Ipoh, Perak, February 15, 2012 – Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd (TCIE), the sole distributor of UD Trucks (formerly known as Nissan Diesel) in Malaysia, has set up its first corporate identity UD Trucks 3S Centre in Malaysia costing RM8 million in Ipoh, Perak.

The UD Trucks 3S Centre is a one-stop centre offering integrated UD Trucks sales, service and spare parts to serve the transportation needs of TCIE’s customers in Perak and the Northern region.

The 18,500 sq. ft. facility sited on a 2-acre piece of land was officially opened by Mr Mansoor Ahmed, President, Volvo Group Trucks, Region Malaysia, and Managing Director of Volvo Malaysia Sdn Bhd, who represented UD Trucks which is now wholly owned by the Volvo Group.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony today, TCIE executive director Mr Tan Keng Meng said Ipoh was chosen because it is a fast growing strategic hub serving the North-South road transportation system in Peninsula Malaysia.

Tan said the opening of TCIE’s first corporate identity UD Trucks 3S Centre marked a new, significant chapter in its long established corporate history of 35 years as the exclusive distributor of UD Trucks since 1978.

He said the new UD Trucks 3S Centre will cater to TCIE’s future business growth and expansion and capacity of 16 servicing bays capable of catering to 26 Light & Heavy vehicles. And, the company has also invested about RM 1.2 million in new state-of-the-art workshop equipment and tooling to ensure quality servicing of vehicles to its existing and potential customers.

“The establishment of our new 3S Centre further reaffirms our commitment and promise to our existing and potential customers of our quality products and services. In addition, it underlines our pledge to accomplish our long term corporate vision as well as to fortify marketing synergies with Volvo Malaysia.

“It also complements TCIE’s major support centres network where we will resolve problems with prompt action, effective solutions and quality services. Among the value-added services in consideration are the extended hours and 24-hour breakdown support services for the convenience of transporters,” added Tan.

Moving forward, Tan said TCIE is currently exploring to expand this UD Trucks 3S Centres transformation in our other service networks as in Butterworth, Melaka and possibly in the East Coast in efforts to uplift the level of our services.

On the performance of trucking and bus industry in Malaysia, Tan said it has sustained a marginal growth rate of almost three percent in 2011 with registered vehicle sales of 12,374 units compared to 12,018 units in 2010.

Industry growth in the Northern region (covering Perlis, Penang, Kedah and Perak) remained constant, accounting for about 13.5% cent of overall share of the market nationwide, with registered sales of 1,716 vehicles in 2011.

Meanwhile, for Perak state alone, the market size grew slightly above 9.0% with registered vehicle sales of 618 units in 2011 from 566 units in the previous year. Industry sector growth remained steady.

In 2011, TCIE posted positive growth of 17.0% for the overall sales of its UD Trucks light commercial vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles and buses. In terms of market share in Perak, the company managed to garner about 16.7%, up slightly from 15.5% in 2010.

Tan said with the UD Trucks 3S Centre in full operation, he was confident that it will be the foundation of TCIE’s foray into the Northern region towards gaining a competitive edge and expects to enjoy a double-digit growth in sales of UD Trucks vehicles for 2012.