African automobile making start-up, Mureza Auto Company will showcase its debut car, the Primate (Mureza Prime8) for the first time in Zimbabwe at Harare’s Cresta Lodge tomorrow, 263Chat Business has learnt.
The Primate, which has already been showcased at Automechanika Johannesburg in Nasrec, South Africa earlier this year will be introduced to the company’s distributors and dealers in the country to get an actual feel of the vehicle.
Addressing the press this afternoon, Mureza CEO, Tatenda Mungofa said the event will be the hallmark of the company’s spread into the continent.
“Tomorrow we are going to be hosting our first dealership seminar with our accredited dealers or potential dealers for Zimbabwe so as a manufacturer by principle we don’t sell our cars we only distribute our cars to retailers,” Mungofa said.
Mungofa went to say the engagement with the dealers will also include training on the technicalities of the car for after-market services such as maintenance and servicing of the cars for customers.
Mureza has already partnered car assemblers, Willowvale Motor Industries in a deal expected to see Mureza manufacture its cars at the premises in Harare come first quarter 2020.
Currently, the company is manufacturing its cars in South Africa.
“We are spreading it across the southern African region first, hopefully we yearn to reach the whole continent as an African car,” added Mungofa.
If its successfully sets up operations in Zimbabwe, Mureza will join other local car assemblers who include Quest Motors in a domestic industry currently facing viability challenges due to an influx of cheap second hand vehicles from Asia.
A generally unstable economic environment with weak appetite for brand new cars is a major challenge for the automobile manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe.
