Kuala Lumpur, May 04, 2016 – UD Trucks and Tan Chong Industrial Equipment (TCIE), recently rolled out the first ever locally assembled Complete Knocked-down (CKD) of the UD Trucks Quester model. This is the first Quester CKD assembly for UD Trucks in Asia Pacific outside of Japan with a private distributor partner.
TCIE invested over RM1.5 million in setting up the assembly line in their Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn. Bhd. Segambut plant, to meet the needs of assembling the UD Quester trucks locally. UD Trucks Japan on the other hand contributed to the capacity building of local engineers by sharing technology and the know-how in setting up this new facility in TCIE. With the support of UD Trucks , TCIE had the assembly line up and running smoothly marking an important milestone for TCIE.
“UD Trucks Japan and Tan Chong group has more than 30 years of close cooperation and working relationship, hence the latest set-up of local assembly for the CKD of Quester, being the first Quester CKD assembled for UD Trucks in Asia Pacific by a private distributor partner is a testament of TCIE’s strength and capability,” said Mr. Tan Keng Meng, Executive Director of TCIE. “It defines the faith and trust UD Trucks Japan has in our ability to lead the Japanese brand trucks in Malaysia,” he further said.
“UD Trucks will gradually penetrate the Malaysian market with a consistent growth and supply, of our Quester series,” said Mr. Kazutoshi ANDO, Vice President of Volvo Group Trucks Operation, Japan. “This is the first time ever, that a private partner is assembling our UD Trucks and we are excited to be working alongside TCIE in providing more choices to the Malaysian market by introducing our trucks,” he further stated.
TCIE will be rolling out 8 types of rigid trucks from the Quester series from their plant, namely the 4X2, 6x2, 6x4 and 8X4 models with both 8 litres and 11 litres engine capacity. The 8X4 Quester trucks is the first Japanese branded 8x4 truck to be introduced in Malaysia as a new vehicle chassis. The locally assembled UD trucks mainly feed the cargo, dump and mixer market segments. TCIE projects to line-off almost 200 trucks within 2016.
