April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Swedish Volvo Trucks aims to capture more share in the Korean commercial vehicle market by enhancing customer network, introducing new technologies and exploring partnerships with local firms, a top executive told The Investor on June 8.

“We will grow. We would like to be No. 2 in the (Korean market), beating our domestic rivals,” said Helene Mellquist, senior vice president of Volvo Trucks International, who oversee sales in Asia, Middle East and Africa.

She was in Korea to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Volvo Trucks’ operations here.

The truck maker hopes to push its current market share from 17 percent to 20 percent, with annual sales of 4,000 units by 2020. Last year, Volvo Trucks sold 2,600 units in Korea to maintain the top spot among imported brands, while ranking third overall after domestic rivals Hyundai Motor and Tata Daewoo.

Noting that Korea is a “very important market,” Mellquist said, “This is a market that has developed very quickly.” Adding that last year Korea nabbed the 10th spot globally in terms of sales among 140 countries where Volvo Trucks is represented, even beating its homeland Sweden, which ranked 12th. 

Helene Mellquist, senior vice president of Volvo Trucks International, speaks during an interview with The Investor on June 8 at Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

“We will do anything to continue to support our customers to be very successful in their business, including investments in products and also in the service network.”

The truck maker has invested heavily in Korea during its 20 years of business here, mainly focusing on expanding its service network.

“There are 29 workshops and service points across the country. We are making more investments now to grow to 40 service centers by 2020. We are also very demanding on the people we employ,” she said. “We need to have competent people who know what they are doing in their interaction with customers.”

To highlight its emphasis on customer-focused operations, Volvo Group has been investing 5 percent of its annual revenue in developing new products every year, according to Mellquist. An eco-friendly truck is also part of Volvo’s crucial product development portfolio.

“We are working with different types of energies for the future. I think every city and country has different regulations and time base. So we need to be prepared,” she said. “The whole thing is about agility. We need to make investments in our product development and prepare for whatever happens. And we have many of these (alternative energy) technologies already.”

Mellquist added that the truck industry will gradually follow carmakers who are speeding up commercialization of electric vehicles. “We will follow because the cost for kilowatt (of electricity) is decreasing substantially day by day and week by week,” she said. “Another parameter is that the battery is getting better, giving more (energy) from the less (battery weight).”

Volvo Trucks has released hybrid trucks in some parts of the world already. But when it comes to Korea, it doesn’t have any date set due to regulatory hurdles and lack of customer demand. “When there is customer demand, we will consider,” she said.

“At the same time, we know we need to continue to be very competitive and good in diesel engines as well in parallel,” she added.

In response to the latest fad of self-driving vehicles, she said Volvo is actively conducting tryouts in different countries. It is testing autonomous truck in underground mine in Sweden. Volvo also rolled out driverless garbage trucks in urban areas, as well as deployed an autonomous truck for sugar-cane harvest in Brazil.

For Korea, however, the truck maker doesn’t have any concrete plans just yet. “Korea is a very modern country when it comes to connectivity and digitalization,” she said. “This is a good place to be. If we find partners or interested customers, we would like to explore the options.”

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)