Mr. Jeff Nemeth, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company, Sub-Saharan Africa region unveiled the first Ford Ranger truck to be rolled out of Coscharis's assembly plant in Ikeja, Lagos yesterday.
According to Nemeth "Ikeja plant would accommodate one shift and would produce an initial 10 units per day for the Nigerian market, creating approximately 180 direct and indirect jobs.The main driver behind Ford in Africa is affordability. Africa is one of the youngest markets in the world and presents a huge opportunity in terms of consumption,” he said.
He expressed confidence in the buying power of the African consumer, noting that it was on the rise “as the continent’s middle class increases exponentially”.
“Despite infrastructure challenges, Africa has demonstrated impressive returns on foreign direct investment. New assembly operations, even on a small scale, have positive knock-on effects in the local economy and workforce.
Ford's SKD operation in Nigeria was established in partnership with the local Ford dealer group, Coscharis Motors Limited, and is based in Ikeja.
Mr. Cosmas Maduka, President of Coscharis Motors, said: “We have worked hard and moved quickly to turn this dream into a reality. Today marks an important milestone when the cogs in the wheel really start to turn, not only for Ford in Nigeria, but in general for the Nigerian industry, which is receiving a much needed boost towards industrialisation and the development of the automotive industry.
“We are committed to setting the bar high, and establishing world-class, best practices in Nigeria that every other industrialist will have to be judged by. This is a major milestone for us and marks another first in the evolution of our company.”
Nigeria is a significant market for Ford’s sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region and accounts for a solid percentage of the regional sales, and is the reason Ford is committed to increasing market share in Nigeria, and other key African markets in the future.
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