The Marketing Manager of Japan Motors Ghana, Mabel Offei, says the unpredictability of the dollar is affecting the pricing and sale of vehicles in the country.
She referred to a situation where
prices of vehicles quoted in Ghana cedis have to change momentarily because the
local currency loses value to the dollar.
She was speaking in an interview with
the Graphic Business last Friday and called for measures to stabilise the
exchange rate to bring some predictability to businesses.
More challenges
Ms Ofei said her outfit faced other
unforeseen challenges which were affecting the smooth sales of one of the
company’s product.
She lamented the low supplies and
shipments of vehicles to her outfit from partners outside the country, citing a
global shortage.
According to her, this has affected
the rapid sales of the hot selling truck, the Nissan Navarra, by her outfit.
The Navarra, a pick-up truck, has
witnessed astronomical sales due to increase in demands.
“The first quarter has been very
successful. It has been better than the previous year in terms of sales. The
Nissan Navarra is selling very well, " she said.
She said her outfit achieved between
80 and 90 per cent sales of the Nissan Navarra as compared to last year.
She expressed the hope that there
would be good sales in the second quarter to reflect the first quarter.
“With the currency fluctuations aside,
sales are going on very well. The dollar going up again is a challenge
now," she added.
Tema Plant
Touching on the company’s assembly
plant at Tema, she asserted that the company's Tema plant which assembles
vehicles has been very promising in the first quarter of the year.
"Our Tema plant is doing very
well and we are just hoping for enough supplies to meet the current
demand," she stated.
She was excited about the upsurge in
sales in the first quarter, adding that sales would be expected to peak in the
coming months.
"We are in an election year and
we expect sales to peak so we are excited about the year,” she stated.
She expressed the hope that the Ghana
Automotive Development Policy (GADP) would be implemented to help the local
assembly plant, assemble more affordable vehicles for Ghanaians to purchase.
“If
the GADP is fully implemented, we are going to assemble and produce more cars
for the local market at affordable prices,” she stated.
Director’s
appeal
Last year the Executive Director of
the company, Nouhad Kalmoni, called on the government to implement the Ghana
Automotive Development Policy (GADP) and also reduce the age of imported
vehicles into the country from 10 years to five years.
According to him, such a move would
guarantee the mass purchase of locally produced vehicles in the country and
grow the auto industry.
The GADP, popularly called the Auto
Policy, was fashioned out by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and
was geared towards making Ghana a fully integrated and competitive
industrial hub of the automotive industry in the West African sub-region.
It also aims to generate highly
skilled jobs in automotive assembly and the manufacture of components and
parts, with spill over effects into other sectors of the economy; while
establishing an asset-based vehicle financing scheme for locally manufactured
vehicles to ensure affordability for vehicle buyers.
This is also expected to improve
balance of payments through competitive import substitution and export market
development while also improving vehicle safety and environmental standards.
It is also expected to transform the
quality of the national road transport fleet and safeguard the natural
environment.
Source Graphic Online