Staff Reporter
Hyundai Automotive South Africa’s commercial vehicle range has received a healthy injection with the launch of the new Mighty EX8 truck, boasting several new features and an industry-leading factory warranty that makes it a formidable contender in its market segment.
The new Mighty EX8 – a successor of the previous HD truck – stems from a long, proud and successful tradition of building competitive commercial vehicles with notable strengths in Korea, the rest of Asia and the Middle East. That focus is also moving to Africa, with the resulting expansion of Hyundai ‘s Commercial Vehicles to right hand drive key markets of which South Africa is one.
The Mighty EX8, which is assembled at Hyundai Automotive SA’s commercial vehicle factory in Apex, Benoni, joins the ever-popular H100 (also referred to as our “Bakkie”) and the H1 panel van in Hyundai Automotive SA’s commercial vehicle range.
Studies are also underway with the aim of introducing various other new models, such as the larger H350 bus and panel van, as well as automatic transmissions for the medium truck.
“Hyundai’s addition of the EX8 truck to the local commercial range is the beginning of exciting new developments. It is supported by Hyundai Automotive South Africa’s commercial network that consists of 40 sales dealers and 37 servicing dealers spread throughout the country, as well as Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This ensures that our footprint covers all the major routes travelled by our customers,” says Wade Griffin, commercial vehicle director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa.
“It also comes at a time when we at Hyundai are very optimistic that a strong increase in sales of commercial vehicles is bound to happen over the next five years due to renewed hope in the change of political leadership, and the prospects for a return to a healthy GDP growth,” says Griffin.
Hyundai’s assembly plant on the East Rand in Gauteng started in 2014 and is now fully operational, assembling the EX8 and the H100 Bakkie. The plant has an land area of 32 000 m2 , with 19000 m2 under roof. The assembly plant is currently manned to produce over 400 units of the H100 and EX8 trucks per month.
Hyundai Automotive SA’s Commercial Vehicle Division has its own truck body builder on site in Benoni that produces several standard and customized options according to the customers specifications. This include van bodies; dropsides; tippers; tautliners; trailers; and H100 tipper conversions. The truck body builder also does all kinds of repair work for customers.
“Hyundai’s mission is to partner with customers to help them build their businesses by offering them good quality commercial vehicles that is suited for its specific purpose. We offer vehicles that are durable and reasonably priced, with generous warranties for peace of mind and low cost of ownership,” says Griffin.
“We also have what we call trained transport solution consultants who will make sure that we offer the right vehicle to get the best return for your business.”
It is against this background that the EX8 Mighty is introduced to the South African market, with the various options and new, practical features that the new truck offers.