Just six months after FAW opened its Coega plant to assemble trucks locally, the first five export units have been dispatched to the FAW dealership in Kenya.

On 16 January, the five FAW J5P truck tractor units headed off to TransAfrica Motors based in Mombasa, Kenya.

Yusheng Zhang, CEO of FAW Vehicle Manufacturers SA, said: “Once again FAW is setting a benchmark for Chinese truck manufacturing locally.

“Not only have we managed to produce the best quality levels, comparable – if not better – than our FAW parent company in China, but we’ve been able to do so in a very short run-in period for a plant that only came on stream six months ago.”

The Africa dealers who traditionally placed their orders on FAW China are moving their shipments to originate out of South Africa owing to the shorter lead time for delivery, the high levels of quality which some have come to verify personally at Coega in South Africa, and the reduced cost of sourcing FAW vehicles on the same continent.

Says Zhang: “We are already working on a special order for the FAW Tanzania dealership. What is significant is that the export destinations can more readily adjust some specifications to accommodate customers’ requirements specific to their markets.

“In this way we anticipate providing FAW trucks to Africa customers, which will delight them with personalised modifications, as well as provide them with our renowned robust and durable FAW trucks, tipper and mixer ranges.”