Tata Africa to start assembly plant in Nigeria

Tata Africa's Regional director for West Africa, Sudeep Ray says this plan comes with a condition that the unit sales of the model hits one thousand per year in the country where second hand vehicles compete fiercely with brand new products.

"Definitely for Nigeria we're planning an assembly plant. We started operation one and half years ago and the last one year has been a learning period to understand which models will be doing well here and accordingly we will be looking at an assembly operation going forward in the next two to three years," he told the media, here.

Talking about the assembly operations, Ray said that the company needs a minimum volume of sales, adding, "You can’t have an assembly if you’re selling hundred units of your products a year. So, it should run into thousands. We're identifying two models, which we can do and one of them is definitely buses. When we do the bus body building here, we can get the chassis from India."

He said Tata is mapping the whole country and starting with the major towns that have 80 to 90 per cent sales after which the services would extend to remote areas. He said the edge Tata has over other brands is 'value for money'. "Our vehicles are suitable for road conditions that are not very good. Our vehicles are very strong and our strength lies in that and we offer them at very competitive prices," he said.

"We're marketing these products, as a Tata company, which you won't find here. Other brands are represented by their dealers or distributors. You don't find the principal company that has actually come, invested in the country, set up its own workshop and sundry facilities," added Ray. He said the acceptance of vehicles here, is very good because of their sturdiness.