News / National
'Zimbabwe assemblers sidelined on Zupco bus supply'
04 Nov 2020 at 12:58hrs | Views
Quest Motor Manufacturing said government should allocate at least 20% of bus imports to local assemblers if it is sincere in its bid to resuscitate ailing industries.
The plea from assemblers came at a time President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration is set to push a total of 1,700 buses to revive the public transport sector through the Zimbabwe United Passengers Company (ZUPCO).
However, of the set target, 500 buses are being imported from Belarus, 1,000 from China and 200 from South Africa.
"We would have wanted a situation where the government in its bid to supply public transport to the generality of the population here in Zimbabwe through ZUPCO, that government would have given the assembly plants an opportunity to be resuscitated.
"For example the government could have given Deven Engineering which is under Willowvale a 100 buses to assemble, AVM Africa a 100 buses and Quest a 100 buses to assemble, as a starting point," said Quest Motors general manager Tom Sarimana.
Quest has over the years assembled Leyland, Nissan, Volvo buses and is currently making Chinese buses; ZhongTong and YuTong buses of different sizes.
Sarimana said government continues to sideline local vehicle assemblers as it opts for imports.
"We have made a lot of roadshows here (Mutare plant) where a lot of senior government officials have been to this place. Our current President Emmerson Mnangagwa also visited this plant. They've all been here and have given very glowing reports of our capabilities, but it ended there," he lamented.
There are three assembling firms in Zimbabwe, namely AVM Africa, Quest Motor Corporation and Willowvale Mazda Motors Industries including its bus-making subsidiary Deven Engineering.
Inquiries made indicate that Deven has capacity to assemble 25 buses per month, AVM Africa can produce 40 buses while Quest can put together between 25 to 30 buses during the same timeframe provided market support is available.
However, ZUPCO has not placed any bus orders from Quest for the past 34 years while AVM Africa said the parastatal last ordered buses 17 years ago.
Quest alone supported over 30 downstream industries that supply steel, paint, tires, glass, exhaust, carpets, among other locally manufactured components. Most of the downstream industries have folded as a result of the underperforming assembling plants.
Quest vehicle sales have dropped by 98% to less than 10 units per month from a record 700 units over the past three decades.
It started off in 1960 as Austin Motors Corporation, changed to British Motor Corporation before it settled for its current name in 1992.
The plea from assemblers came at a time President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration is set to push a total of 1,700 buses to revive the public transport sector through the Zimbabwe United Passengers Company (ZUPCO).
However, of the set target, 500 buses are being imported from Belarus, 1,000 from China and 200 from South Africa.
"We would have wanted a situation where the government in its bid to supply public transport to the generality of the population here in Zimbabwe through ZUPCO, that government would have given the assembly plants an opportunity to be resuscitated.
"For example the government could have given Deven Engineering which is under Willowvale a 100 buses to assemble, AVM Africa a 100 buses and Quest a 100 buses to assemble, as a starting point," said Quest Motors general manager Tom Sarimana.
Quest has over the years assembled Leyland, Nissan, Volvo buses and is currently making Chinese buses; ZhongTong and YuTong buses of different sizes.
Sarimana said government continues to sideline local vehicle assemblers as it opts for imports.
"We have made a lot of roadshows here (Mutare plant) where a lot of senior government officials have been to this place. Our current President Emmerson Mnangagwa also visited this plant. They've all been here and have given very glowing reports of our capabilities, but it ended there," he lamented.
There are three assembling firms in Zimbabwe, namely AVM Africa, Quest Motor Corporation and Willowvale Mazda Motors Industries including its bus-making subsidiary Deven Engineering.
Inquiries made indicate that Deven has capacity to assemble 25 buses per month, AVM Africa can produce 40 buses while Quest can put together between 25 to 30 buses during the same timeframe provided market support is available.
However, ZUPCO has not placed any bus orders from Quest for the past 34 years while AVM Africa said the parastatal last ordered buses 17 years ago.
Quest alone supported over 30 downstream industries that supply steel, paint, tires, glass, exhaust, carpets, among other locally manufactured components. Most of the downstream industries have folded as a result of the underperforming assembling plants.
Quest vehicle sales have dropped by 98% to less than 10 units per month from a record 700 units over the past three decades.
It started off in 1960 as Austin Motors Corporation, changed to British Motor Corporation before it settled for its current name in 1992.
Source - finx
