Thew new managing director of Scania Australia, Manfred Streit, has arrived in Melbourne to take up his new role, taking over from Michael Johnson, who is retiring and retiring to his homeland in Sweden,
Scania’s new MD has worked for the company for 15 years in his native Austria.
The 49 year old has been involved with trucks since his youth, and developed a life-long affinity with Scania early on. His tertiary studies in Business and Commerce were funded by driving trucks during university holidays, where he gained a deep passion for transport and logistics.
“From the start of my career I have been involved with moving people and goods. This is something I am passionate about,” said Manfred Streit.
After a short spell at French telecommunication and industrial giant, Alcatel, Streit moved to Renault in Austria, before accepting the role of dealer director with Scania near his hometown in north central Austria. Eight years later, in 2016, he was appointed as Country Manager for Scania in Austria,
Manfred says he had a taste of Australia as a tourist more than 20 years ago, and now he and his family are looking forward to a longer spell here, this time.
“Scania in Australia has a very solid base – thanks to 12 years of growth – that I plan to build on, assisted by a very experienced executive management team. I can see there is a lot of depth among our local Scania family, and we will work together to develop further innovations and services for the benefit of our customers,” Manfred said.
“Scania is not only focused on growing our business and maintaining customer uptime, but also driving the shift towards a sustainable transport future. We have already begun this in Australia, and the transformation will continue in line with the needs of the market,” he said
“Having transferred from a small country in the middle of Europe to a large continent far away, I am looking forward to exploring Australia and meeting with many customers and understanding their business needs.
“Although Austria and Australia are far apart, customers all over the world value the same critical business elements: respect, credibility and being a reliable trading partner. I am proud that Scania lives these values, just as I am proud to be part of the continuing story of Scania in Australia,” he added.
