Plans to establish Suzuki production plant in Ghana underway

Japanese car maker, Suzuki Motors Corporation, has joined other car manufacturers and has disclosed its intention to also establish an assembling plant in Ghana to start production of Suzuki vehicles to feed the company’s growing African market.

The Department General Manager for the Middle East Africa Automobile Department of Suzuki Motors, Mr. Koichi Suzuki, made the announcement on the 19th of March 2019, when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy call on President Akufo Addo at the Jubilee House.

According to Mr. Koichi Suzuki, the proposed Assembly Plant will be a joint partnership between Suzuki, CFAO and Toyota Tsusho Corporation. He further indicated that the partnership is seeking to replicate the success story of Suzuki vehicle production in India where it started production in December 1983.

As at 2017, Suzuki produced 1.6 million vehicles in India alone and they currently have 50.30% of the vehicle Market share in the automobile industry in India. The vehicles mostly produced in India, Mr. Suzuki, said are affordable, reliable, safe and very fuel efficient and they are very accepted by the India people.

“I am stationed in India and my mission is to find the next India in the continent of Africa. We came to know from Toyota Tsusho that the Ghanaian government is planning to introduce a new automobile policy. We are highly interested in participating in such an initiative made by the Ghanaian government. We wish to start production here and to expand it and grow it” Mr. Suzuki noted.

President Akufo Addo in his remarks said the news Suzuki Motors Corporation has brought is very encouraging. “These three companies, [Suzuki, CFAO and Toyota Tsusho corporation], who have come together to push an idea here in Ghana is one that we have to welcome.”

The President further indicated that his administration is “interested in developing a vibrant and dynamic automobile industry in Ghana”.

“You arrival here is at an opportune time. Our policy has taken some time to develop but it is ready” the President added.

He urged the on going discussions between Suzuki, its partners and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to be fast tracked to ensure that the main aim of producing affordable Suzuki vehicles in Ghana materializes sooner rather than later.

Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines.

In 2016, Suzuki was the eleventh biggest automaker by production worldwide. Suzuki has over 45,000 employees and has 35 production facilities in 23 countries, and 133 distributors in 192 countries.

The worldwide sales volume of automobiles is the world’s tenth largest, while domestic sales volume is the third largest in the country.