By Moses Akaigwe
From BMW in 1999 to an array of auto brands and models decades later, one of Nigeria’s largest auto stables, Coscharis Motors Plc, has continued to break new grounds as part of its efforts to provide for the Nigeria market vehicles of choice and need.
The latest addition to the Coscharis Motors family is Ford Trucks brand of heavy duty commercial vehicles (HDCV) which was formally ushered into the Nigerian market at the recently held 15th Lagos Motor Fair.
Speaking on why Coscharis diversified into the heavy duty vehicles segment, the general manager, marketing and communications, Coscharis Group, Abiona Babarinde, explained that Ford Trucks would help to fill transportation gaps in the areas of logistics, haulage, construction, refuse disposal, among others.
Babarinde said the trucks are built to handle both short and long-distance transportation challenges with the toughness and capability that is required to face any given task. He stated that Coscharis Motors was ready to provide all sales and after-sales service support, including spare parts, for the trucks.
Giving more insight into the launch of the range, general manager, sales, Ford Trucks, Coscharis Motors, Helyn Osandu, said, “To help our customers purchase the Ford Trucks with ease, Coscharis Motors has arranged flexible finance schemes from Coscharis Mobility, Polaris Bank and other upcoming finance institutions that are finance partners to Coscharis Motors.”
Osandu encouraged intending buyers to approach these finance providers because they are willing to help customers purchase the trucks with equity contributions as low as 20 per cent of the price of the trucks, while the balance is spread over a period of time.
Ford Trucks, with almost 60 years of experience in truck manufacturing and product development for international markets, had earlier announced that they were confident that Coscharis would represent them well in the Nigerian trucks market.
Vice-president of Ford Trucks, Serhan Turfan, said, “We believe that Coscharis will represent our brand in Nigeria excellently by building on our steady presence in the region and this is why we have committed to the new facility in Lagos, which is an important milestone for our operations in Nigeria.”
The launch of the brand at the motor fair was witnessed by the director-general of the Nigerian Automotive Design and Development Council, Dr. Jelani Aliyu, and other special guests, who thumbed up Coscharis Motors for bringing the vehicles to the Nigerian market.
The company featured two products from the Construction Series, namely, Tipper and Concrete Mixer; and another two from the Tractor Series: the Tractor Head and Garbage Collector.
Ford Trucks are available in 4×2, 6×4 and 8×4 Construction and Tractor series, powered by a powerful Ecotorq 12.7L automatic transmission engine, producing up to 2150 Nm of torque and up to 430 PSpower among other features.