UD Trucks unveils a new truck range for the Middle East

Japanese heavy trucks manufacturer, UD Truckshas unveiled a range of trucks specifically built with Middle East customers in mind, with significant launch events taking place in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.The all-new Quester is a modern and robust heavy-duty truck platform designed to serve a ‎wide range of ‎applications including construction, distribution and long-haul transportation. ‎ The launch events, which took place in key markets for UD Trucks, were attended by UD Trucks representatives from the Middle East regional officeand the company headquarters in Japan, the Japanese Ambassador, the Consul General for Japan in Saudi Arabia as well as media guests.


The all-new Quester is a multi-purpose truck for a wide variety of applications found in the Middle East, including ‎off and on-road use, construction, distribution and long-haul transportation. The launch of the new range‎isa majorstep in UD Trucks’ proud history which has seen it become the first Japanese truck brandto enter the region,offering a wide range of trucks developed to meet the different needs of the fast growing Middle East market.


After years of extensive quality control tests conducted by UD Trucks and its parent organization, the Volvo Group, the Quester range was developed with a Japanese hands-on, field-oriented approach established on a customer and factory floor perspective. It performs impressively, provides good value and satisfies owners’ expectations in every aspect. Quester is built and refined based on insights from customers’ day-to-day needs and cutting-edge know-how gained from UD Trucks’ experience in Middle East and the Volvo Group’s global footprint.


The Quester range provides world class fuel efficiency, reliability and durability with a wide range of applications and ‎variants based on the same platform at affordable prices, ‎ making this unique combination of the best of three worlds to an extent that no competitor can match currently.


Commenting on the Quester’s arrival in the Middle East, Lars-Erik Forsbergh,UD Trucks President in the Middle East,said: “We are very excited about the arrival of the Quester range in the region.With the new Quester, we have built on our tradition of reliability and durability to launch our new customer promise, ‘going the extra mile’.


“I am confident that Quester will be a big game-changer for UD Trucks. More than 400 full-time experts from around the world, with extensive knowledge and ‎experience, have been involved in designing, developing and validating ‎Quester and its associated services. The team has spent over a million engineering hours and ‎‎65,000 tests hours to build the ultimate trucking machine’’.


Three Quester units were also tested by six customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah and Riyadhfor more than six months. The three units, a water tanker, a tipper and a garbage compactor, were operated in real working conditions by real customers and the feedback was extremely positive. The trucks are made to operate in rough working conditions like very dusty, hot environments and challenging roads.


“The Quester range has truly exceeded our expectations. Its performance never ceased to impress, even during the soaring heat of the summer and dusty conditions, the performance was excellent and more than satisfying. The gross vehicle weight of 34 tons and the net vehicle weight of 26 tons make the truck very suitable for our field operations, especially since we deal with waste collection and city sanitation. We are currently in the process of ordering 50 more waste compactors which will more than likely be the UD Trucks Quester”, said Abduljwad Al Qenawi, Materials Management Manager, Ahmed Soliman Al Fahhad& Sons Ltd, Co.


The new Quester range is robust and strong, utilizing a combination of global technology and Japanese craftsmanship. The new range combines the best of three worlds: UD’s heritage of Japanese craftsmanship and customer care, Volvo Group’s global technology and aftersales know-how, and cost efficiency through local manufacturing and sourcing.


Quester trucks will come with the UD extra mile aftermarket support that Volvo promises to deliver “quality and value”. The Quester range also offers telematics hardware: a wireless communication tool that allows the trucks to collect information from the truck while it is on the road. With this, UD Trucks can assist its customers with a variety of services, including breakdown assistance, preventive maintenance analysis and corrective service scheduling.