RA ENGINEERING NEWS | December 8–14, 2017 15
V
olvo Financial Services (VFS), the
global finance arm of Volvo Group,
has announced the launch of VFS
Southern Africa.
VFS Southern Africa will provide
financial services for customers of Volvo
Group Southern Africa, which includes the
UD Trucks, Volvo Bus, Volvo Trucks and
Volvo Construction Equipment brands.
“This is what we need to sell trucks – we
need finance,” says Volvo Group Southern
Africa president Torbjörn Christensson.
He regards the formation of VFS
Southern Africa as a “milestone” in Volvo
Group Southern Africa’s existence.Captive Finanace
The launch of Volvo’s own captive finance
company in South Africa will set dealers
up as “one-stop shops” where customers
can arrange a number of financial services,
such as instalment sales agreements, finance
leases and operating leases.
“Although VFS will only initially be
present in South Africa, we will aim to
make it available to our customers across
Southern and Eastern Africa, as these
respective product markets continue to
develop,” notes Christensson.
VFS South Africa country manager Jens
Winkelmann says Volvo Group regards
South Africa as a “top strategic market”
and “the gateway to south-east Africa”, with
the region providing a number of growth
opportunities for the Sweden-based group.
He says South Africa was also selected
as a VFS market, as Volvo trucks and UD
trucks have a combined truck market share
of 25%.
In 2016, Volvo Group achieved sales of
R7.2-billion in South Africa.
“The South African truck market is an
extremely competitive environment and we,
therefore, see a great opportunity for VFS,
as a captive financial solutions provider, to
present our customers with a customisable
transport solution,” notes Winkelmann.
“While we are a global organisation, VFS
leverages our local expertise to ensure our
South African customers’ unique business
requirements are addressed through a
tailored, competitive solution,” adds VFS
president Scott Rafkin.
“We deliver value to customers by being
easy to do business with through our speedand industry knowledge, and by working
hard to develop a long-term relationship
with them throughout the business cycles.”Credit Portfolio
VFS was formed in 2001 and is head-
quartered in North Carolina, US.
The company manages a net credit
portfolio of more than R213-billion,
providing customer financing in over 45
countries.
One in three units sold in Volvo Group
globally is financed by VFS.
Despite the formation of VFS Southern
Africa, Volvo Group Southern Africa
will con tinue its alliance with asset
financier WesBank on selected product
offerings.POOR fuel consumption has emerged as
the major gripe of customers in the newest
Ipsos Quality Survey.
Fuel consumption was the biggest cause
of customer complaint in 13 of the 16
vehicle model segments into which Ipsos
divides the South Africa market.
Ipsos believes the complaints have been
driven by the rapidly increasing fuel price.
Another interesting insight is that there
were more complaints about imported
passenger cars than those made locally,
whereas, in the light commercial vehicle
(LCV) market, it was the other way around,
with locally made models receiving more
criticism.
Around 70% of vehicles sold in South
Africa are imported models.Survey
The Ipsos survey is voluntary, with 17
vehicle brands participating, representing
72% of the new passenger cars and LCVs
sold through retail channels in South Africa
in 2016.
The Ipsos survey looked at new-vehicle
sales, interviewing more than 7 000 owners
on their gripes about their new vehicles
after about 90 days of ownership, not only
in terms of defects, but also perceived
design flaws.
Combined, this data produced a vehicle
quality survey (VQS) score.
The lower the score, the better. The score
is provided as problems per 100 vehicles
(PP10 0).
The passenger cars with the lowest PP
in 2016 were the Audi A3 Sportback, with a
score of 27, followed by the Nissan Micra,
at 36, and the Audi A3 sedan, also at 36.
At the bottom of the rankings were the
Ford B-Max, at 101 PP100, and the Datsun
Go, at 102 PP100.
The top recreational vehicle was the Audi
Q5, at 33 PP100, with the Renault Duster at
the bottom of the list, at 102 PP100.
In the LCV category, the Toyota Hilux
petrol single-cab came out tops, at
43 PP100, tying with the Nissan Navara
diesel double-cab, also at 43 PP100, while
the Chevrolet Utility languished at 136
PP10 0.TRUCKS AUTO INDUSTRYTruck Financing
Poor fuel
consumption
raises hackles
of vehicle buyers
Volvo Financial Services makes Southern African debut
NEWS&INSIGHT
IRMA VENTER | CREAMER MEDIA SENIOR DEPUTY EDITORIRMA VENTER
CREAMER MEDIA SENIOR DEPUTY EDITORTORBJÖRN CHRISTENSSON
The formation of VFS Southern Africa is a
milestoneSTORY HIGHLIGHTS- Volvo Group regards South Africa as a ‘top
strategic market’ and ‘the gateway to south-east
Africa’, with the region providing a number of
growth opportunities. - Despite the formation of Volvo Financial Services
Southern Africa, Volvo Group Southern Africa will
con tinue its alliance with asset financier WesBank
on selected product offerings.