with customer requirements.”
A highlight for MAN during 2015 was the introduction of the Euro 5 MAN TGX 540 long-haul 6x4 truck-tractor and its 13 240 km ‘ONE MAN kann Journey’ across southern and east Africa. The epic trip not only proved the merits of the new flagship as a bona-fide long-haul truck for Africa, but also demonstrated the efficacy of two new MAN Support offerings, MAN ProfiDrive® (advanced driver training programme) and MAN TeleMatics® (a Fleet Management solution co-developed in South Africa by MAN and Cartrack).
