The market in South Africa for medium, heavy, and extra-heavy trucks is showing positive growth in the first four months of 2019, which bodes well for interest in the biennial Futuroad Expo. This African commercial vehicle exhibition will be co-located with Automechanika Johannesburg at the Expo Centre, Nasrec, from 18-21 September 2019.
In contrast to declining passenger car sales and little growth in the light commercial vehicle market, medium, heavy, and extra-heavy truck sales have grown, on a year-to-date basis by 14.7%, 6.9% and 1.6% respectively.
“The positive sentiment in the truck market means that Futuroad will be the ideal platform for truck manufacturers and distributors to showcase their products to a visitor audience from across sub-Saharan Africa,” comments Joshua Low, the Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt South Africa, the organisers of Futuroad Expo and co-located events Automechanika Johannesburg and Scalex.
“We realise the growing importance of activation opportunities for trade visitors so have arranged a test drive venue for Futuroad exhibitors at Expo Centre this year,” added Low. This enables visitors to get a first hand experience on the latest handling and capabilities of trucks on display. “Adding to which we are pleased to announce that the RFA (Road Freight Association) and SABOA (South African Bus Operators Association) have both confirmed that they will be hosting conferences alongside Futuroad Expo 2019. Lastly, we have also added free-to-attend skills development zones in the halls and experiential content, to strengthen the appeal of the event to a wider pool of visitors” finishes Low.
Futuroad, which is being staged in South Africa for the second time, as a successor to the South African Truck and Bus Show, is the only international trade fair of its kind to be staged in Africa, targeting visitors from across sub-Saharan Africa.
Volvo and its Japanese subsidiary, UD Trucks, which recently introduced two important new models; the medium Kuzer and extra-heavy Quester, have both confirmed their presence at Futuroad. Other brands that have signed up already include: FAW, Tata, Daewoo, Powerstar, JMC, and Fiat Professional, as well as body builders Serco and component supplier Trailquip.
Messe Frankfurt, one of the largest trade fair organisers in the world, is very aware of the importance of trucks and buses in the global transport industry and that is why it has set up Futuroad as a standalone show, while continuing to promote the display of parts, accessories and services for trucks and buses at its 17 international Automechanika trade fairs for the automotive aftermarket.
