Lifan Motors Plc, the Ethiopian subsidiary of its Chinese namesake, is moving to the Eastern Industrial Zone, located in Dukem town, with the 1.4 million dollar acquisition of a 33,000sqm facility, to be used as a complete knock down car assembly plant; the facility was acquired on a 99-year lease.
The plant, which will cost the car assembly company 2.8 million dollars, is intended to beef up the company’s market share, says Liu Jiang, general manager of Lifan Motors Ethiopia.
“This investment will enable us to change our semi-knock down assembly to complete knock down, in the short term, and push up our production capacity, from the current 1,000 units a year to 5,000 units,” Liu said, speaking during the signing of a contract with the Easter Industrial Zone, on Thursday, June 27, 2013.
Lifan started operations in Ethiopia in 2009, and assembled 3,000 cars, in eight different models, through the Semi-Knock Down (SKD) process.
“The car market in Ethiopia is very attractive and profitable, and we are determined to discharge quality products. The new assembly plant in the Industrial Zone will facilitate our objectives. Lifan will be the leading car assembler in Eastern Africa very soon,” Liu said.
Established in 2009 by Chinese investors, the Eastern Industrial Zone rests on 500ha of land. The total infrastructure investment of the zone is valued at 450 million dollars.
“I hope our Industrial Zone will be a comfortable home for Lifan Motors and provide a good service and assistance,” said Qiam Guo Ging, a manager of the Industrial Zone.
The current assembly plant, which is in Akaki Kaliti District, will be moved to the new location within six months, according to Semereab Serekeberhan, plant manager at Lifan Motors.
When completed, the company will export its Compete-Knocked Down (CKD) assembled cars to other Eastern African countries, he said.
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