(^38) ABC July 2019 busnews.com.au
SNAP CHAT INTERVIEW
partnerships for unusually long project
timelines.
You usually end up knowing the
names of the kids of your customers
and watch them growing from primary
school boys and girls into the next
generation of business owners.
I am a people person and I enjoy
this very much.
And, of course, Turkey is a very
big bus market - around 5,000 units
when the economic outlook is positive
- and a traditional bus-manufacturing
hub in Europe. Daimler Buses has
the most modern bus-manufacturing
plant located at Hosdere, Istanbul.
Ultimately, this is what you are born
into when you decide to work for
Mercedes-Benz in Turkey.ABC: You’ve been in this role since
October, 2018; what have you
learned about Mercedes-Benz’s
position in the industry and what
plans do you have – if they had
changed at all from prior – for the
brand in terms of bus business?MK: A decade ago, Mercedes-Benz
was the best-selling chassis OEM in
Australia. We had a terrific rapport with
councils, metro and regional operators,
built on a strong partnership with
quality bodybuilders. Apparently our
competitors did certain things better
than we did during this period and weslightly fell behind.
Mercedes-Benz Buses is a clear
market leader over 8-tonne almost in
every major contestable bus market
around the globe. We are number one
in Europe, in Brazil, in Argentina, in
Mexico, In Egypt, in Saudi Arabia, in
Nigeria...
We are where we are in those markets
for a reason, we offer the best buses
and service to our customers.
Mike and the Board really worked
hard to devise a business strategy
to bring Mercedes-Benz back to the
position we should be long before I
arrived. We heavily invested in after-
sales and the network in the past
couple of years.