Page 33 - Logistics News - July August 2022

C O MPANY NE W S

New Country Manager ISUZU satisfies modern fleet
for Enel Green Power SA management expectations

MANUELE BATTISTI was appointed the new Country
TRUCKS ARE forecast to have a first economic life before major overhaul
Manager for Enel Green Power South Africa (EGP SA)
of at least 10 years. “It’s this long-term view that road transport
from 1 June 2022, taking over from William Price. His
operators have for parts and service support that has ensured the
mandate is to manage South African operations, maintain
success of ISUZU in South Africa. And it is not just a high availability of
and expand the business and diversify the company’s client
parts and service in one location, it’s the national footprint of 35 ISUZU
base.
truck dealers,” says Craig Uren, ISUZU’s Senior Vice President Revenue
Battisti joined Enel Group in 2008 in a technical role Generation Southern African Customs Union.
as he held a degree in mechanical engineering and had
“Quality is not negotiable,” Uren adds, “but the enemy of trucking
completed a PhD in renewable energy and energy efficiency
is downtime and even the best truck can leave productive service if
in building. He then moved into business development, parts are not available. Trucking uptime starts with an ISUZU truck
where he occupied different range from which it is easy to select a truck model with the correct gross
roles, such as supporting the vehicle or gross combination mass (GVM or GCM).”
head of business development
in global activities, market Selecting the right truck for the task will, in the long term, result in
analysis and intelligence. the lowest cents/kilometre (CPK). “Our consulting, vehicle selection,
In 2014, he took the reins performance prediction and costing services are enhanced by our
as a middle manager in association as full licensees of Truck Science TransSolve software. This
Africa, leading the business enables ISUZU and our dealers to forecast trucking productivity with
Manuele Battisti, Country
Manager for EGP SA. development activities for East reasonable accuracy,” says Uren.
and West Africa. After this, he
was appointed Head of Business Development for southern Isuzu offers specialist models that reduce CPK while increasing
Africa. productivity and safety. “First-in-class has been the success of
automated manual transmissions (AMT) with 21,000 AMT model
As the new Country Manager of EGP SA, he will be units sold. Isuzu crew cabs offer an increase in fleet safety, while refuse
responsible for the three business lines in the value chain, compactors and 4X4 models are also doing exceptionally well,” he adds.
including development (creating opportunities up to
the construction stage), engineering and construction ISUZU Mobility provides fixed-cost operating. Funding for
(supporting business development and operation whilst maintenance, servicing and repairs is sourced from advanced payments
leading the construction of power plants) and operations for a period or kilometres travelled, referred to as the CPK maintenance
and maintenance, which represents the core business of the plan. In addition, ISUZU Motors South Africa now offers Variable
company as an independent power producer (IPP). Warranty plans that are specifically tailored to fit the needs of short-,
medium- or long-haul operators.
One of Battisti’s responsibilities will be overseeing the
management of human resources in the company. While The ISUZU range benefits from telematics-ready truck and stolen
Enel Group has its headquarters in Italy, EGP SA employs vehicle recovery hardware installed at factory, including a panic button
more than 97 percent of its workforce from South Africa, and driver ID tag reader. It is compatible with the MixTelematics fleet
with 80 percent of its management team made up of black management system, as well as existing third-party fleet management
South African women. In addition, a key objective of the systems at a additional cost. •
company is to conduct training and skills development
programmes.

Supporting the country toward stabilisation of the
energy market and a just transition, as well as broadening
EGP SA’s client base, are firmly within Battisti’s scope of
responsibilities. With his solid experience in the renewables
sector, combined with his knowledge of the African
markets, he is well positioned to meet the company’s
business objectives in his new role. •

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