After almost 2 years of building, Coscharis Motors, Nigerian distributor of the Ford automobile brand, has unveiled a vehicle assembly plant in Lagos worth about N5 billion for the production of the brand in the country. The assembly plant is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa with only South Africa having another assembly plant in the whole continent.
During the press briefing held before the unveiling, President of the Coscharis Group, Mr. Cosmas Maduka could not hide his joy at the event. “It has been a long wait from when we first announced in November 2015 that we had commenced physical structuring of the new plant sighted on a piece of land of more than 14 hectares within our Lekki Group head office in Lagos…Coscharis Group has been a great believer in the possibilities that lie ahead in this our great nation and we have shown courage by the actions that we are taking in investing in the future of Nigeria.”
Maduka also linked the completed assembly plant to the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NADIP) of the Federal Government, which discourages the importation of completely built vehicles in favor of local manufacturing of vehicles through either Complete Knocked Down or Semi Knocked Down facilities for a start.
Emphasizing on the business side of matters, Maduka described the plant as an evidence of the brand in Coscharis and in turn, Coscharis’ confidence in the potential of the Nigerian automobile market. “This is a capital intensive project, which also involves huge financial, technical and human resources commitment. Therefore, the fact that we have ventured into it headlong underpins the level of confidence and hope we have for the future of the Nigerian automotive industry.” Maduka said.
The first set of automobiles to be assembled on the plant will be the Ford Ranger, a multi-purpose mini-truck