Eicher trucks to be assembled in SA in 2018
Eicher trucks will be assembled in South Africa in less than 12 months, says VE Commercial Vehicles South Africa (VECV SA) country head Surender Singh.
“The project has a one-year lead time. We are currently in discussions to make it happen.”
The Eicher truck range will be assembled at the UD Trucks facility, in Rosslyn.
All Eicher trucks are currently imported from India.
VECV SA and UD Trucks are members of the Volvo group.
Eicher entered South Africa earlier this year through the launch of the medium-duty Pro 3000 series.
The 8.5 t gross vehicle mass haulage trucks (4 t to 5 t payload) was followed by the unveiling of the 6000 series.
The heavy-duty 6000 series will be available in a freight carrier with different wheel bases, as well as a tipper, garbage compactor and cement mixer variant.
Singh admits that the Pro 6000 series will compete with UD’s products in the South African market, however, he notes that “each brand has its own unique selling point”.
He says Eicher products will be the lowest-priced product in the Volvo stable in South Africa, differentiating it from other products within the group.
“Our aim is to be reasonably priced. We are not Chinese, we are not Tata, we are not high-end European. We are in the centre spot. The sweet spot.”
Eicher is available at 14 outlets across South Africa. VECV SA has joined hands with dealership groups such as Imperial, BB Motor, Combined Motor Holdings, AAD, Billson Trucks, Fleet Dynamics Group and Premier Truck & Bus to make its products available to the local market.
Singh does not want to elaborate on the sales volumes VECV SA is seeking in the South African market.
He does note, however, that the launch of the Pro 6000 series may be followed by the introduction of an Eicher bus in South Africa.
The launch of a bus will follow once “we are settled in with the trucks”, says Singh.
He says VECV SA will focus on “permit buses”, such as those used by Golden Arrow and Putco, and not luxury coaches.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation