UD Trucks and Tan Chong celebrate 40-year partnership
UD Trucks and Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd (TCIE) recently celebrated their 40th anniversary of partnership – the longest ever principal and distributor partnership in UD Trucks’ history globally with a grand dinner celebration event themed “Powering the Nation Forward”.
Held at Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur, the event was attended by Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd group CEO Datuk Rosie Tan and Volvo Group Trucks Asia president Jacques Michel.
“Over the past 40 years, TCIE has been a pioneer and leader in the commercial vehicle services industry in Malaysia. UD Trucks, as a partner, has been able to introduce our innovative trucks and substantially grow our brand in Malaysia over the years because of a genuine, sturdy and trusted relationship between TCIE and UD Trucks,” said UD Trucks managing director (hub Malaysia) Filip Van den Heede.
In 2007, Volvo Group acquired Nissan Diesel and several years later in 2010, rebranded it to UD Trucks, which essentially means Ultimate Dependability.
Van den Heede continued, “When the Volvo Group took over, we continued to build on the legacy of Kenzo Adachi, the founder of UD Trucks, to ‘build the truck that the world needs today’. Malaysia was the first market in the world to assemble UD Quester and UD Croner outside of Japan.”
TCIE, in 1978, was the first to bring in the CK11 and half cab UG780 Nissan Diesel trucks to grace Malaysian roads back then and had been able to build on the brand with the latter model.
When Volvo Group entered the fray, it was the ultimate intention to combine the best of three worlds – UD Trucks’ immense history of Japanese craftsmanship, Volvo Group’s advanced technological know-how and TCIE’s local presence, extensive sales network and aftermarket expertise – to provide trucks that Malaysian customers can fully depend on.
Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd director Wong King Yoon said:
“The pioneering spirit of Tan Chong Group that was espoused by our founder, the late Tan Sri Tan Yuet Foh, had allowed TCIE to pursue every new opportunity that came with new challenges. The strong bond and deep understanding we have developed with UD Trucks and Volvo Group has successfully established our reputation, credibility and reliability as one of the best sources for smart trucking solutions in the market today.
The dinner celebration also saw Golden Partnership Awards given to selected customers and dealers.