Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Daniel Kifle
25 December 2011
Belayab Car Assembly Plc, an Ethiopian company based in Adama (Nazareth), launched a new locally-assembled vehicle model named Vela, in collaboration with a Chinese company named First Automobile Workshop (FAW) in China, on Saturday, December 11, 2011. The cars are worth 315,000 Br, but initial deliveries will sell at a discount rate of between 290,000 Br and 298,000 Br.
This is the second type of assembled vehicle that Belayab has launched since its factory commenced operations in 2010. It first assembled Lufong vehicles in collaboration with another Chinese company, Lung Fong Nissan Group.
The Vela cars were launched in the factory, located in Adama city, 98km east of Addis Abeba, in the presence of Alak Simbiro, Adama’s deputy mayor, and 50 other guests.
“It took about a year to start production after an agreement was signed with FAW,” Solomon Habtamu, manager of Belayab, told Fortune.
There were 15 Chinese consultants that came to oversee the quality approval and transfer of technology, according to Solomon. These consultants have now left and will now only be involved in follow-up inspections.
“The production is being handled by local personnel entirely,” he said.
“Belayab has contributed a lot, not only to our city but to the country, as well, and we hope that it will move onto producing locally made cars,” the deputy mayor stated at the launching ceremony.
He also promised the regional government’s incessant support for Belayab, should it venture into the local production of cars.
There were 13 vehicle and tractor assembly plants that were licensed and operational, as of February 2011, across the country.
Previously, the most recent locally assembled car to enter the market was Mesfin Industrial Engineering’s (MIE’s) Addis model, from the Chinese company Geely, produced at a plant in Mekelle, 780km north of Addis Abeba. The plant was inaugurated in June 2011.
“The availability of spare parts for locally assembled cars and the low environmental impact of the cars are an advantage, when compared to foreign second-hand cars, with a lot of mileage on them that enter the market,” Fikru Hailemariam, Belayab’s deputy manager and marketing head told Fortune.
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