The Eastern Petroleum Group plans to put up a vehicle assembly plant in Cavite province in the next two to three years for Russia’s GAZ Group’s commercial vehicles.
“We have just entered into a partnership with Russia’s largest vehicle manufacturer Gaz Group, which offers a variety of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles and buses which fits perfectly in the Philippines’ fast growing economy,” Eastern Petroleum chairman and chief executive officer Fernando Martinez said.
GAZ Group, the leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles in Russia, and Gazelle Motors Corp., GAZ Group’s official distributor in the Philippines, launched this week GAZelle NEXT minibuses and GAZelle NEXT Citiline framed buses.
Gazelle Motors is a subsidiary of Eastern Petroleum, a large Philippine diversified business group that is actively participating in the modernization of public transport.
“Eastern Petroleum is proud of to enter vehicle distribution and ultimately assembly business which can create best value for our tour, logistics, public and business owners,” Martinez said.
The cooperation agreement between GAZ Group and Eastern Petroleum was signed in September 2017 as an offshoot of President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Russia.
The companies agreed to supply the commercial vehicles to the country, as well as multi-functional, reliable and modern buses of the GAZelle NEXT family, which fully meet the requirements of the Philippine government’s Fleet Modernization Program.
The vehicles are equipped with Cummins diesel engine ISF 2.8l and will be sold through the own dealer centers network of Gazelle Motors.
GAZelle NEXT Minibuses can be effectively used for route transportation (up to 17 passengers), or as a company office vehicle or a tourist bus.