Trucking
opens
commercial
vehicle assembly plant
Hyundai Automotive South Africa
At this stage most of the trucks pro-
cent share in the medium commercial
officially opened a commercial
duced in the plant will be distributed
vehicle market,” says Griffin.
vehicle assembly plant on
in the South African market, but the
company is investigating options to
the East Rand of Gauteng in
export to markets in the Sub-Saharan
September as part of a multi-
region. Of the vehicles assembled in
million rand investment in its
local Commercial Vehicle division.
“
T
the Benoni plant, 20 percent will be
exported to Botswana and Namibia as
part of the immediate plans. Hyundai
Automotive SA established the fac-
he opening of this assembly
plant forms an ideal platform
from which to strengthen
our business strategy, both
in terms of commercial market growth
and sustainability, as well as an increasing commitment and investment in the
South African economy,” says Wade
Griffin, director of Commercial Vehicles
at Hyundai Automotive SA.
tory by buying an existing plant from
Imperial Holdings as part of a R110
million investment in the Commercial
Motor Company’s Commercial Vehicle
division in Korea to assist with the local
training and development of staff to
ensure that best practices are followed
in the assembly process. From here,
office of Hyundai Automotive SA will be
local assembly to capitalise on for our
responsible for ongoing training.
“We have already produced the first
ate jobs in an economy that is in dire
need of such opportunities.”
The rationale behind the Semi-KnockedDown (SKD) assembly plant in Apex,
the industrial area of Benoni, was
largely driven by a long-term strategy
to grow Hyundai’s share in the South
African commercial vehicle market, to
be more competitive and to increase
Hyundai’s investment in the country’s
economy.
The initial aim is to produce 50 units a month, focusing
specifically on the Hyundai HD65 and HD72 trucks
34
• logistics in action
competitive business model and create
further jobs in the local economy. “We
are obviously at an early stage in the
development of the local operation, but
we are already examining the expansion of locally produced parts for our
assembly line,” says Griffin.
ber of trained engineers from Hyundai
opportunities through investment and
help to impro