Coscharis Motors Plc through its local assembly arm, Coscharis Assembly Plant, has reiterated its resolve to turn all the challenges in the local vehicle assembling value chain into opportunities in delivering local content to Nigeria.
It said while the production capacity of the main assembly plant stands at about 90 vehicles per day, the firm revealed that the current production has ‘painfully been reduced to about 10 vehicles per day.”
It stated this as the plant carted home the award of the Outstanding Auto Assembling Company of the Year at this year’s Marketing Edge 10th anniversary Summit and Awards held in Lagos recently.
The Coscharis Assembly plant is one of the few surviving assembly plants in Nigeria licensed by the federal government and has been assembling Semi-Knocked (SKD) vehicles since 2015 following the advent of the auto policy.
It attributed the decline in production to many factors like “Lack of conducive business environment, lack of infrastructure, inconsistent policy support, low patronage of locally assembled vehicles in Nigeria, amongst others.”
Daily Trust had earlier reported that out of 58 assembly plants licensed by the government, only about six are active but operating below capacity.
It is in the midst of the challenges that Coscharis Assembly Plant was recognised while the plant vows to continue to set standards when it comes to the local assembling of respected automobile brands in Nigeria for Nigerians at affordable prices without compromising the global standard and quality.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Company, the General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Abiona Babarinde dedicated the award to customers that believed in the locally assembled vehicles produced by the plant with their patronage over the years.
He said, “This award is to reconfirm the pedigree of Coscharis Motors as a leading player to reckon with when it comes to setting standards in the automotive industry in Nigeria.
“This is another confirmation and endorsement by the marketing media sector as a pacesetter of Coscharis’ positive contribution to the growth of the automotive industry in Nigeria.
“This award is dedicated to all our numerous customers for their patronage and also to our partners (Ford and Renault brands) for believing in us to deliver locally assembled vehicles in our country that meets the global standard of their various brands”.
Coscharis Motors Plc started the assembly of SKD vehicles in 2015 temporarily at their Ikeja facility with JoyLong buses, which is an 18-seater buses and Ford Ranger, which are pickups of 4×4 double cabin, 4×2 double cabin and 4×2 single cabin respectively.
It was later moved to the ultra-modern main plant located at the group’s head office, Awoyaya, Lekki – Epe Expressway, Lagos in the year 2017; when they included Renault Duster 4×4, 4×2 SUV and also Renault Logan which is a saloon car.
The staff strength for the Assembly plant is 86 (74 Nigerians and 12 expatriates). There are aftersales facilities for the brands in all the major cities of the country where original parts from partner OEMs are stocked.
Coscharis said, “At full capacity running, the assembly plant will be able to fill in the gap of imported used vehicles into the country and by extension influence the delivery of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the automotive industry with other brands opening similar plants like we presently experience in South Africa with a better conducive business environment.
“Taking into consideration the multiple expected implications of generating more employment and opportunities for Nigerians to own cheaper vehicles that are produced specifically for the terrain with the ready market advantage of over 200million population.”
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