Owner of the MAN Truck & Bus Swaziland dealership Ernest Da Cruz has expanded the German manufacturer’s sub-Equatorial Africa footprint by building a new sales and service dealership in Matola, just outside the Mozambique capital of Maputo.
The new facility, built from the ground up on a 15 000 m2 property at an initial cost of R30-million, has a 1 200 m2 workshop, a 400 m2 parts department and 600 m2 of office space.
The workshop includes three service bays, eight repair bays and a wash bay.
“This new dealership is not just another outlet for selling trucks and buses, but represents a step towards establishing infrastructure capable of supporting the immensely competitive transport industry in the region,” says Da Cruz.
The new dealership is equipped with a high-tech workshop and parts inventory management systems, including a computerised oil dispensing system, a 5 t crane and a server, and running inventory management software that links the Matola parts warehouse with its sister warehouse at Da Cruz’s Swaziland dealership.
Mozambique is one of Africa’s star economic performers with yearly economic growth of between 6% and 7%.
Foreign direct investment, particularly in port infrastructure at harbours such as Maputo, Beira, Nacala, Pemba and Quelimane, is ramping up the country’s international logistics capacity, says MAN sub-Equatorial Africa export after-sales head Thomas Ferreira.
“The absence of any significant rail networks from South Africa and other neighbouring countries to Mozambique makes truck transport the predominant logistics provider on the subcontinent and this new dealership, which is perfectly located alongside the N4-Maputo corridor, will become an invaluable service and support centre for long-haul trucks running from Gauteng to Maputo and other ports in Mozambique.”
The dealership has secured a deal to supply 55 Volkswagen buses to Maputo municipal commuter bus operator TPM.