looking back on 2013
SCANIA HAS HAD
a successful year, all told, with a constantly growing footprint through
wholly-owned depots in the main centres of South Africa: Johannesburg, East Rand, Durban,
Cape Town, Kimberley, Richard’s Bay and Bloemfontein.
Through its support ‘hub’ in Johannesburg, Scania South Africa is responsible for the supply
of trucks, buses, engines and spare parts to neighbouring countries including: Namibia;
Botswana; Zimbabwe; Malawi; Zambia; Tanzania; the southern region of the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Mozambique.
The OEM offers financing through Scania Finance Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, one of the in-
house financing companies of the Customer Finance division, within the Scania Group and
has become synonymous with driver training and promoting safety awareness, providing its
customers with a professional level of driver training that covers a wide range of situations
and vehicle types.
This year at JIMS, the OEM made record-breaking sales straight off the exhibition floor,
selling numerous specialised truck-tractors into the mining sector, an area that is increasingly
becoming
an area of focus for the OEM.
According to Chris Swanepoel, Mining Sales at Scania, South
Africa, Scania prides itself in offering complete, tailored
solutions. “Case in point is a start-up mine in the
Northern Cape, where Scania will be looking at
materials handling and staff transport on-site,
supplying diesel and water bowsers; lubrication
vehicles and generators. It could turn out to be
a Scania mining pilot project, where we will
take care of everything, barring the ground
engagement equipment,” Chris says with
barely concealed excitement. “The mine is in the
ramp-up phase and we will go in and streamline
the entire process. If all goes according to plan,
the mine should be fully operational in June/July
2014.”
Continuing, he says, “This year we covered
significant ground in product development,
regarding our trucks. We have evolved our
product and focused extensively on meeting and
improving safety criteria for work on the mines, getting the product to the level where it
can be accepted onto a BHP mine, for example, with its stringent safety specifications.”
Earlier this year, Scania designed a one-of-a-kind staff carrier for the mines, to move workers
during shift changes. “This was a highlight for us,” he beams, adding, “and it is due to
undergo rigorous testing at Gerotek, including torque, brake and acceleration testing –
basically everything, as we want this vehicle to be the safest people mover on the mines! This
is a significant first, not for South African mining, but globally,” he adds.
(At the time of writing, the vehicle was due for delivery to Venetia Mine, Limpopo,
29 November.)
According to Chris, “In southern Africa, we can report with confidence, that we have trucks
that have been running for over 6000 hours without any type of mechanical failure, in the
extreme environments.”
In conclusion he says, “We have history and our products exemplify the quality that we
promise.”
Leading the field in technology,
safety and style, the Swedish
OEM is looking forward to the
year ahead.
With Scania, there is a better way
Scania South Africa
Contact:
Chris Swanepoel
Tel:
(011) 661 9600
Fax:
(011) 661 9605
Email:
Web:
TFL DEC
8
LOOKING BACK
ON 2013
