In a bid to set the appetite of the Ghanaian vehicle market towards the acquisition of locally manufactured cars, German vehicle manufacturer, Volkswagen, is set to introduce an auto financing plan.
According to the company, there will be collaboration with local banks to set up the auto financing model. This among others will reduce the importation of vehicles and the heavy reliance on second-hand vehicles.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Jeffrey Peprah, spoke to Citi Business News at the ‘Showroom at your doorstep’ held in Accra on Thursday.
“Imported cars are more expensive than we assemble here. We don’t pay import taxes on them so you already waive your import taxes. So that’s why the government is encouraging everyone to patronize locally assembled products. And we are looking at solutions like auto financing which is going to be a big key to drive the market. Very soon, we’ll see our banks finance people so that they can negotiate through auto financing so people can buy the local cars.”
Every year, the importation of vehicles alone cost the nation about US$1.5 billion.
The government and other industry players have over time intensified efforts to reduce this phenomenon by putting in measures to make the purchase of locally assembled cars affordable for Ghanaians.
President Nana Akufo-Addo had earlier announced plans by the government to introduce a vehicle financing scheme to support Ghanaians to purchase brand new made-in-Ghana vehicles.
Volkswagen, one of the five car manufacturing companies which have assembling plants in Ghana, is hopeful of starting an auto financing scheme which will make financial products available to allow people to acquire locally assembled vehicles with any arrangement other than a full-cash single lump payment.
At the same event, Professor Alex Dodoo, the Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority, lauded the standards of the cars being assembled in Ghana.
“When the automobile assembly process started, government did two things; establish and approve at cabinet level the Ghana Automotive Development Policy. Within that policy, the Ghana Standards Authority is mandated to be the regulatory authority for the safety of these vehicles. So we established a national technical committee to develop automotive standards in line with world class standards. And the standards we have are comparable to any available international standards.”
Volkswagen’s ‘Showroom at your doorstep’ open day was organised to put on display the company’s technology being assembled in Ghana.
On display were the Teramount, Passat, Tiguan, Polo Sedan and the yet-to-be introduced T-Cross vehicles.
