Daimler Trucks & Buses Southern Africa (DTBSA) is preparing for the official transition into a fully independent and a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG effective from 1 December 2021.
This follows the recent announcement by Daimler AG of the separation into two independent companies. This milestone represents the start of a reshaping of DTBSA, and with a truck and bus dedicated and customer-centric corporate structure going forward.
Michael Dietz, President and CEO of Daimler Trucks & Buses Southern Africa, says this is a massive turning point for DTBSA and a huge investment for the Southern Africa market.
“We have done some ground-breaking changes previously, like the establishment of DTBSA as a legal entity in 2019 and more recently the founding of our very own captive financial mobility services, Daimler Trucks Financial Services (DTFS).
“I firmly believe that the new set-up promotes the necessary focus into our core business, creating favourable conditions for us to be more competitive, and it accelerates the development of key technologies for us to provide cutting-edge products and services to fulfil the special needs of our customers.
“It is without a doubt that this independence is fully aligned with our growth strategy and further strengthens our foothold within the markets we operate in. As we gear up to a smooth transition, our commitment for all who keep Africa moving remains unchanged,” he says.
In totality, a significant investment of up to R1 billion has been made available to ensure continuity in operation, adequate resources and suitable working infrastructure for the DTBSA business.
This new set-up will comprise of the Sales and Marketing, Customer Service & Parts (CSP), Own Retail, Manufacturing Plant, Value-added services that include: TruckStore, FleetBoard, Mercedes-Benz Uptime, Service24h, TruckParts, and FUSO Value Parts (FVP).
In addition to this, for the first time as part of the new structure, DTBSA will have a dedicated captive financial and mobility service – Daimler Truck Financial Services South Africa (DTFS). As a wholly owned subsidiary of DTBSA, DTFS will play a fundamental role in driving sales with tailor-made financing, leasing and mobility solutions, increasing retention and building customer loyalty, which enables a commercial vehicle dedicated and customer-centric support to the market.
Furthermore, the DTBSA production plant in East London will continue to operate from the main location with clear and seamless integration of Mercedes-Benz and FUSO brands and will have the same level of access to the key production areas, including harbour depots/storage centres, testing ground and the Training Academy.
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Volvo has confirmed that its vehicles will now integrate Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence system. This development builds on the company’s existing collaboration with Google, which already provides Android Automotive OS and Google services in Volvo models.
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