Grand Lakes Veículos, a company that belongs to Adone Holding and has been operating in the heavy vehicle segment on the African continent since 2007 as the official dearlership of the Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus (VWOC) brand, has just opened a new branch in Angola, Africa, with the Focus on selling units and spare parts. With 8 thousand square meters, it is the third unit in the country and is located in the province of Cabinda. “It is another significant step in the company’s ongoing commitment to offering quality products and services in the region”, celebrates the General Director, Geraldo Kulaif, who foresees a year with expansion of the brand in the region where it stands out for its excellent service in the post- sale. Initially, the new store has models from the Constellation and Delivery lines in its portfolio and is expected to expand in the coming months.
Grand Lakes Veículos has been the market leader in Angola for 10 years in the segment, with a central dealership in the capital Luanda and now two branches – one in the province of Benguela and the other in the province of Huila. “We want to generate more and more jobs in the country, offering the best products and services”, says the director of Grand Lakes, Geraldo Kulaif. In addition to buses and trucks, the units offer customers the convenience of purchasing original Volkswagen parts and accessories. There are more than 8,600 items, which can be purchased in person or through a delivery service throughout Angola. “This is a very promising market for us in 2024 due to the sharp growth in demand for maintenance parts”, adds Geraldo Kulaif.
The company’s results include sales of trucks from the Worker, Constellation and Delivery lines. Recently, the country reached the milestone of 1850 Volksbus, used mainly for the urban mobility restructuring program and improving public transport for the entire population. “We are extremely proud to be able to participate in the country’s development in a sustainable way, helping to improve the quality of life of citizens”, says the chairman of the Board of Directors of Adone Holding, José Roberto Colnaghi.
Colnaghi points to accurate strategic planning as a fundamental tool for success on the African continent. The company selected a group of models thinking about meeting the needs of the region, import logistics, spare parts and specialized training to satisfy the customer during and after the purchase. “We invest a lot in after-sales, today we have a team of 200 employees, 80 of whom are mechanics trained by Volkswagem Caminhões who undergo annual recycling promoted by the brand and, in a 3.5 thousand square meter warehouse, we have a stock of spare parts evaluated at US$8 million”, highlights José Roberto Colnaghi.
According to José Maurício Caldeira, shareholder and advisor at Adone Holding, the prospects for expansion on the African continent are increasingly greater. “We have the technical and human capacity to increasingly participate in local development and this brings us excellent prospects”, points out Caldeira.
In 2023, Grand Lakes Veículos received the “Innovation Highlight – High Performance Program” award, granted annually by VWCO to importers in Latin America and Africa.
Urban mobility
Since 2019, Grand Lakes has worked in partnership with the local government and technology and mobility experts on the Regular Urban Passenger Transport Project (TURP), whose objective is to map and define the main operational routes and select urban and interprovincial bus stops , enabling the daily transport of thousands of people. “Our main strategic objective with these terminals is to offer, in addition to quality transport, safety and improvement in the lives of a population that needs it so much”, highlights Geraldo Kulaif.
ESG
Since March 2022, the company has also participated in the Integrated Rural Commerce Development Program (PIDCR), led by the federal government. The objective is to improve the flow of products from the countryside to consumption areas and boost the growth of the rural sector. “This program has the potential to generate more than 5,000 indirect jobs,” says Kulaif. The 200 vehicles delivered by Grand Lakes are subsidized by local authorities to rural producers and distributed throughout the country.
In the social area, it has supported the activities of the NGO Baluarte (https://baluartenomundo.org/sobre-nos/), from Luanda, since 2018. It is the Institution’s largest partner, which serves more than 3 thousand children in situations of social vulnerability. Last year, Grand Lakes Veículos donated a vehicle and land measuring approximately one hectare to expand its service capacity, including technical courses for professional training. It also built a high-standard library for children with the aim of enriching the educational environment.