Hosted by Naamsa, The Automotive Business Council, SA Auto Week brought together government, manufacturers, investors and industry stakeholders around the theme “Transforming Tomorrow Today. Resetting Policy. Advancing the Energy Transition. Driving Investment & Inclusive Growth.” The programme placed localisation, transformation, new-energy vehicles, manufacturing competitiveness, skills and investment at the centre of the national automotive conversation.

The Accelerator Awards recognise performance and progress across the automotive value chain. For FAW Trucks Southern Africa, the two commercial-vehicle awards provide important recognition of a 32-year South African journey that began in 1994, long before the current wave of new Chinese vehicle brands entering the market.

Representing FAW Trucks Southern Africa at the event were Chief Operating Officer Mr Xin Ethan Huang, Executive Director Mr Richard Leiter and Brand Manager Kirsha Krishna.

Commenting on the achievement, Huang acknowledged the employees, dealerships, customers and business partners whose contribution underpins the company’s progress. “These awards are more than recognition of our high-quality, durable vehicles. They celebrate the people and partnerships behind our success. This achievement belongs to all of us.”

Over more than three decades, FAW has worked to refine not only its product offering but the complete customer support ecosystem around it. That has included developing a strategically positioned dealer and service network, selecting locations according to customer demand and key transport corridors, strengthening parts and after-sales capability, and continuously adapting locally produced vehicles to the complex operating requirements of Southern Africa.

That network supports customers across South Africa as well as FAW’s export markets. The regional business is supported through an established and deliberate network strategy designed to provide direct access to product, parts, technical expertise and after-sales support, helping uphold the brand and its vehicles well beyond the initial sale.

FAW’s localisation journey is anchored by its Coega manufacturing facility in the Eastern Cape, established in 2014 and supported by further investment, including the R200 million investment declaration announced in 2024. In 2026, the plant reached another defining milestone with the roll-off of its 25,000th locally assembled vehicle, illustrating the scale and momentum built over 32 years in the market.

The direction of this investment aligns closely with the transformation and localisation priorities highlighted at SA Auto Week. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau told the industry that transformation and competitiveness should reinforce one another, and that deeper localisation creates opportunities for new suppliers, new investment and new jobs. He also emphasised that South Africa’s automotive support framework must increasingly reward manufacturing in the country, rather than assembly alone, while strengthening local component production.

Naamsa has similarly positioned deeper localisation, a broader supplier base, skills development, investment and a successful transition to new-energy technologies as central to the industry’s next phase. Its 2026 Automotive Trade Manual notes that the sector’s future competitiveness will depend on policy support, strong export markets, increased localisation, technology transition, improved logistics and infrastructure, and the ability to adapt to global change.

For FAW, these priorities are already reflected in an operating model that combines local assembly, skills development, employment, an established dealer network and an expanding regional footprint. The company’s South African base also supports its wider export ambitions, particularly as African trade integration creates further opportunities for locally based automotive businesses to serve regional markets.

The Accelerator Awards therefore arrive at a meaningful point in FAW’s development. They recognise two vehicles, but they also reflect the depth of the infrastructure behind those products: 32 years of market knowledge, local production capability, strategic dealer development, customer feedback, technical support and the people who have carried the brand through its growth journey.