Jansson sees orders at all time high going into new year
The biosecurity scare that troubled international vehicle transporter Wallenius Wilhelmsen (WW) this year helped keep Scania from Australian annual sales below four figures, local executives say.
WW has battled the pernicious impact of brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSBs), a voracious pest that can devastate horticulture, and has seen ships banned from entering port.
The problem, a source of acute frustration for management given sales generally are booming, arrived just as the truckmaker was ramping up its sales effort here for its updated range.
Add to that booming sales globally and its supply chain has also been under pressure.
And though the situation should resolve itself in the next few months, the backlog is still being felt in the country that was the first to have all the new generation variants available at the same time, including the XT.
“We just can’t get them out,” Scania Australia sales director Dean Dal Santo says at a media event, adding that his firm could “easily” have shifted 1,250-1,300 units otherwise.
Read about Scania’s launch of the XT range in Australia, here
On more positive notes, Scania Australia MD Mikael Jansson says the firm has never had so many orders going into a new year before and sales of its repair and maintenance services are growing.
Also a source of excitement, though details are scarce, is that local testing continues with an autonomous truck and that moves are afoot to make a splash at the Brisbane Truck Show.
Jansson reflects on contrasting industry and regulatory developments here an overseas.
“I am very pleased that safety is on the agenda, more so than in Europe, I would say,” he says.
But he is pained at the slow progress on emissions.
“It’s a pity there has been no decision on Euro 6,” he says, adding that he was “surprised to see Euro 0 trucks in the city”.
He believes that while major cities were amongst the driving forces for sustainable transport in Europe, that function in Australia is being pushed by large fleet-owners and big customers.
Meanwhile, vehicle-makers will seek to standardise emissions by 2027.