Looking Back At 2023

At the start of each new year, we like to take a look back at all our achievements over the previous 12 months and see how far we’ve come as a company. 2023 was yet another brilliant year for Kuda, with exciting events, new innovations, and plenty of chance to connect with our customers both on and offline.

So, without further ado, here are our top moments of 2023 (in no particular order!).

The Big Truck Giveaway:
How could we resist starting with this one? At the start of 2023, Kuda launched a brand-new series on YouTube, offering an extremely exciting opportunity for one lucky subscriber. We have hosted many giveaways on our social media channels before- with truck of the month being a viewer favourite- but for 2023, we wanted to take it to the next level by giving away an entire, fully customised truck!

Our truck of choice was a DAF XF SuperSpace, supplied by Chassis Cab: our local DAF dealer. Once the truck had been acquired, we filmed a 12-episode series in which we gave our viewers the chance to vote on what accessories they wanted to see added to the truck. The winning accessories included some Kuda Black Edition Hadley airhorns, an incredible selection of Strands lighting and LightFix light bars, an Indel B Oblo 1600 cab cooler, and a fantastic modern wrap from Chapple Signs!

The effort put in by our team to bring the truck together into the final product cannot be understated- everybody did an absolutely fantastic job and put so much passion into the project. At the end of the series, the lucky winner was revealed to be Nick Wheeler, who came down to Kuda HQ to meet the team and collect the truck. Of course, he also starred in the 12^th and final episode of the series, and he was such a great sport during the filming! It was great to meet Nick, and while we were sad to see the truck go, we know he'll take great care of it.

If you haven’t seen The Big Truck Giveaway yet (firstly, where have you been?!), you can catch up on the full series here. While this giveaway may have ended, we have so much more in store for our YouTube subscribers in 2024. Keep a close eye on our channel…

Road Transport Expo:
Back in June, we were excited to exhibit at Road Transport Expo in Stoneleigh Park. RTX is a relatively new show on the scene, and we were looking forward to seeing how it would stand in comparison to shows we had attended in the past. This year, we had a lot to show off in our exhibit. As usual, we wanted to showcase our own brands, but we also had two extra special trucks to bring along too: our Big Truck Giveaway DAF, and the first Mercedes Actros Edition 3 in the UK!

The journey up was a little hectic, with Tim and Tom enlisting the help of Trucker Tim to get the trucks to Stoneleigh. Trucker Tim loaded our trucks onto his trailer and drove them up to the show; unfortunately, one of the DAF’s side skirts was scratched in the process! Despite this hiccup, all of our trucks and equipment made it to the show in one piece, and after spending the Tuesday setting up, we were ready to welcome visitors to our stand on the Wednesday.

Throughout the show, we were fortunate to get the chance to meet lots of our YouTube subscribers and show them around the DAF. Millie and Ruby chatted to plenty of passers-by about the giveaway and how they could enter and managed to gain 900 new subscribers! There was- of course- also a lot of interest in the Mercedes, with many visitors taking the opportunity to climb inside and take a look at all of the Kuda enhancements. It was really great to see people getting excited about this new generation of Mercedes Actros!

We were also extremely proud to see several of our own brands featured on various trucks across the show. We saw our side skirts, TreadSafe catwalks, MirrorShields and iAm air kits in action, and it was great to see how many fantastic companies were utilising them!

You can see the full RTX vlog- including the chaotic journey with Trucker Tim- over on our YouTube Channel. We have plans to return to RTX in the future and cannot wait to see the continued success of the event for years to come.

Launching LUXMOV:
In 2023, we were proud to launch our brand new LUXMOV range- a luxury cab comforts brand, perfect for on the go. So far, we have brought out several products guaranteed to make your cab a home away from home: a Smart Insulated Flask, and a Smart HD TV, complete with an aerial and a mount.

As featured in our Big Truck Giveaway DAF, the LUXMOV Smart Tv is specifically designed for use in vehicles. Running off of an Android operating system, the extensive app store grants you to access a variety of streaming sites right from the comfort of your cab. With the aerial, you can also access regular TV, so you won’t miss out on your favourite shows when you’re out and about. The LUXMOV Tv even offers screen mirroring, so you can cast content directly from your phone!

The LUXMOV Smart Insulated flask is the perfect companion for any driver. Choose your favourite drink- either hot or cold- and preserve the temperature for up to 12 hours! The temperature of your drink can be checked by tapping the top of the flask and triggering the built-in digital temperature display. Whatever beverage you like to bring with you on the road, LUXMOV will keep it at its best.

Launching this new brand was extremely exciting, and we look forward to bringing more products to the LUXMOV family. You can check out Tim’s LUXMOV unboxing video here.

Bringing In New Brands: 
Here at Kuda, we always endeavour to bring the highest quality trucking accessories to our customers, which means partnering with the best brands out there. 2023 was no exception when it came to bringing on board some fantastic new partners.

This year, we launched our new ‘Workshop’ tab on our website, bringing with it a fantastic range of products from SP Tools and Unilite. SP tools are a world-renowned tool manufacturer, specialising in premium handheld tools. Unilite specialise in LED work lights and safety gear, aimed at the industry professional. With these lines, our customers will have all they need for their workshop. We have a blog post on these fantastic brands that can be found here.

Way back last January, we announced that we would be partnering with LightFix to bring high quality stainless steel light bars to our customers. We are proud to say that this partnership is still going strong, and we now have an extensive range of LightFix bars for a variety of vehicles available on our website. Find out more about LightFix in our blog post here.

We love bringing our customers the very best products on the market, and we can assure you that this will continue into 2024.

