French car maker Renault has planned to increase the sale of its model of vehicles in Ghana as part of efforts to reinforce its presence.
It intends to penetrate the market with small engines and low fuel consumption vehicles’ as well as introduce pickups through its new local dealer, Premium Motors Limited.
CFAO used to represent the company in Ghana.
Consequently, Renault has planned to re-launch its wide range of vehicles in Ghana in November this year, after entering into a partnership with Premium Motors Limited to offer both sales and after sales services.
The move, according to the company, forms part of a general plan to make a strong presence in English and Portuguese speaking countries in Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Angola.
Already, plans to build vehicles in Nigeria with a local partner under the Renault-NISSAN alliance is on course.
Production is expected to start with the Nissan Patrol SUV in February 2015. Renault vehicles will follow, although the company did not give any further details.
Mr Viatcheslav Kozlov, the Area Operational Manager of Renault in charge of English and Portuguese speaking sub-Saharan Africa, who made this known in Paris, said the establishment of the assembly plant in Nigeria was to further boost the company’s presence in Africa.
Another plant in Algeria is scheduled to start production this November.
Mr Kozlov, who was speaking to a group of journalists from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Zambia on a Discovery Tour as part of the 2014 Paris Motor Show, said Renault would continue to manufacture cars to meet the needs of consumers globally and to adapt to the various regions of the world, including the tropical conditions in Africa.
No electric cars in Africa
Mr Kozlov said Renault was committed to the production of zero emission electric cars. However, he said there were no plans as of now to introduce electric vehicles in Africa. This is because the needed infrastructure to charge the vehicles at vantage points was not there, aside from an unreliable power supply in many African countries.
Earlier at a media briefing, Ms Caroline De Gezelle, Communications Director for Renault Euromed-Africa Region, said Renault had the third-largest market share on the African Continent, with almost 13 per cent.
However, she said plans were underway to form more partnerships.
“If we grow, we will only grow internationally. Growth is outside of Europe and growth is in your country,” she said.
She added that the group had also constructed a second production line at Tangiers in Morroco due for inauguration this month, which would increase production capacity to 34,000 vehicles a year in 2014, making it the largest car plant in Africa.
Espace
At the 2014 Paris Motorshow, which opened on Thursday, Renault unveiled the five and seven seater Espace model of vehicle, which had been reinvented.
The Espace was first introduced in the 1980s as a family car in the European market but has been reinvented with modern technology.
The company intends to first try it in Angola before extending it to other African countries.
Brands in Ghana
At the moment, Renault vehicles that are on sale in Ghana are Fluence, Latitude, Kangoo, Duster, Sandero, Logan, Dacia, Koleos and Dokker.
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Speaking on the new partnership, the Chief Executive of Premium Motors Limited, Mr Jihad Hijazi, told the Daily Graphic that the rationale was to be able to replicate the success of Renault in France in Ghana.
He said Premium Motors, which is an offshoot of Auto Plaza, an accredited distributor of Hyundai vehicles in Ghana, would ride on the 10 years experience of Auto Plaza to promote Renault brands in Ghana.
He said customers who bought Renault vehicles from the previous local partner, CFAO, could still access their warranty and after sales services from Premium Motors.
He said staff had already undergone training in Romania and Renault had already sent diagnostic equipment to Premium motors.
The Discovery Tour took the journalists and some dealers to the Renault Technocentre in Paris, where simulation tests are done on vehicles; the Dreux racetrack for a test drive of the Clio and Megane model of Renault sports vehicles and a visit to the Renault Classic in Flins, where heritage vehicles, including the first Renault manufactured in 1898, are on display in a museum.
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