Scania will open liaison unit in HK

SWEDISH heavy-duty truck maker Scania will set up a liaison office in Hong Kong this year to reinforce its position in the territory, China and Taiwan.

Company president Leif Ostling said Scania was the largest European supplier of heavy trucks to the Far East. It shipped about 1,300 trucks to the region last year.

In total, it has delivered about 7,000 vehicles to the ''Chinese economic area'' of Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and more than 4,000 to South Korea, where it has an assembly plant.

Mr Ostling said: ''Hong Kong is a strategically important market, sitting at the crossroads of transit traffic between China's nearby fast-growing regions.'' Mr Ostling was in Hong Kong after seven days in China exploring joint-venture possibilities.

''China is a big potential market for heavy duty trucks, but imports are restricted to about 1,500 a year because of import duties,'' he said.

Scania has so far sold about 1,500 units in China, with shipments of between 100 and 200 vehicles a year.