Electromobility, automated driving, digitization – the commercial vehicle industry is changing at a tremendous speed. Highlights from these sectors will be presented by MAN Truck & Bus at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018 taking place in September. In order to realize the high investments associated with this technology, MAN Truck & Bus is continuing to systematically implement its efficiency efforts.
Joachim Drees, Chief Executive Officer of MAN SE and MAN Truck & Bus, says: “Our corporate strategy Future Lion is intended to provide MAN with a clear focus on markets and products. This means that we will be subjecting both our product portfolio and our international market presence to close scrutiny with a view to highlighting customer needs, cutting costs and prioritizing our investments. The path is clear – MAN Truck & Bus must become more profitable in order to continue investing in future topics. Or to put it more simply, we will be concentrating on things that are essential for the future of the company and will also have the courage not to continue certain other things.”
Against this background, the Executive Board of MAN Truck & Bus AG has decided to streamline the product portfolio by stopping the production and sales of the MAN CLA. This vehicle was a model geared specifically to the market needs of emerging economies, being positioned significantly lower than the TG series and accounted for only a very small share of the company´s truck sales. MAN will discontinue production in Pithampur, India following the completion of existing customer orders. There will be no successor model. MAN is able to meet customer requirements in existing MAN CLA markets with its wide range of modern TG vehicles.
MAN Truck & Bus has reached agreement with Force Motors Ltd. regarding sale of the plant in Pithampur. The latter will be acquiring the site and submitting an offer for ongoing employment to the entire workforce. “I am pleased that we have succeeded in finding such a positive solution for all those involved, which guarantees continued employment for our employees,” says Jörg Mommertz, Head of MAN Trucks India. The restructuring measures also envisage MAN Trucks India becoming an R&D Centre for Excellence supporting global projects.
Further initiatives to enhance efficiency have already been launched by the management at MAN Truck & Bus. These are aimed at providing for higher efficiency across the entire company, prioritizing investments and focusing on marked cost reductions – apart from the production network, this will also apply in the case of sales and development operations, as well as to indirect costs and funds commitment.
In this connection, Joachim Drees comments: “We are making MAN fit for the future. The foundation was laid with our PACE2017 program for the future during which many processes were more efficiently structured. We are now building on this by stabilizing what we have already achieved and directing special attention to firmly anchoring the concept of efficiency throughout the company on a long-term basis.”
