The first truck to roll off the assembly line, a Constellation 19.320, marked the culmination of months of hard work and marks an important step in MAN SE’s internationalisation strategy, following the integration of the Latin American commercial vehicle business of VW earlier this year, which has subsequently become known as MAN Latin America.

The MAN Pinetown plant, which is the company’s only wholly owned Completely Knocked Down (CKD) assembly operation globally, is also the oldest and most experienced CKD assembly operation within the MAN Group. It has begun receiving CKD kits for the VW range of Constellation trucks and Volksbus buses from the MAN Latin America production plant in Resende, Brazil.

The integration has also impacted positively on MAN’s Southern African business. “Before the integration, MAN Pinetown was producing seven units per day. However, with the addition of the VW range to the assembly operation, the predicted increase in demand over the medium and long-term and a reduction in stock currently held, the Pinetown plant expects to increase production to 13 units a day,” says Pinetown plant manager, Marc Michel.

MAN Truck & Bus Africa CEO, Thomas Hemmerich explains that the changes at MAN Pinetown are significant. “South Africa is currently the pilot market for the integration of the VW product range and the MAN CLA products produced in India,” he says. “With the addition of the vehicles already supplied into Africa by MAN Latin America, which includes 2 500 units into Angola and 500 units into the rest of Africa, we aim to double our sales volume. Our target is therefore to substantially increase our annual sales into Africa, which we feel is achievable given the potential that the African market holds but is also obviously dependent on further developments in the world economy.

“The first VW Constellation truck to roll off the MAN Pinetown assembly line is therefore a momentous achievement for MAN Truck & Bus Africa. It marks the start of a new era for the company and paves the way for MAN to becoming a leading supplier of commercial vehicles to emerging markets,” he concludes.