53
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
NOVEMBER
2015
EQUIPMENT
>
This transaction will see Isuzu Trucks change from being
a typical commercial Original Equipment Manufacturer
(OEM) to an enterprise type of business that has the
capacity to initiate and build products according to
client specifications.
“This acquisition complements our growth strategy. We
believe the acquisition of KANU and ACT will definitely enhance our
current business structure. The move to acquire these entities will
centralise the process of buying our trucks where everything will
be processed from one central point of contact,” says Isuzu Truck
South Africa COO, Craig Uren.
The directors of Isuzu Truck South Africa, with full support of
Isuzu Leadership in Japan, have developed new strategies and
plans with structures in place to lead the business into this new
business cycle.
“Our scope of work and business is no longer only focused on
what leaves the factory gate.Together with our dealers and supplier
base, Isuzu Truck South Africa will have a more integrated relation-
ship with current and future customers in the life of their trucks.
This acquisition also comes with a new appointment within
the business. Current plant manager, Sipho Sandla will move into
a new role as general manager leading the KANU/ACT operation
in Port Elizabeth, with outgoing owner of KANU, Tony Wright,
staying on in an advisory capacity for a minimum of 12-months
to ensure a smooth transition. In 1991, Sandla graduated with a
Higher National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering (B.Tech). To
date, Sandla has been working as an engineer in the automotive
manufacturing sector for over 23 years and has vast experience in
all aspects of the assembly line.
“Isuzu Truck South Africa will continue to be one of the major
contributors in the Eastern Cape’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
We believe that every truck we sell into the market possesses an
economic opportunity with great return on investment. The more
we sell, the more economies we create, and with that, the creation
of new job opportunities. South Africa and the continent at large
need greater and stronger growth for our economies to develop,”
concludes Uren.
INITIATE
and
BUILD
Isuzu Truck South Africa recently
announced the acquisition of Port
Elizabeth based KANU Commercial Body
Construction and Automotive Chassis
Technologies (ACT) in a 100% buyout of
each entity, effective from August 2015.
ABOVE RIGHT:
Sipho Sandla, general manager
leading the KANU/ACT operation.
ABOVE:
Isuzu Truck South Africa COO,
Craig Uren.
RIGHT:
During a recent visit to the KANU/
ACT factories, members of the media had the
opportunity to witness its capacity to initiate
and build products according to
client specifications.
BELOW:
The move to acquire these entities will
centralise the process of buying Isuzu trucks:
everything will be processed from one central
point of contact.




