Ford Motors to Start Assembly in Nigeria
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| The 2015 Ford Ranger |
Ford Motor Company is expected to start assembling its best-selling Ford Ranger pickup truck in Nigeria by the fourth quarter of 2015. The US automaker announced this on Tuesday, 11th of August as part of the company's expansion in Africa and the Middle East.
The Nigerian assembly plant which will be in partnership with Coscharis Group will be the second assembly plant in Africa after South Africa. According to Jeff Neimeth, the president and CEO of Ford motor Company's business in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is a priority market for the company in Sub-Saharan Africa. If all goes well, the company plans to use the Nigerian assembly plant to service West Africa.
The plant which is planned to be situated in Ikeja is expected to assemble 5000 units of the Ford Ranger pickup trucks annually using components imported from SA and will be sold to Nigerians. Ford currently produces 85,000 units each year in South Africa, which are sold across 24 African countries.
It currently takes about 4 - 6 months to receive an order of a Ford from abroad. Jeff Neimeth says with the new plant, orders would be processed, built and delivered between 1 - 2 months.What was not clear is whether or not a local assembly plant will mean more friendly prices for local buyers.
Rival automakers, Renault-Nissan, South Korea's Kia Motors and Germany's Volkswagen have announced plans to assemble vehicles in Africa's most populous nation.
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