A couple of weeks ago, UD Trucks and Tan Chong Industrial Equipment SdnBhd (TCIE) celebrated the 40th anniversary of their partnership. This is actually the longest ever principal and distributor partnership in the history of UD Trucks, globally. It harks back to the days where UD Trucks, then Nissan Diesel, and also when Malaysian television consisted of one or two government run TV stations. Those were the days.
Anyway, UD Trucks and TCIE celebrated in a big way with a grand dinner celebration event themed ‘Powering the Nation Forward’. The event was held at the Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur and was attended by Jacques Michel, President of Volvo Group Trucks Asia and JVs Sales and Dato’ Rosie Tan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad together with other top management of Tan Chong Group, UD Trucks and TCIE, as well as staff, partners, customers and members of the media.
UD Trucks and TCIE's relationship started in 1978 when UD Trucks was under Nissan and was called Nissan Diesel. Back then, TCIE was the first to bring in the Nissan Diesel CK11 and half cab UG780 trucks to Malaysia and with these two trucks, especially the UG780 had started building up the brand. Since then, the two parties have continuously worked together in going the extra mile to provide new, innovative and creative trucking solutions for customers in Malaysia.
Then, when Volvo Group entered the fray when it purchased Nissan Diesel in 2007 the relationship continued. Nissan Diesel was then rebranded into UD Trucks in 2010 which meant Ultimate Dependability (and also to distance the brand that was no longer under Nissan's control). According to the people at Volvo Group, it was the ultimate intention to combine the best of 3 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 in order to provide trucks that Malaysian customers can fully depend on. The relationship between Tan Chong and UD Trucks remained strong despite the change in principal ownership, and continued to deepen and expand beyond various challenges.
Speaking at the evening, Mr. Filip Van den Heede, Managing Director Hub Malaysia, UD Trucks said, “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 that the world needs today and substantially grow our brand in Malaysia over the years because of a genuine, sturdy and trusted relationshipbetween TCIE and UD Trucks.”
“(The relationship has) led us in Malaysia to become the first market in the world to assemble UD Quester andUD Croner outside of Japan. With this 40th year anniversary celebration, we are very thankful and remain confident that TCIE will continue to be the ideal Malaysian partner for us for local manufacturing, distribution and customer support. We certainly look forward to many more successful years to come!” added Filip.
Mr. Wong King Yoon, Director, Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd, also shared on the cordial relationship between UD Trucks and TCIE. He said, “TCIE has come a long way to be where and who we are today. From our humble beginning, TCIE now offers the full range of services, from assembly to distribution, marketing, financial and insurance assistance to servicing and full aftermarket support. As the sole distributor and long-term partner of UD Trucks, we feel gratified to have contributed to the growth of the UD brand in Malaysia. We would not have achieved it all without UD Trucks and the unwavering support by our business partners and customers.”
In conjunction with the celebration, UD Trucks and TCIE took the opportunity to express their appreciation to partners and customers by giving out the Golden Partnership Award to those who have notably contributed to this 40-year partnership.
The first Golden Partnership Award for customer went to ASAC Logistics SdnBhd, a truly loyal customer of TCIE. ASAC Logistics was the very first proud owner of the CK11 in 1978 and over the years up to-date, has continued to support the purchase of UD trucks. ASAC Logistics have more than 500 units of UD Trucks in their fleet and has evolved to be one of the largest logistic companies in Malaysia.
Secondly, the Golden Partnership Award for Sales Dealer went to LK Utara Auto Sdn Bhd. LK Utara Auto was first appointed by TCIE as the authorized private sales dealer in 1999. The company focuses solely on the sale of UD Trucks and has to-date, successfully sold more than 880 units of UD Trucks thereby maintaining their amazing position as the top 3 best performance private sales dealer for 19 consecutive years.
Thirdly, the Golden Partnership Award for Service Dealer was awarded to Mun Chai Auto Works Sdn Bhd. Established in 1980, Mun Chai Auto Works was appointed by TCIE as the authorized service dealer for UD Trucks over 20 years ago. They have been giving continuous tip-top service quality till today. Now, Mun Chai Auto Works has more than 20 service bays to cater for its growing truck servicing business.
The final Golden Partnership Award for Parts Dealer went to Kaifa Auto Parts Sdn Bhd. The company continues to maintain its Top 5 best performance position since 1999. TCIE appointed Auto Enterprise (M) SdnBhd as the authorized parts dealer in 1978, and in 1999, the role was transferred to its sister company,Kaifa Auto Parts SdnBhd to solely focus on UD Trucks.
Note that all of the dealers have long term relationships with TCIE and ultimately with UD Trucks. It is this long term trust that keeps things going over a period of many years. The commercial vehicle sector is full of stories like those mentioned herein, where brand loyalty isn't built overnight, but built slowly throughout the years.
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