Following an investment of £60k, the new facility, which is housed within the company’s new fitting and distribution centre in the West Midlands, will support the development of the company’s extensive range of hardtops.
This includes a number of new designs being created for the launch of new pick-up trucks from Mitsubishi, Toyota and Nissan that will hit the UK market in the next nine months.
At 225 sq ft, the new development and tool making workshop is double the size of the company’s existing operation and will create the tooling that will subsequently be used to manufacture within its current 30,000 sq ft production facility.
The company is also planning to recruit an additional two more skilled people as it increases the pace of hardtop production to meet the demand from commercial fleet clients and private vehicle customers.
This investment is part of the company’s £2.7m growth strategy that includes the acquisition of the new 52,000 sq ft distribution and fitting centre, which will also become the location of its head office.
Mike Wheeler, managing director of Auto Styling Truckman, said: “We pride ourselves on being a progressive company that is at the forefront of developments in our sector. The investment in the development and tool making workshop will increase capacity and capabilities within the business and also ensure we can deliver the next generation of hardtops for the new pick-up truck models efficiently and effectively.
“We have built strong working relationships with the key pick-up truck manufacturers, which ensure we can continue to produce quality accessories to the highest standard. We have followed the development of the 2015-16 model pick-up trucks very closely and we will be able to offer a range of new hardtops in line with the vehicles’ UK launch schedules.”
