By Theodore Opara

Zahav Automobile Nigeria Limited has joined the exclusive club of pick-up manufacturers in Nigeria with the aim of meeting specific needs of the market.

The new plant, located in Ikotun Lagos and equipped to roll out variants of the commercial vehicles, including 4 x 4, 4 x 2, single and double cabins, as well as petrol and diesel engine models has the capacity to produce 24,000 vehicles annually.

The company also plans to start the production of Zahav SUV, which like the pick-up, is already making friends in the market as imported fully built up vehicle.

The Managing Director of Zahav Automotive Nigeria, Nasser Jammal, disclosed that formal production commenced in February, following a long test-run which  began in July 2012.

*Zahav auto assembly line in Ikotun Lagos

Modern production

He informed that customers who were used to imported Zahav pick-up and have driven those produced by the new plant, could not find any difference between the two, because, according to him, quality standards are not compromised by the manufacturer.

Unfortunately, Jammal is full of regrets for embarking on the project of transiting from importing FUBs to setting up a modern production facility that gulped about N2. 0 billion, instead of channeling the fund into expanding his import of finished vehicles – which would have ensured a quicker return on investment.

At present, the plant rolls out about 50 to 70 units a month, which is far below the possible capacity of about 2, 000 a month.

Zahav’s ventured into vehicle manufacturing was in response to Federal Government’s call on key players in the automotive sector to invest in local production.  The call by top government officials,

He lamented that years after setting up the plant, test- running the assembly lines and up to now that formal production has commend, he was yet to see the support the Federal Government promised the auto industry.

“I am regretting going into auto manufacturing”, the Zahav Chief Executive Officer stated as he took the journalists through the various sections of the auto plant which was busy with the production of double-cabin pick-ups at the time of the tour.

Among the challenges militating against progress in the local auto industry which Jammal felt government ought to have addressed is the low tariff differential between CKD sets for local production and the imported finished products.

While importers of FUB vehicles can easily adjust their prices to get more patronage for their products owning to low overheads, Nigerian auto plants, he said, price their vehicles with very little profit margins because of high cost of production.

”If the environment is made better for us, in the next few months, we can make more investments, like installing heavy machines in order to raise the local content in Zahav vehicles to a very high level. if government backs local auto makers by reducing the advantage importers presently enjoy, believe me, we will immediately respond by invest more  on to painting, welding and stamping (which  will cost nothing less  man three million Euro)  and then mobilize local input” suppliers.

The results, he remarked, would manifest by way of more competitively priced Zahav products, more jobs for Nigerians and a more developed auto industry.