Chinese truck manufacturer FAW is financing a US$100-million investment in a new truck plant to be built in Port Elizabeth next year, according to FAW SA operations manager Mehdi Abbas. FAW SA is a joint venture between a local company and Chinese vehicle manufacturer, FAW, which owns the majority share in the local operations. The company started assembling trucks in Spartan, Johannesburg, in 1993. According to the company, the new facility will produce the FAW range of commercial vehicles, followed by passenger vehicles. The plant “will boost FAW’s foot print on the African continent. “FAW will use its new production facility as an export base for the whole of the African Continent,” a spokesman said. The first vehicle is expected to roll off the assembly line at the Eastern Cape plant in 2015. The Spartan facility will then become a parts distribution centre.
