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The Gulf Automobile Industry Corp is responding to industry demand for its products, which include cars, pick up trucks and the Camel forklift, by moving from its 14,000 square meter factory in Abu Dhabi to a 3 million square metre facility in Saudi Arabia.
Dr Nasser Hamad Al Hajeri, Chairman of Gulf Automobile Industry Corp, said the expansion, which will take place throughout 2010 over two phases, starting with a 109,000 square metre factory in the Kingdom, is part of the company’s ambitious plans for the next ten years.
“We are forecasting sales of AED50million for 2010; the move to a larger manufacturing plant was necessary to meet the demand for our products, and while it make sense to be in Saudi Arabia, our biggest market, the UAE continues to offer us strong sales potential”, said Dr Al Hajeri.
“We will employ a further 800 members of staff to operate from the new factory, and by 2020 we estimate that the company will employ 11,000 people.”
The Camel forklift was launched at the beginning of 2009, when most of the world was suffering amidst the financial downturn. Dr Al Hajeri believes this was an opportune moment to introduce the forklift to the market because of a competitive pricing structure and the regionally-appropriate specifications they have applied to the forklift.
Day 3 Big 5 PMV | 2
“The Camel forklift truck is around 30 per cent cheaper than its competitors but still offers excellent quality. Despite the economic downturn, we have benefited from strong sales since our launch and the product has been well received by the industry,” he said.
“We source engines from Nissan and Isuzu in Japan, but we have amended the traditional forklift model to work especially well in the Middle East climate. Each forklift is installed with a filtration system to deal with dust and sand and a cooling mechanism to help with the high temperatures in this region. Air conditioning units can also be added if necessary – a feature no other forklift manufacturer offers.”
Interest in the Camel forklift has been high at the Big 5 PMV exhibition, taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre until Thursday 26 November. Orders from Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Sudan were received on the first day, and the company expects to sell between 50 and 75 forklifts throughout the four day exhibition.
EPC News Bureau
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