June 28, 2006
Sweden's Scania has reentered the Taiwan market by purchasing a 100% stake in the Yongdefu Motor Company, which has been renamed Griffin. The purchase, finalized in December 2005, recasts Griffin as a Scania subsidiary and marks the first time a company has directly invested in a heavy vehicle manufacturer on the island.
Griffin President Liu Jhen-wei said that the company would do its utmost to harness Scania's service advantages and reach its 1,000 vehicle sales target.
Scania holds the highest market share in Europe, approaching 50%, and is one of five major heavy vehicle manufacturers in Taiwan, the second largest market in the Asia-Pacific region after Korea. Scania originally came to Taiwan in 1982, and has already sold over 10,000 vehicles since then.
Sources say that Scania's operations in Taiwan will employ a business model where Chengyun Motors Manufacturing Plant in Pingtung purchases components from Scania to build heavy vehicles and buses, and sells them to Griffin, who in turn will handle general sales.
At a recent press conference in Taiwan, Liu and Scania Group Vice President and CFO Jan Gurander both noted that Scania's operations in Taiwan would focus on service.
The two company heads said that Scania's main factory will be providing its Taiwan operations with even more resources to develop service equipment and personnel training, which are considered to be the major factors behind Scania's competitive edge.
Liu said that Griffin expects to establish 10 maintenance and repair centers in Taiwan by 2008 and approach its yearly sales target of over 1,000 vehicles per year, while Scania plans to establish a training center.
The name Griffin, drawn from the Scania's brand emblem, refers to the mythological monster with the body of a lion and wings of an eagle.
(Economic Daily News)
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