An agreement has been reached between FAW and Associated Motor Holdings (AMH), part of the Imperial Group, whereby AMH will be the exclusive sales, parts, service and maintenance truck partner of FAW in Zambia and in Malawi.
At the agreement signing ceremony, Manuel Pereira de Canha, CEO of AMH, affirmed AMH’s belief in the positive attributes of the FAW brand of trucks saying that the brand had changed old misconceptions.
“FAW trucks have proven in a few short years their durability, strength and rugged capacity to deal with some of the most rigorous operating conditions prevalent, especially in developing global regions such as Africa. AMH recognises this as an opportunity to grow its African footprint and we look forward to the positive growth opportunity.”
In response to de Canha’s commitment from AMH, Zhijian Wang, managing director of FAW Import & Export Co. Ltd, paid respect to the trust and respect demonstrated by AMH in the FAW brand.
“In 2015 FAW Vehicle Manufacturers built and sold over 1 000 trucks into the southern African region. With the formidable experience of a partner such as AMH in Malawi and Zambia, plus our own expansion further into Africa, we have set our sights on 5 000 trucks per annum to be sold in the near future,” says Wang.
The greatest advantage for South Africa underpinning this agreement is that all the FAW trucks sold into sub-Saharan Africa are being manufactured locally at the Coega plant based near Port Elizabeth.
Opened in 2014, the FAW Coega plant has extensive capacity to expand production to up to 5 000 vehicles per annum. This presents an opportunity for further capital investment, job creation, greater localisation of second and third-tier supply levels and an expanding vehicle manufacturing sector.
