Japanese auto multinationals are eying towards Pakistan as the prospective market for their heavy duty trucks, and to capture the same, are focusing on price competitiveness and needs of the customers in the growing markets of South East Asia.
Although the manufacturers are keeping the launching of their vehicles a closely guarded secret, indications were available that the product would be launched sometime next year. The heavy duty trucks would arrive in CKD condition and assembled at the Nissan facility here and subsequently sent to the dealers throughout Pakistan. Plans have matured for launching the product in a big way.
The Swedish auto giant, Volvo which now owns one hundred percent ownership of the Japanese UD Trucks are now ready to launch 'Quester', a strategic heavy-duty range for growth markets. "Yes Pakistan is an important market for us and we would like to have a visible presence and fully participate in the economic development of Pakistan which indeed looks very lucrative," was the sum total of the comments made by Senior Vice-President, after market and soft products, Francois Bottinelli while taking to Pakistani newsmen at the Jari test course where the heavy duty UD Trucks which suit the Pakistani market were displayed, demonstrated and 41 journalists, invited from 10 South Asian countries including Pakistan were offered test drive by the manufacturers.
The product in which we are interested in introducing in Pakistan would ideally suit the needs and requirements and would be helpful in achieving Pakistan's economic goals The journalists came from Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and South Asia. Also at hand to satisfy journalists quench for information, were Vice-President, UD Trucks Brand Strategy and Marketing, Kenneth Hagas and Director, Network and Competence Development Asia Oceania Sales.
A large group of 70 Pakistani auto dealers were also invited to see for themselves the performance of the heavy duty machine and suggest any changes which they considered necessary to make the vehicle more attractive for buyers here. Loic Mellinand of the group at a luncheon briefing at the Jari test course said that the Volvo group is aiming to increase truck sales by 50 percent in the Asia Pacific region by 2015 and the UD Trucks is taking a role as a driving force to achieve it and has started launching Quester. When developing the new range the company had been placing a strong emphasis on increase in price competitiveness. It was for this reason that it utilised the global resources of Volvo group as much as possible to develop the new range for growth markets, he said.
He enlarged on his discourse by mentioning that first the company tried to understand the needs of customers in growth markets. It became clear that customers in growth markets wanted a real heavy duty truck range, whether they were in long-haul transportation business or in mining industry. It was not only a case in the Asian markets, but it was a common need in growth markets across the world.
The customers in those markets want more robust trucks with heavier payload than the trucks for Japanese market. And by offering the vehicles meeting the needs we could contribute to improve transport efficiency of our customers. In order to make profit, our customers in the transport business need top maintain higher uptime to keep their trucks running longer. Therefore, UD Trucks had been focusing on developing a truck with high reliability to increase uptime and fuel efficiency, he said.