The current forecast is that FAW Vehicle Manufacturers South Africa (FVMSA) will sell around 1 000 trucks in South Africa this year, up from around 700 units last year, says executive director Richard Leiter.

Exports for the first four months of the year have been less than 30 units.

FVMSA national sales manager Eugene van der Berg says FAW truck sales in South Africa have almost doubled from 2013 to 2014, and that the company hopes to see a similar growth trend this year.

Leiter says it is important for the company, which opened its truck assembly plant in Coega, in the Eastern Cape, last year, to improve its volumes.

“We need to reach 5 000 units a year in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa in the not-to-near future.”

This number means FVMSA will need to build between 2 000 and 3 000 units annually within the next two to three years for export to sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, says Leiter.

He notes that FAW sells around 10 000 trucks a year in Africa from China, and that FVMSA will, in future, probably take a percentage of these sales.

The Coega plant is able to produce left-hand-drive vehicles as well, which means it is possible to access the lucrative Angolan market.

“Our biggest competitor in Africa is the second-hand truck,” says Leiter.

There are a number of challenges to assembling vehicles in South Africa, he adds.

Labour reliability has emerged as a challenge since the Coega plant opened its doors in July last year.

High costs – “all kind of costs, including port costs” – are also a problem.

“Shipping costs from there to Mombassa are higher than from here to Shanghai,” laments Leiter.

NEW MEDIUM TRUCK
FVMSA earlier this month launched a truck targeting the Southern and Central African markets specifically – the Coega-assembled 8.140 FL medium-duty truck.

“Our decision to introduce a medium-weight truck range was based on customer demand and market opportunity,” says FVMSA CEO Yusheng Chang.

The company says it has redesigned and re-engineered the Chinese version of the 8.140 FL truck in order to meet local customer demands.

The truck, as a chassis cab, is priced at R239 000 (excluding VAT). It will be available from FAW dealers in a number of body derivatives – a drop-side, a taut-liner option, a van body, a tipper and a rollback and a dry-freight insulated body.

Customers may also buy the chassis cab and fit their own truck bodies for other applications.

The 8.140 FL has a six-ton payload allowance.

Standard body length is 5.5 m.

The truck is fitted with the Euro 3 Cummins ISF 3.8-litre engine, and uses a ZF 6-speed synchromesh manual transmission.

Development work on an automated manual transmission is continuing, says Van der Berg.

The 8.140 FL uses a Wabco braking system with full-air dual-circuit brakes, and also features an antilock braking system, exhaust brake and air-cut parking brake.

The 2-m-wide cab has seating for a driver plus two passengers.

Driver aids and comforts include power steering, a height-adjustable steering column, an adjustable roof vent, reverse buzzer and radio with MP3 and USB.

The truck is sold with a two-year unlimited kilometre warranty that covers “everything” for the first year, and only the drive train for the second year.

The FAW truck range in South Africa now sports 12 models.