Congratulations to Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) for reaching yet another milestone in its long history in South Africa when the 125 000th truck recently rolled off the assembly line at its plant in East London.
The first truck was assembled at the then Car Distributors Assembly (CDA) in East London in 1962. CDA, the company that would evolve into MBSA, opened its doors in 1948 and was contracted in 1958 by Daimler-Benz to assemble Mercedes-Benz products. Since then, the commercial vehicles division of MBSA has assembled the Unimog, Mercedes-Benz buses, FUSO trucks, Mercedes-Benz trucks and Freightliner trucks.
Goodhope Ncapo, MBSA divisional manager for Commercial Vehicles, says that because the assembly team has clear and stringent processes that are never deviated from, the plant is rated as one of the best in the world. “We pride ourselves on world-class quality and unmatched reliability,” says Ncapo.
The 125 000th truck – a Mercedes-Benz Axor 3335 – was handed over to a company which Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ rates as one of its most valued customers, Aqua Transport and Plant Hire. The Euro III Axor will soon be part of Aqua’s increasing and exclusively Mercedes-Benz fleet, operating as a water tanker.
A milestone reached: The 125 000th truck to roll off the Mercedes-Benz SA assembly line In East London was this Mercedes-Benz Axor 3335.
“It is fitting for us to do this handover here at our plant as we are not only here to celebrate this truck but also the longstanding relationship we have developed with Aqua. The 125 000th truck forms part of a bigger order of 165 Mercedes-Benz trucks, which makes this one of the largest single orders for our trucks. This is only possible because the quality measures and processes from our plant are remarkable,” said Clinton Savage, head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
At the handover ceremony, Donovan Naicker, director of Aqua Transport and Plant Hire, said that Aqua started off with water tankers but by closely collaborating with Mercedes-Benz Trucks, is now also a major player in the construction and plant hire industries.
“We’ve built a solid relationship with MBSA and this has resulted in tremendous growth for us. We only operate Mercedes-Benz trucks and this has given us a competitive advantage. There is such great synergy between Aqua and the MBSA team and that is what has sustained this relationship. As a company that operates in the essential services sphere, we need equipment that is extremely reliable and we receive more than this,” said Naicker.
Well done to all in the plant for this magnificent achievement.