There are high indications that the Ford Motor Company has dismantled over 500 units of vehicles meant for sale in the Nigerian market.
The group hinted that its Nigerian representatives, Coscharis Group, could no longer accomodate them as a result of the economic challenges facing the country.
The unavailability of dollar in the market and scarce funds was a major challenge, hence the company can no longer afford to handle the exports into the country.
It was gathered that all necessary documents and preparations to ship the cars to Nigeria were halted because of the group’s decline in the continuity of the business.
According to reports, the vehicles were to have been imported as semi-knocked-down kits for auto assembly. But could not because it was halted in South Africa following the poor sale of the goods in Nigeria.
The Ford company had previously worked together with two companies in Nigeria as its partners, but recently disengaged the services of RT Briscone, leaving it’s business options with the Coscharis group alone until recently.
The current economic recession has deeply affected the sales of automobiles in the country.
Assemblers and dealers in Nigeria have lamented bitterly over the drop in the purchase of cars, saying it wasn’t a priority anymore and people tend to solve their basic needs first, such as food and accomodation.
Reports also revealed that a lot of companies in the country can no longer meet up with productivity, so some have begun to restrategise methods on how to still stay relevant in the market.
In recent events, many automobile companies have retrenched some of its workers, as the annual capacity utilisation had dropped to 97 percent from 500,000 vehicles produced to 15,000.
Irrespective of the country’s challenges, Ford has assured it’s continuous partnership with the Coscharis group to deliver quality vehicles and improved motor services to its customers in Nigeria.