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Thami Masemola
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Date published: 01/02/2021
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Category: News
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Tags: Medium and Heavy Commercial; MCV segment; HCV; Isuzu Motors South Africa; IMSAf; Mercedes-Benz Trucks
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Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles Sales
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The year 2020 will be remembered for a long time as one of the worst to hit recent human history, no thanks to the horrific COVID-19 virus pandemic. Having affected virtually all the industries in the world, the motor industry would not have escaped unscathed. And by extension, the local South African one either. Therefore that the total number of vehicles sold dropped by almost 30% on 2019 numbers.
A sub-section of the industry is the Commercial sector, particularly the Medium and Heavy Commercial sectors. The total vehicle market sold 380 206 units last year, compared to the 536 612 recorded for 2019. Of that, 6 736 units were medium-sized trucks and buses, and 16 000 were heavy trucks and buses. Don’t be surprised by the discrepancy; for the past few years the MCV segment has lagged behind its bigger brother HCV - which includes extra heavy vehicles, bigger than 16 500kg. HCV are also a good economic indicator, because it is the segment in which the large construction and mining companies operate. The sector somehow also managed to export 413 units comprising mainly of heavy and extra heavy vehicles. Buses made up only 17 of those.
“2020 was a tough year for everyone and we found ourselves facing unprecedented challenges at every level of the business,” said Craig Uren, Sales, Service, and Marketing Senior Vice President for Isuzu Motors South Africa. “I must commend team IMSAf for a job well done under very difficult circumstances. Isuzu trucks continues to demonstrate the long-term benefits of strong customer service and relationships. We are also very proud to have such strong and competitive products in the key segments of the commercial vehicle market.”
Maretha Gerber, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks said: “We made bold moves last year during tough times and the results are showing. This could not have been possible without the dedication and resilience demonstrated by our internal staff and dealer partners to excel, collaborate, adjust and push ahead through all that was thrown at us and for this we are deeply grateful. We can all agree that 2020 was tough not just for our Company, but for the entire trucking industry. It is therefore humbling to celebrate this success, as it attests to the trust our customers continued to place in our brand when working tirelessly, across different industries, under unique operating conditions and for this I would like to sincerely thank all our customers.”
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