Established in 1979, Swaidan Trading Co. is the commercial arm of the Al Naboodah Group, one of the UAE’s oldest and most respected family conglomerates. Today, Swaidan Trading’s Commercial Vehicles and Heavy Equipment division represents a broad range of reputed global brands including Ashok Leyland, Tatra, DAF Trucks, VDL Bus & Coach, Optare, Maxus, Sennebogen, Kaeser and more.
Swaidan Trading is an integrated organisation providing a broad spectrum of mobility solutions for customers in the passenger and goods transport industry. Swaidan Trading’s product portfolio includes everything from vans with seating for 7 passengers to customised buses that can carry up to 100+ passengers, as well as a comprehensive range of commercial vehicles and heavy equipment including pickups, cargo vans, light and heavy trucks, low speed special vehicles, electric trains, construction machinery and special equipment.
Swaidan Trading’s major markets cover all types of mobility solutions transporting people and cargo, including public transportation, school and staff transport fleets, heavy construction equipment, special projects, and more. Today, the company is one of the UAE’s most successful businesses in terms of the supply and maintenance of commercial vehicles, particularly trucks, buses and coaches.
According to Ajit Kumar, COO – Commercial, Transport and Electrical, Al Naboodah Group, Swaidan Trading’s strength lies in its robust relationships with its principal partners. “A prime example is our highly successful partnership with the Ashok Leyland brand, which we have represented exclusively in the UAE for over 40 years now, as well as Peugeot, who we have represented since 1988,” he says.
Ajit Kumar, COO – Commercial, Transport and Electrical, Al Naboodah Group.
The company boasts a comprehensive after-sales and support network throughout the UAE offering a 24×7 service, with mobile workshops deployed across the country to ensure minimal downtime for their customers’ vehicles. Their service network covers the whole of the UAE, with workshops and spare parts outlets in Al Quoz and Umm Ramool in Dubai, as well as Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Fujairah. These are supported by mobile workshops to assist customers’ vehicles remotely, where necessary. Manning the workshops are over 400 highly skilled technicians trained at their in-house training facilities.
Vehicle customisation
Swaidan Trading’s fully equipped, state-of-the-art workshops also have in-house fabrication facilities for customising vehicles to meet the specific requirements of the end user, from mobile service centres or clinics to wheelchair access vehicles and more.
One example of a major project, in 2020 Swaidan Trading modified Peugeot Expert vans into Mobile Service Centres for the TAW-SEEL initiative delivering door-to-door services for the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation (MOHRE). This came as part of a fleet deal to supply over 700 Peugeot Expert vans to TAW-SEEL, a programme offering government services from the MOHRE to its customers at a convenient location and time via mobile service centres. The vans were modified and fully equipped with the latest smart technologies to meet the needs of the customers.
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While the vehicle modification business was growing steadily, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the process due to surge in e-commerce. “Over the course of 2020, Swaidan Trading rapidly adapted to the shift in market demands created by the global health crisis, with a strong focus on specialised projects and solutions,” explains Ajit.
He says that the company’s resilience during the pandemic was demonstrated by its ability to respond to unique demands created by the health crisis. “Our high levels of technical expertise and our versatile and agile scope of operations allowed us to offer specialised services to our customers without any major changes to our infrastructure. We were able to capitalise on our existing resources and skillsets to deliver unique projects that set us apart in a competitive industry.”
Swaidan Trading supported community initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic by converting Ashok Leyland Falcon buses into mobile grocery outlets for the Dubai Taxi Company and the Union Coop to bring much-needed supplies to families during the lockdown periods.
This year, they are converting Ashok Leyland Falcon buses into mobile grocery stores for the Al-Ain Co-op society, including shelving, chiller and freezer units, generators, air curtains and cashier counters, enabling the business to reach out to remote areas or small communities where shops aren’t located nearby. This highly specialised modification contract was the first of its kind in Abu Dhabi, and required a special ‘Supermarket Bus’ code to be created in the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport’s vehicle registration system. In another unique project, Swaidan Trading converted a SUNWIN high-deck coach into a VVIP luxury transport featuring a majlis, toilets, pantry, and independent crew seating.
“We have always had the capability to modify vehicles upon the request of our clients,” explains Ajit. “However, over the past two years we have greatly expanded our capacity and capabilities in vehicle body modification, and after many complex and unique contracts completed, we can now consider ourselves specialists in this field.”