New UD Experience Center opens at Japan UD Headquarters

To commemorate its 80th anniversary, UD Trucks is opening a “UD Experience Center” within the test course of the Ageo Headquarters in Saitama, Japan.
The center will help customers, business partners and media learn more about UD Trucks’ heritage as well as its products and after services to enhance further understanding of the UD Trucks’ brand and get practical advice on how to improve business operations and address logistics issues.

UD Trucks opened the “UD Experience Center” within the test course of the UD Headquarters in Japan. The goal of this initiative is to provide visitors with a chance to learn more about the company’s 80-year history, leading to a better understanding of the brand. Since April 2013, a temporary location has been used for this initiative, however, in order to provide a more comprehensive “test drive” feature, the test course at the Headquarters is utilized as part of the experience. Additionally, what was originally a 600 square foot area has been increased about 5 times to now reach a total of 3,000 square feet.

There are 4 areas within the experience center. The “Heritage” area features introduction panels of historic trucks and restored models such as the 6TW and SUNGREAT released in the 1960s. The “Current Line-up” area features the heavy-duty truck Quon and medium-duty trucks “Condor as well as “Quester” for growth markets. The “Design” area features design concepts for the trucks.

In the “After Market” area, where the engine lineup is displayed, a maintenance bay is recreated and the various uptime support solutions UD provides are introduced. UD has secured both a spacious reception area, as well as a 360 square meter meeting space on the 2nd floor that can welcome more than 100 guests. A 6-meter by 11-meter movable screen is installed in the display area for visitors to view films and presentations. The ceiling is 9 meter high which provides a large open area on the 2nd floor allowing visitors to view the trucks from unique angles. Wheelchair access is available throughout the center.

UD Trucks, with the purpose of increasing understanding and awareness surrounding the brand, products and services, has been providing brand presentations, factory tours, and test drive activities to effectively package all elements into a “UD Experience” program since 2013. To date, including internal figures, the “UD Experience” program has been enjoyed by over 10,000 guests from 26 countries around the world. Following the new opening of the center in 2015, customers, media and UD Trucks employees, both domestically and internationally, will add 6,000 more visitors annually.

UD Trucks President Yoshihiro Murakami commented that “The new UD Experience Center is packed with everything about UD Trucks. By providing visitors with a historic, hands-on brand experience, we hope to encourage deeper understanding of our dedication to continuously provide solutions to various logistic issues, as we have done leading up to our 80th anniversary.” 

“Going the Extra Mile” is the brand promise of UD Trucks with a focus on fuel efficiency, uptime, reliability and drivability, while meeting today’s high standards for safety and environment, allowing UD to provide customers with the best products and services in the market to meet their business needs. 

Following the new UD Experience Center commemorating the company’s 80th anniversary, a new headquarter building will be completed in July 2015. UD Trucks will continue to provide solutions and support the logistics industry while also contributing to society.

For further information, please contact

Media Relations, Etsuko Kurihashi, etsuko.kurihashi@volvo.com
For more stories from UD Trucks, please visit http://www.udtrucks.com/

UD Trucks is a transport solution provider, specialized in fuel efficiency and uptime. It sells and serves light, medium and heavy duty trucks as well as special vehicles. UD Trucks was established in Japan in 1935 and became part of the Volvo Group in 2007. With its headquarters located in Ageo, Japan, UD Trucks supports sales and services in more than 60 countries through a worldwide network.