FAW Vehicle Manufacturers SA has enjoyed a particularly memorable year, racking up unmatched milestones among FAW manufacturing plants outside of Chinese headquarters.

FAW SA started modestly over 20 years ago selling trucks locally, but in recent years it has stepped up to the plate. In the last three years FAW SA committed over $100 million in local plant, infrastructure, job creation and training.

One of the most recent achievements was on 31 August when the Coega based plant, which has only been fully operational for just over two years, saw its 2 000^th locally built truck roll off the production line, giving rightful claim to the company motto “Built in South Africa, for Africa.”

Successful exports

It is in the export market that FAW SA has been particularly prominent over the past few months of 2016, having one of the most consistent month-on-month export drives in the SA truck building industry. The company recently exceeded the 200 unit mark in exports into African countries.

Jianyu Hao, CEO of FAW SA says: “What is most gratifying is that many of the units being bought by sub-Saharan customers are now second, and soon to be delivered, our third generation repurchase. This is testament to us honouring our commitment for service and support into the African regions.”

Impressive year on year growth

Of the most recent achievements added to the list of successes was in November when FAW’s 8 tonner 15.180FL achieved year on year growth of 19.4% with 289 units sold this year, compared to the same period last year.

Of all the FAW models the 15.180FL remains one of the most popular among operators because it has all the hallmarks of FAW trucks – durable chassis frame and cross members capable of whatever African roads can throw at it.

This robust truck and comfortable cab can be combined with different body lengths and load combinations allowing flexibility in terms of bodies fitted – whether closed bodied or tautliners for city distribution, long haul distribution, lightweight dry goods or refrigerated applications.

There are the obvious heavyweight construction and mining applications which call on its ease of driving, simplicity of operation and affordable operation costs, especially its low fuel consumption.

Benchmark sales

Another milestone marking a highly satisfying year for FAW SA is its benchmark of over 1 000 unit sales in a single year.

Jianyu Hao concludes: “The indications for 2017 remain largely similar to 2016. It will be a tough and competitive market in slowly recovering economies. However, the opportunities are there and the chance of a one to three per cent growth is possible. We at FAW SA will continue to build on our customer relationships as we explore every new possibility.”