Firm in deal with FAW on vehicles

AN Eastern Cape concrete manufacturer has partnered with Chinese vehicle manufacturer FAW to supply its fleet in the province.

Concrete 4 U – which operates in Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, East London, Colesberg and Mthatha – runs 13 FAW specialist mixer trucks.

FAW is investing in a R600-million truck assembly plant at Coega and this is nearing completion.

Plans are to have a pilot run in May, with actual production of the FAW trucks set to start early in July.

FAW will produce 5000 trucks annually for the southern African market and create 180 jobs. The trucks will be customised in a special facility, separate from the manufacturing plant, to the specifications customers want.

Concrete 4 U managing director Deon Fourie said with FAW building the trucks at Coega outside Port Elizabeth, it would "contribute to the fast delivery of our orders".

"Our return on investment on the FAW fleet has been very good. The FAW units have been performing exceptionally well and are showing good performance and cost-efficiency profiles.

"We have a solid commitment from FAW to keep our trucks on the road and have ordered five more." - Business Reporter