KinLai debuts as official distributor in Angola of the Chinese truck brand, which is ranked 68th in the list of Fortune 500 companies worldwide, showing the group's "confidence" in the future of Angola.
"Regardless of the difficulties the country is experiencing with this investment, it is evidence that we continue to have full confidence in Angola's future," said the group's administrator in Angola, Francisco Ramos, at a press conference.
The manager recalled that this is not the only difficult moment the country has gone through and that the group has been able to take measures to adapt, namely widening the range of products to "offer additional solutions in a climate of greater price sensitivity".
Nors has been present in Angola since 1991, with the Swedish Auto Maquinaria, Onedrive, Civiparts, Vitrum and now KinLai, employing a total of 350 workers in this country.
The new company's minimum sales target is 50 vehicles, but Francisco Ramos believes it will be exceeded.
In 2019, preliminary data points to a turnover of 37 million kwanzas from Nors in Angola, a figure that Francisco Ramos hopes to exceed in 2020, with a gradual increase from the second half, he indicated.
The head of Nors Angola said that the investment in the truck distribution company, which has an initial team of 17 employees, is related to the strategic areas of the group.
"Whenever we think about expanding our activity, the first priority is to expand our presence in the main businesses, namely the trucks", a sector that, according to market analysis, "will be the one with the most opportunities for success in the future" in Angola.
Moreover, although the country has already had a greater weight in the group, "it remains one of the main geographies" for Nors, so this "is a safe step", he summarized.
Of the 10 trucks already cleared through customs, two were sold to the owner of Transmago, António Maia, this Wednesday, becoming part of a fleet that already has around 50 trucks.
The vehicles will be used to assist the oil sector, the head of Transmago told Lusa.
Dongfeng, which sells around five million units a year, including commercial and passenger vehicles, is already established in several African countries and has factories in Nigeria and Ethiopia.
A possibility that could also be considered in Angola, if the sales performance is satisfactory, admitted Dongfeng's senior vice president, Stuart Lenin.
The Portuguese Ambassador in Angola, João Caetano da Silva, welcomed the group's investment "which reinforces its already important presence in Angola", in a strategic sector for the country's development, such as the transport of goods, also highlighting China's involvement.
"This partnership is a reflection of the cooperation at multiple levels between Portugal and China, which is extended to companies," the diplomat stressed.
The "tripartite cooperation exercise" between "the friendly countries" of China, Portugal and Angola, was also highlighted by the Chinese ambassador Gong Tao, who made a parallel between the "very rapid development" of Dongfeng, at a domestic and international level, and that of China itself over the last five decades.