Focus on Research and Development:
This year, we put an even heavier focus on our RND department, that we established in 2022. The previous year was all about getting our bearings and getting everyone up to speed on the new technology that we invested in. In 2023, the focus shifted to putting this to use in our product design process.

Our in-house CAD engineers have been working with our brand-new robotic CNC machine this year, creating new and effective ways to carve moulds for our products designed in house. Alongside this, the team have been working with 3D printing/ scanning, as well as sign and sticker making, to add those personal Kuda touches to every aspect of our design process.

Our RND department even got involved in our Big Truck Giveaway, creating the slogan sticker, as well as the stickers of Millie and Ruby, to go on the back of our truck. This was a really fun way for the team to put the skills they’d be learning to the test in a big way, and we think the result was fantastic!

In 2024, we will continue developing and expanding our RND department, with our CAD engineers at the heart of this venture.

Working With The Mix:
We had yet another fantastic year working with local youth charity, The Mix, getting involved in more events than ever before! This year was particularly special, as Frankie- a member of our TruckChef team- lead an exciting graffiti art workshop with the charity, creating his own pieces and inspiring others to join him in painting at Primadonna Festival in Stowmarket. Millie and Ruby headed down to the festival to support Frankie and meet some of the young people who have benefitted from The Mix, and it was great to see how the charity has helped them to thrive!

After helping The Mix to open up a second location in Needham Market back in 2022, we continued to support the expansion and customisation of the charity’s headquarters this year. This was achieved by funding the creation of a stunning wall mural, designed and painted by local artist Joel Millerchip. This mural was to celebrate the Mix’s excellent open access services, and we were so happy with how it turned out!

In 2024, we are endeavouring to expand our charity work even further, covering more ground in order to really give back to our local community. Watch this space!

Innovative Truck Accessorising:
As always, in 2023 we had the opportunity to add that special Kuda touch to a vast array of awesome trucks! One of our most exciting ventures this year was getting involved in a fantastic Iveco S-Way project for Harry and Sons, South West Truck and Van, and Luke C in a HGV! This project featured two sister trucks, which made it one of our most exciting yet. We added a vast array of Strands Lighting and some Hadley airhorns, along with our own side skirts, TruckChef microwave and TreadSafe Catwalk. We even had a hand in sprucing up the paintwork! We hope Luke C is loving his new HGV- you can check out the video here!

As exciting as this project was, it was far from our only one! We worked on a number of brilliant trucks including another Iveco S-Way that received a full glow up, A Mercedes Actros where we added our all-new tipping gear, and of course, the Mercedes Actros Edition 3! You can watch all of our latest truck tours over on our YouTube Channel.

We can’t wait to see what stunning trucks come our way in 2024!

Visiting Our Partners: 
One of the most exciting parts of being a distributer is getting to visit our partners and suppliers all around the world. This year, our team headed out to visit Vepro in Finland, Indel B in Italy, and Strands in Sweden! Tim even got to visit the Canton Fair in China, learning more about the up-and-coming innovations in the industry from all around the world.

Here at Kuda, we are proud to have worked with Vepro for over 30 years, bringing our customers the highest quality accessories for exterior styling. Olly- from our RND department- along with Tim headed over to further our ongoing partnership and check out their state-of-the-art CAD / CAM technology. We have also worked with Strands and Indel B for many years, and believe that meeting their teams in person as regularly as we can and deepening our business partnerships in person is the best way to foster long term, prosperous relationships.

We are excited to find out where in the world 2024 takes us.

Working With Influencers:
Once again, we had a fantastic year in terms of our influencer marketing, expanding our working relationship with our associated creators. As we said earlier, we once again got to work with Luke C in a HGV on our exciting Iveco project, which was a great opportunity. It’s great exposure for us to have worked on his new truck, and we hope he’s loving the upgrades!

We continued working with Becky Giles this last year, collaborating on a number of videos, and even getting her involved in our Big Truck Giveaway! Becky kindly sent Millie and Ruby a video of tips on how to stay safe and make the most out of sleeping in your cab, which was featured in episode 11 of our BIG Truck Giveaway. She even sent us a sticker to add to the truck for our winner!

2023 was our third year working with Trucker Tim, who has become a main stay on our TikTok and YouTube Channels. Tim also helped out with the Big Truck Giveaway, coming down to Kuda HQ to give the DAF a spin, as well as signing the door and adding a sticker. He also attempted to help Millie and Ruby add some mudflaps to the truck… but it all went a bit wrong! You can watch the episode here.

This wasn’t Trucker Tim’s only appearance this year, as way back in February, Millie and Ruby tried out the Trucker Tim driving experience, where they got to drive a HGV for the first time. This was an excellent opportunity, and the girls learned a lot… even if they made a few mistakes along the way! You can check out the video on our YouTube channel.

In 2024, we are seeking to expand our influencer roster even more, with the aim to break into new markets such as tractors and 4x4’s. Stay tuned to see what we get up to.

Another Year As A Team: 
Another year at Kuda means another year with our fantastic team, which has grown even more this year. Alongside the recent acquisition of our RND department, we have also expanded our sales team, our management team, and of course, grown our dedicated team of fitters and factory operatives.

At Kuda, we have a huge array of departments that are all quite different in nature, and we believe that effective communication and co-operation is the foundation for a great work environment. We have so much fun as a team- from team outings, to making fun videos and TikTok’s together, we always keep morale high. Of course- our shared passion for trucks helps too!

We are looking forward to all going into 2024 together and bringing our customers the best of the best. 

And with that, our 2023 round up comes to an end. We'd like to thank all of our customers, partners, suppliers, team, and friends for another fantastic year of Kuda- we can't wait to see what 2024 has in store!

You can watch our 2023 look back YouTube video here.