Go China go!
Chinese products are certainly not unfamiliar to South African or African truckers. That’s because Chinese companies have targeted this continent for many years. The strategy has been very successful - because this is a continent where value for money is massively important.
The most successful in South Africa is FAW, which has a large plant in Coega, just outside Port Elizabeth. It was built at a cost of R600 million. Given the extent of South African/Chinese relations, it was even opened by none other than Jacob Zuma. The plant has an annual capacity of over 5000 trucks. FAW first entered the South African market back in 1994 and now the company, which happens to be China’s oldest and biggest truck maker, has a considerable vehicle parc in South Africa .
Enter Shacman
But FAW is about to gain a competitor in the form of Shacman. So, what is this new (to South Africans) truck brand all about?
Well, the Shacman brand hails from the Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group, which commenced business back in 1968. Shaanxi is no small company; the firm - based in Xi’an - employs some 32 000 people and is one of the three largest heavy truck manufacturers in the country. Its product range includes military off-road vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, medium and light trucks, medium and large coaches and buses, mini vehicles, mini vehicle axles, Cummins engines, heavy-duty axles and various vehicle components.
Shaanxi has lofty ambitions for Shacman. Total annual truck sales of 200 000 units and revenue of over 100 billion Yuan (that’s roughly R210 billion) are on the company’s radar ... as soon as 2020. Shacman produced 150 000 vehicles in 2018, which means incremental sales will be required. Domestic sales currently make up the bulk of volume but a 30% growth in export sales is on the cards. And at least some of those sales will be to places such as South Africa.
Plans for South Africa
According to Tian Chao, General Manager of Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Import & Export Co, South Africa will join a host of other export markets. “We already export to more than 100 countries, and the gap between our company and that of our major competitors has narrowed further. The largest export markets are Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In the last two years we have made significant progress when it comes to regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia,” he reveals.
The company intends selling its X3000 in South Africa. This is a 6 x 4 truck tractor with a 7.5 ton front axle, a 13 ton driven axle, powered by a water-cooled 9.7-litre Euro 3 Weichai 420 hp (309 kW) engine that delivers maximum torque of 1200 to 1500 r/min. It is equipped with a 12-speed manual gearbox produced by the Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Company, which produces a whopping million transmissions a year.
We have yet to drive the truck (hopefully this will happen soon). However the so-called “European style cab” looks good in the pics. Furthermore, the company says that the vehicle offers “outstanding power and fuel economy, a spacious and comfortable interior and excellent safety”. It also states that It is the first Chinese truck to pass the European ECE-R29 standard heavy truck collision test.
Chao believes that South African transport operators who invest in the Shacman brand will not regret this decision. “This is because we focus on the customer, we pay attention to the whole life cycle of the product and we also pay attention to the customer’s operation,” he points out.
According to Chao, a South African office has yet to be established. “For now, the business of South Africa is operated by our office in Mozambique,” he says. The office in Mozambique is one of 36 international offices.
Other plans for the African continent include the construction of a factory to build the trucks in Algeria. It will be a completely knocked down (CKD) plant. A semi knocked down (SKD) plant has existed there since 2017. Shacman’s distributor in that country, Groupe Mazouz, would like to achieve a market share of 90%! The same can never happen here in South Africa, where we have a plethora of the world’s finest truck brands available for sale. But can Shacman make smaller inroads into this notoriously competitive market? We shall watch, and wait, and see!
