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| Chinese car maker poised to dominate Ethiopia’s market |
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| Saturday, 07 March 2009 | |
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Lifan is about to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant here. What did motivate you to do so? Juequan: We have already been here for the last one year and witnessed that there is a growing demand for our products in this country. We are the sole suppliers for Holland Car, which assembles ‘Awash’ and ‘Abay’ cars here for the local and export market by wholly using our products. The demand for these cars is still growing. In fact, our products [Abay and Awash cars] were the best sellers here last year compared to similar type of cars sold to the market, according to data from the Ethiopian Customs Authority. We were able to sell over 800 cars. So Lifan is planning to increase its products in Ethiopia by establishing its presence in the country. How would you describe the relationship between Lifan and Holland Car? Howland car had introduced us here. Basically, we are the sole suppliers for Holland car. Holland Car products have for so long been produced in China. Holland’s Awash brand is the Lifan 620 we produce in China while Abay is exactly the same version of Lifan 520. Currently, Lifan is the sole supplier for Holland car. We may in the future forge a new type of relationship. How is Lifan doing in its home market? We have a good market there. If you are in China, you will easily notice the popularity of our products as you could see many Lifan brands plying the streets. Lifan is, of course, not limited to the local market. Our products are being sold in over 52 countries, including Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. You are now on your way to establish your presence here. What are the plans involved and the investment it takes to realize them? We are pursuing two options with regard to a manufacturing plant we will set up here. We may buy out Holland Car’s assembling plant or set up a new facility altogether. We have allocated USD 10 million for the investment. What will the new facility or Lifan produce here? Lifan’s investment project here will have three phases. The first phase will involve the production of passenger cars and motor bikes. The second phase will include the production of trucks and pick-ups while the third phase incorporates the production of generators and pumps. Are you going to assemble cars likes Holland car does here or manufacture them like you do at home? We will start our operation here by assembling cars while we will eventually upgrade our facility and start producing them. Do you have plan to export your products? We will, in fact, be exporting our products to Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, among others. We will be producing right-hand wheel cars for these export markets. When will you launch your project and start operation? We will launch the project in the coming three months. We have already started the registration process with the Ethiopian Embassy to China and in a month or two get licensed by the Ethiopian Investment Agency. We will go operational during the current year if all goes according to plan. Can you tell me the product capacity of Lifan’s plant here, at least in the first phase? During the first phase, we will be producing passenger cars and motor bikes. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 1500 passenger cars and 2000 motor bikes. In the near future, we will upgrade the facility and our production. |
Motivated by its locally assembled products selling well as Awash and Abay cars, the Chinese car maker Lifan is set to build a car manufacturing plant in Ethiopia. Pan Juequan,Chief Representative of Lifan and project manager of the future establishment in Ethiopia, spoke to the Reporter’s Hayal Alemayehu on Lifan’s project in Ethiopia.| < Prev | Next > |
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