The Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas D’Abreu, this Friday in Luanda, that the transport of goods in the country continues to be a challenge for the executive, therefore encourages the entry of actors who can contribute to the needs of transporting products and promote the reduction of road accidents.
The official was speaking last Friday, to the press, at the relaunch of Renault in Angola, by the Caetano group, which thus became the representative of the French brand Renault Trucks, after the two parties signed the contract in January of this year. The deal is valued at €500,000.
The Minister of Transport said that the transport of goods in the country is still a challenge, as “the transport of goods in Angola has a very significant weight, and obviously we need vehicles that are reliable, safe also to promote road accidents on the roads ”.
Meanwhile, he underlined the need for suppliers and their customers to safeguard maintenance. “It’s not just about selling the vehicle, it’s important to take care of it too, and above all to ensure road safety”, concluded Ricardo D’Abreu.
The president of Renault Trucks for Africa, Cyril Barrile, told the press that the partnership, through which Renault Trucks returns to the Angolan market, represents a very important moment as it marks the beginning of the partnership, on the understanding that the introduction of heavy vehicles in a market “It’s much more than the simple sale of normal vehicles, as customers buy them for very specific purposes.
The official also stated that “each sale represents a new partnership with each of the customers who purchase each unit”.
Cyril Barrile also advanced that the brand’s new vehicles are of “excellent quality”, as it is the same as the vehicles that are made for Europe, but adapted to the context of Angolan needs, in terms of robustness, adaptation to weather conditions, among other characteristics that are found in Angola.
Regarding the types of vehicles, the President for the African region divided the target audience for the vehicles now available to the Angolan market into two groups.
The first, advances the official, are new vehicles, the same as those available to customers around the world, while the second group is refurbished trucks adapted for the Angolan market, improving ground clearance and the chassis.
From the point of view of the expansion programme, he referred that, in addition to Angola, Renault is already present in some countries on the continent, especially in Portuguese-speaking countries. According to the official, the brand is already in Mozambique. However, the other PALOP markets are still very small, which is why their presence still requires some consideration. Cape Verde, on the other hand, is among the countries whose size is small and the local tradition is more focused on small trucks, and therefore it is a country that is currently not on the list of priorities for the entry of Renault Trucks vehicles.
The Managing Director of the Caetano group in Angola, Fernando Leite, said that the strategy of the new importer of the French brand’s vehicles is also to invest in the other provinces of the country.
He also said that the company will guarantee support vehicles to meet any occasional needs for assistance on national roads, to prevent them from being stopped, as it understands that the stoppage of a heavy vehicle represents costs for companies.
