Currency fluctuations affecting our business — Japan Motors
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.
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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.
