SAIPA Expanding Presence in Africa
EghtesadOnline: Iran’s SAIPA and South African car manufacturer Mureza are to jointly produce vehicles in Zimbabwe.
The first vehicle to be assembled at the Zimbabwe plant is SAIPA Quick, which will be rebranded as Prim8 (pronounced Primate), IRNA reported.
Quick is a crossover introduced by SAIPA in 2017. It comes with a 1.5-liter gasoline engine and its exterior design is reminiscent of China’s Brilliance models.
The car will be initially assembled from semi-knocked down kits in South African capital Pretoria and later at the Willowvale assembly plant in Zimbabwe and another plant in Botswana, according to Financial Tribune.
Mureza-Zimbabwe public relations officer, Chidochemoyo Nemhara, says the vehicle will be priced $13,500 and the auto company would aim to manufacture 100 cars per month.
Announcing that the vehicle’s production will start next year, he said, “Our components are manufactured in Iran and South Africa, but Mureza’s ultimate objective is to design and manufacture vehicles for Africans.”
Nemhara says, “Of course, economic conditions are not favorable for some businesses to thrive, but establishing a plant here would in a way promote job creation for the locals and it’s a form of the much-needed investment. It means value creation within the market and it gives us ground to establish and train local labor force as well as to promote regional trade.”