Coscharis Motors is set to establish an assembly plant in Lagos for the production of over 14,000 vehicles every year. Mr. Josiah Samuel, The Group Managing Director, confirmed this development following an agreement with its Chinese partners.

The company has concluded an agreement with Chinese auto firm, DongFeng Design Institute Company Limited, to work on the management and design of the assembly plant, while JiangSu Yoylong Automobile will serve as the original equipment manufacturer and technical partner.

The auto policy which was rolled out by the Federal Government on October 3rd 2013, provided the platform to re-open the discussion for the execution of the project and negotiations for the purchase of 14 hectares of land where the assembly plant would be sited.

Mr Josiah also revealed details of the factory design which showed that the plant would be churning out 18 units of buses per day, amounting to 4,680 units yearly; and 37 units of passenger cars, pick up and multi-purpose vehicles per day, which would add up to about 9,620 units annually. This will include small family cars, space wagons, and Ferris wheel cars to transport passengers.

“Extensive work is already ongoing on the project; the assembly plant design and layout is already in place; our partners are here today to finalise discussion so that we can move on to the next phase of the project,” Samuel stated.

He explained  that Nigeria needs cars, buses and light trucks (pickup) assembly/production to fully benefit from the industry’s potential. The demand for automobiles, specifically cars and buses, is on the increase with about 74 percent of Nigeria’s population in the working class.

Cocharis, the sole distributor of BMW in the country, introduces luxurious brands such as the 2013 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe. It has therefore taken a bold step by establishing concrete plans to unveil an indigenous plant, where it will showcase various brands of Made-In-Nigeria cars.