Stories by Moses Akaigwe 08072100049
Federal Government’s National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) which formally took effect in July, 2014, recorded yet another milestone recently when Coscharis Motors Plc and Ford Motor Company took their long partnership up a notch with the coming on stream of their auto assembly plant in Lagos.
The plant has commenced operations with the assembly of the Ranger, “which is a multipurpose mini-truck that serves well for both work and leisure.”
Sited on a piece of land of more than 14 hectares within Coscharis Group head office in the Lekki area of Lagos, the initiative is, according to the management, one of the many bold steps it is taking towards investing in the future of Nigeria.
And, being Ford’s first assembly plant in sub-Sahara Africa, the project is seen by auto industry analysts as an expression of the global auto maker’s trust in its representative in Nigeria, as well as confidence in the economy of the country.
At the media launch of the Coscharis Ford Assembly plant, guests were gleefully informed that the project which commenced in 2015, is now operational, even as the countdown begins to a formal inauguration. The capital-intensive project, to which huge technical and human resources have been committed, was designed to produce sundry vehicles bearing the Ford nameplate.
For now, the plant is producing only a fraction of its capacity of 60 units of the Ranger a day, in a single work-day shift {excluding weekends}, but equipped to raise the volume of output if patronage increases and it becomes economically reasonable to do. So far, no fewer than 600 units have rolled of the modern assembly line, with some of the vehicles on display during the visit.
Describing the semi-knocked down {SKD} plant as “a dream come true” while welcoming the visitors to the plant, Coscharis Group President and CEO, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, said his conglomerate with about 2000-hectare investment in Anambra state {through its rice farm subsidiary}, sees a lot of hope on the country’s economic horizon.
“We have shown courage by the actions that we are taking in investing in the future of Nigeria,” Dr. Maduka remarked, explaining that the Coscharis Ford Assembly initiative was in response to the clarion call of the Federal Government through the NAIDP.
The Coscharis Group President said, “This is also to appreciate the confidence that the globally respected iconic brand, Ford, reposed in us as their exclusive official representative in Nigeria, to roll out the very first Ford Assembly Plant in Nigeria. This milestone marks another first in the evolution of our company towards remaining timeless in its relevance.”
Maduka, who was accompanied by the Executive Director {Operations}, Fred Amobi, and General Manager, Marketing, Abiona Babarinde, recalled that NAIDP {or auto policy } aims, among other objectives, to discourage the importation of completely built vehicles and encourage the local manufacturing of same through either complete knocked down {CKD} or SKD facilities, for a start.
He said he was aware that other investors had also responded to the policy by setting up assembly facilities, but added that Coscharis Motors’ concern and commitment to its customers and stakeholders, is to set standards that other players would be judged by in the industry.
“As you are all aware, Ford has a global standard for all of its products, including the Ranger,” Maduka said. “Therefore, Ford’s certification of our facility and output is a confirmation that every single Ranger that rolls out of this plant, is indeed “Built Ford Tough’’ from which we’ve rolled out over 600 units from this facility since we started operation.”
The Coscharis President, however, bemoaned the effect recession and scarcity of forex have had on the auto industry, saying that but for the economic situation, by now the assembly plant would have commenced the production of luxury vehicles like the Explorer SUV. He said that the target at the conception stage was to move on to the more engaging CKD assembly by 2020.
Guests were guided on a tour of the plant by the Coordinator, Coscharis Motors Assembly Ltd, Sola Afolayan.