Maker of heavy-duty vehicles signs deals to set up joint venture plants overseas

China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, also known as Sinotruk, is expanding its global footprint, especially in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The company said it is focusing on cooperating with partners in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Africa through localizing its manufacturing and expanding exports to these places.

Sinotruk launches its new vehicle assembly plant in Ethiopia in 2017. Photos Provided To China Daily

Founded in 1956, Sinotruk produced China's first ever heavy-duty truck. In 2003, the company only exported around 40 vehicles. In 2004, the company started its internationalization strategy through brand development, capital, management, talent, technology and marketing.

In recent years, Sinotruk has ramped up efforts to expand businesses in overseas markets. It does this by building production bases through investment, joint venture, cooperation or merger and acquisition. The result is localized production, manufacturing and sales.

To date, the company has set up 73 representative offices and distribution service offices around the world. It has also developed 106 tier-1 distributors, 100 service outlets and 110 accessories outlets in more than 60 countries.

It has established eight overseas cooperative knockdown production plants globally and 16 hubs of automobile parts in 11 countries and regions in Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America and Asia.

"With years of implementing the internationalization strategy, Sinotruk has grown from a simple export company to an internationalized one," said Liu Wei, deputy general manager of Sinotruk.

In 2014, the company collaborated with the China-Africa Development Fund to set up a plant for production and sales of Sinotruk heavy trucks with a large company in Nigeria.

In 2013, China and Pakistan started construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It has played an important role in the cooperation between China and countries and regions including Pakistan, the Middle East and Africa.

To this end, Sinotruk is using the Belt and Road Initiative to advance its business layout to aid in the corridor's construction.

In 2016, the company completed its knockdown factory in Pakistan to realize localized production, which also has supported the country's auto industry development.

In 2018, Sinotruk sold 304,500 vehicles, up 14 percent year-on-year. Business income was 110.05 billion yuan ($16.4 billion), an increase of 21.55 percent over the previous year. During the same year, Sinotruk exported 36,300 heavy trucks, an increase of 18.6 percent over the same period last year.

After years of hard work, Sinotruk has exported more than 350,000 vehicles globally. This achieved the phased goal of developing in overseas markets, Liu said.

"With the Sinotruk brand highly recognized by developing countries, now the company is aimed at entering developed regions and countries with its high-end products," he said.

In its overseas development, Sinotruk has carried out a series of measures to adapt to the cultural environment, marketing and laws.

The company said its products also meet the Euro VI emission standards. They have entered into highend markets, such as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It has also introduced products into Ireland, becoming the first Chinese truck brand to enter the western European market.

Sinotruk also assisted in technology innovation over the decades. Currently, the company has more than 3,700 patents, of which 240 are invention patents.

The company has continued to innovate its commercial patterns and upgrade products based on big data and Internet Plus in recent years.

In 2017, the company put the first of its intelligent heavy trucks on the market. In April, the world's first pure electric L4-class unmanned port tractor was commissioned in Tianjin Port. In June, Sinotruk's first driverless bus was launched.

In October, the company was granted permission to carry out road tests of intelligent network united vehicles by Jinan authorities. It was among the first batch of companies to gain the permission in the country.

"In the future, Sinotruk will continue to optimize the product structure and develop more personalized products to meet the needs of the market and to establish a good image of Chinese products," Liu said.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn