Johannesburg, 22 October 2026 – FAW Trucks Southern Africa has secured two category wins at the 5th Annual Naamsa Accelerator Awards, taking the Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year (CA 15) and Extra Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year (CA 28) honours during South African Auto Week 2026 in Durban.
The awards form part of one of South Africa’s most important automotive industry gatherings. Hosted by Naamsa, The Automotive Business Council from 13 to 16 October, 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.
KwaZulu-Natal was a particularly significant host province for FAW Trucks. In addition to being an established automotive manufacturing hub, the region plays an important role in the movement of vehicles, parts and goods through Durban, South Africa’s principal logistics gateway. FAW Trucks has reinforced its presence in this strategically important market through a strong regional dealer network spanning Pinetown, Kingsmead, Phoenix, Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle and Harrismith. This network places sales, service and aftersales support closer to transport operators across KwaZulu-Natal and the surrounding freight corridors. Hosting SA Auto Week in Durban therefore brought the industry conversation into a region that is central to FAW Trucks’ customers, dealer operations and continued growth in Southern Africa.
The Accelerator Awards, presented on 15 October, 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.
This long-term approach has accompanied FAW’s rise to the top tier of South Africa’s commercial-vehicle market in recent years. The company’s commitment is not simply to supply a globally developed product, but to locally produce, refine, customise and test vehicles for Southern African applications, supported by employees and an extended network that have grown with the brand through multiple industry cycles.
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.
For transport operators, that depth matters. Commercial vehicles are productive assets operating under demanding conditions, where reliability, operating cost, parts availability and downtime directly affect profitability. FAW’s approach has consequently centred on developing vehicles for Southern African operating realities and backing them with the sales, parts and after-sales capability customers require to keep their fleets moving.
Huang extended his appreciation to the people and customers who have contributed to the company’s progress.
“To our people who power our progress, our dealer and export networks that carry the brand forward, and our customers whose trust and confidence inspire us to keep moving: thank you. For 32 years, FAW has listened, learned and invested in South Africa. These awards recognise how far we have come, but they also strengthen our resolve to keep refining our products, growing local capability and supporting the transformation and competitiveness of the automotive industry. Progress is something we build collectively.”
FAW Trucks Southern Africa’s two wins at the 5th Annual Naamsa Accelerator Awards ultimately reinforce a story that has been more than three decades in the making: global engineering supported by local manufacturing, a strategically developed customer-support network, growing regional reach and a long-term commitment to South Africa’s automotive and commercial transport industries.
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About FAW Trucks Southern Africa
FAW Vehicle Manufacturers South Africa (Pty) Ltd provides medium, heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicles designed to deliver robust, reliable and cost-effective transport solutions for Southern African conditions. As part of Fortune Global 500 company FAW Group Corporation, the business combines global expertise with local manufacturing at its Coega facility in Gqeberha. Supported by a national dealership network and a focus on customer service, FAW Trucks Southern Africa remains committed to supporting businesses, developing local capability and contributing to economic growth across the region.