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August 2006 |
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| The Nissan
UD 440 has successfully found its way into harsh operations where strength and reliability are musts. |
Hiroshi
Yokofujita, CEO of Nissan Diesel South Africa, cuts the ribbon as the 1000th UD440 WT comes off the assembly line at the Nissan Diesel plant in Rosslyn.
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If there is one vehicle that has really made inroads into the South African market since its introduction in October 2002, it is the Nissan Diesel UD440 WT. The unit was one of the first high horsepower 6x4 truck tractors introduced by a Japanese manufacturer in the country.
Without doubt the UD 440 has impressed but it came as a surprise to hear that the company celebrated the completion of the 1000th UD 440 WT unit at its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria last month. Time goes so fast and units sell so quickly when you're having fun.
The South African truck market returned the highest monthly volume ever recorded in June, totalling 3 132 units which eclipsed the previous record of 2 984 units which had been set in October 1981. The Extra Heavy Commercial Vehicle segment, in which the UD440 WT competes, has experienced an 18% growth rate on a year-to-date basis, compared to 7% in 2005. The UD440 WT is currently the fourth best performer in the over 400hp 6x4 truck tractor segment, with a 9.97% market share in the first half of 2006.
"We believe that the success of the UD440 WT can, to a large extent, be attributed to the low lifecycle cost involved," says Hiroshi Yokofujita, CEO of Nissan Diesel South Africa, adding that this is in line with Nissan Diesel always endeavouring to offer products that strives to give the best lifecycle cost possible.
"We want to continue to contribute to our customers' profit by providing dependable products and services and by offering more effective lifecycle costs than our competitors."
In order to achieve this, Nissan Diesel aims to thoroughly and completely understand customers' needs and then provide them with services and products that fit their businesses. "We have a well-balanced range ensuring appropriate technology for the needs of our customers in the various applications. We also take great care to ensure that we provide a high quality product to be able to sustain our objective for the highest possible level of durability, and ultimately giving customers as much up-time as possible," says Yokofujita.
According to Yokofujita, the general feedback Nissan Diesel SA receives from UD440 WT customers is that the vehicles are operated with good returns for their businesses and at a low cost of ownership. "This is proven by customers returning to buy more UD 440 WTs for their fleets - and the success of second hand trucks being sold into the market," he says.
One of Nissan Diesel's key objectives is to expand and even further improve the company's parts business as part of a greater goal to support low lifecycle costs of truck ownership. "We are committed to reduce downtime on customers' vehicles through various strategies that include a high level of parts availability and offering replacement units when our customers need it."
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Since the new centre for vehicle evaluation was implemented by Nissan Diesel last year, the faults per vehicle have decreased to an industry-leading 1.5 - and it is still improving quarterly. The targets set at the beginning of 2006 are to improve quality by decreasing the defect average by 10%. |
When it comes to product delivery, Nissan Diesel is committed to shorten delivery time to customers, and more importantly, to ensure higher overall vehicle quality. As such, the Nissan Diesel plant in Rosslyn is currently rated by the Nissan Diesel Motor Corporation as its best assembly plant in the world.
"A new centre for vehicle evaluation was implemented last year and was based on Nissan Diesel Japan's quality principles whereby constant measurement takes place to ensure that our product quality keeps up with the production volume delivered," said Yokofujita, adding that since the implementation of this system, the faults per vehicle have decreased to an industry-leading 1.5, and it is still improving quarterly. The targets set at the beginning of 2006 will be to increase productivity by 20% as well as improve quality by decreasing the defect average by 10%.
According to Yokofujita, Nissan Diesel is also expecting to continue increasing its investment in the country. In 2005, the company opened a R1,5-million training facility in Rosslyn. The Nissan Diesel Academy was specifically established to provide staff, dealers and fleet owners with world-class development opportunities through various technical and non-technical training courses. The new facility is also aimed at Nissan Diesel fleet operators associated with the company's dealer network in the rest of southern Africa.
Construction is also underway to revamp and expand the company's office complex at its assembly plant in Rosslyn. Other projects include a new cross-docking project to improve internal logistics - all in all to the value of R30 million.
During 2006, Nissan Diesel's dealers will also be making a considerable investment in the upgrade of 13 dealerships around South Africa. This amounts to a total investment of R120-million that includes a new flagship Magnis Trucks dealership in Samrand.
It seems that, like the UD 440, it's all systems go and FleetWatch congratulates all at Nissan Diesel on reaching the 1000th milestone.
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