How a risky punt on an unknown Chinese truck manufacturer paid off in South Africa

SCMP · 2026-02-17
How a risky punt on an unknown Chinese truck manufacturer paid off in South Africa

In 1994, Richard Leiter, a South African entrepreneur, took a gamble on the then unknown Chinese commercial truck maker FAW with the introduction of the first Jiefang CA141 truck into the South African market. Two decades later, he had transitioned from importer to industrialist, with a sprawling as