New MD to head Scania Siam
Stefan Dorski takes over as MD for Scania Siam, and he assures that the brand delivery will be as customer focussed as ever. He lets us know how he is planning to achieve further growth in Thailand.
It is when you meet Dorski for the first time that you immediately say “Now, this is a Scania-man through and through”. Living, breathing the brand he has been with the company since he graduated from Uppsala University in Sweden back in 2006. Joining the company straight after obtaining his degree he first worked in the engineering division before moving on to fleet sales. “It was a great time, completely different as you get to work with clients and not suppliers!” he said. Next he coordinated cooperation between European markets before moving to Frankfurt, Germany in April 2010.
As the Regional Director he had a total staff of about 100 and within the short period of five years he managed to increase the
market share from 8.5% to 12.7%, a testament to his passion for the brand. Having arrived in Thailand in February 2015, he is now poised to give this market a similar treatment, increasing the brand awareness and market share. “I like the heat, the food and the people. I am extremely impressed by the level of professionalism that is prevailing here in the organisation” he lauds his new home.
It might be his first time heading a Scania office in Asia, however, he has no doubt that the brand delivery will be at least the same as customers are used to from previous local leaders of the organisation. He explains that “We are one big family. Globally. And our approach is based on the same core values everywhere: 1) customer first, 2) quality and 3) respect for the individual.”
Having now worked in three different regions he can feel that the mindset is the same. “And it is quite simple. If we make our
customers happy, we will surely be successful” as Dorski puts it. Following this approach, his next step is to focus on how Scania
can increase the quality and how to even better support their customers in order to improve their vehicle operating economy.
In terms of activities, Scania has a lot planned for Thailand. Not only the Scania Driver competition, which Dorski says is “An absolutely amazing event”, but also in terms of strengthening the organisation. Currently, there are eight service centres in the country. Two are being relocated while there are eight more scheduled to be operational by 2018. This means that there are
three construction sites running each year. Dorski is also going to address the question as to how to bring more competence
into the organisation and the workshops. Looking into the portfolio, the company aims at optimizing the specifications.
Currently very successful in the long haul sector as well as the fuel transport, general cargo and agricultural sectors, Dorski says customers will also be able to get vehicles for any other application. According to him, Scania works well as the trucks have the best fuel efficiency and in terms of specs are superior. By example of the torque available, he says that other brands typically would need some 20 - 50 more horses in order to get the same torque delivered. “Just imagine what it means if you can reduce the fuel cost by some 5% - 10%!” is a question he leaves hanging in the room.
Naturally, Scania is also preparing for the AEC. Boosting up the service network is just one manifestation to Scania’s belief in the
AEC while the company already offers service agreements that would be applicable across borders. Besides that, Scania will have a number of activities to show how the company can and will support their customers. Eventually, he says, this will result in an increase in market share. The trend is clearly pointing up.
Also up are the numbers of the applicants for the Scania Driver Competition, which saw some 1500 drivers vying for the trophy, a record for the company. “This may even be the highest number of participants in the world and it is absolutely stunning to see with which drive, pride and determination the drivers are participating. It put a big smile on my face to see the drivers here at the semi-finals” is his comment on the event which saw the finals on June 13 with eight truck and eight bus drivers.