Deputy Trade Minister launches new VW T-Cross Model
A Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon Nana Ama Dokuaa Asiamah-Adjei, has
launched the latest VW T-Cross brand of vehicle assembled in the country, under the
Ghana Automotive Development Programme.The event took place at the
Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra. The Volkswagen T-Cross is a
subcompact crossover SUV and it is the smallest SUV model from Volkswagen. VW Ghana
was the first Auto Company to be registered under the Ghana Automotive Development
Programme and launched its commercial activities in July, 2020 to assemble the Polo,
Tiguan, Passat, Teramont, Amarok and the Caddy.
The Deputy Minister revealed
that since the launch of its assembly operations in August 2020, VW Ghana has
assembled and sold about a 1,000 vehicles.She said with disruptions to the
world economy due to Covid-19, Ghana was seeking to take advantage of opportunities that
exist within the auto value chain whilst developing a comprehensive Component and
Supplier Development Programme framework to attract investments from Original Equipment
Component Manufacturers and facilitate among others, the transitioning from Knocked Down
assembly to vehicle manufacturing whilst enhancing localisation within the industry.
She said this decision by the Government is to enhance the value of the
country's natural resources including Bauxite, Iron Ore, Petroleum, that directly feeds
into vehicle production, which will help establish Ghana as a preferred destination for
component manufacturing.She was optimistic that the attraction of other Global OEMs into
the vehicle assembly space would create the conditions necessary to attract these
component manufacturers who move with these OEMs to feed into the supply
chain. Hon Dokuaa announced that in the coming months, other OEMs would be
completing the establishment of their assembly plants and would join the five (5)
registered assemblers under the Auto Programme, a further attestation to the
positive response received from industry player towards vehicle assembly.
This would help achieve the objective of making Ghana a vehicle
manufacturing hub on the continent and secure markets both at the sub-regional and
continental markets for locally assembled vehicles.
According to the Deputy
Minister, the Government, aside the directive on the procurement of locally
assembled vehicle by its agencies, is also putting in place measures that would
create the platform for Ghanaians to procure locally assembled vehicle under
flexible conditions as it exist in other economies to increase the demand for new
vehicles and help renew the national vehicle fleet.
The CEO of
VW VW Ghana Ltd (who also doubles as the President of the Automobile Assemblers of
Ghana), Mr. Jeffrey Oppong-Peprah, commended Government for the automotive
development programme. He said the company was looking to extending its reach beyond
Ghana to countries such as Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon.
