Dean Dal Santo, currently Director of Truck Sales for Scania Australia, has announced his intention to leave the business after more than 20 years.
Scania’s National Product Manager, and a 12-year Scania veteran, Benjamin Nye, will replace him as (Acting) Director of Truck Sales.
Dean, 44, plans to take an extended break from the industry after finishing up at Scania in October. He joined Scania as commercial analyst in 2001 directly from university, quickly rising through various national and state-based sales and wholesales roles to Sales Director in 2018, in time for the launch of the New Truck Generation, Scania’s most successful truck product to date.
“Dean has had a long and successful career with Scania and has been a great asset to the business, across a number of roles,” says Manfred Streit, Managing Director of Scania Australia.
“While we are very sad to hear he will be departing Scania, he does so with our blessing, and our sincere thanks for his immense contribution to Scania’s truck business over more than two decades,” he says.
“When Dean joined Scania in 2000, we delivered 366 trucks that year, and in 2021 we delivered 1129, underlining the impact he has had on our business, not to mention the successful mentoring role he has undertaken internally, while building his national team of New Truck Account Managers. Dean has also developed strong relationships with our customers from the largest national fleets to the single truck owner-driver.
“Dean has been an effective and result-driven member of our Executive Management Team, and we wish him well as he charts a new direction,” Manfred says. “We are also delighted to elevate Ben Nye to the position vacated by Dean.”
“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to take a break from the industry, after 22 years with Scania,” Dean says.
“These have been very rewarding, challenging and ultimately very successful years for me, and for Scania, and it is always good to have the flexibility of choosing when to move on.
“I am especially proud of our sales team at Scania Australia. They have shown imagination and determination to continuously deliver for our customers and to grow the Scania family in the truck market. I thank them for their support and their efforts, and I am sure they will continue to enjoy success with our new, exciting, and very capable product.
“While it is always hard to make these big career decisions, I feel the time is right for me, and I thank Scania for the opportunities to grow and flourish within an industry I have loved with some passion over the past two decades,” Dean says.
Ben Nye, 39, joined Scania in 2010 as a Retail Account Manager with substantial truck industry experience that began with a spare parts traineeship at 18, sales experience in workshop machinery, and at a large Victorian multi-franchise truck dealership, and later with a trailer maker.
He progressed to Key Retail Accounts Manager for Scania in Victoria, during which time he was Scania’s Truck Salesman of the Year, before moving to become National Fleet Manager for fire and specialist vehicles, and then into the Product Manager position.
“I am very pleased to be stepping into Dean’s role,” Ben says.
“I worked for Dean for eight years and watched him build a very successful truck sales team. I am very fortunate to be inheriting what I believe to be the best truck sales team in Australia, especially at a time when the industry is in transition, and Scania globally is driving the shift to a sustainable transport system,” he says.
“We have exciting new diesel-powered product just launched, and our first our battery electric vehicles are already on the ground.”
