Quest Motors was seriously affected by the harsh economic era and is slowly recovering through the introduction of the new car models from China, namely Chery, Foton and JMC vehicles.
Employment potential
The car assembling plant also invested $2.5 million to manufacture their own jigs used to assemble the car bodies. The vehicles range from Small Utility Vehicles up to 30 000 tonne trucks, fetching a market price of $11 865 upwards.
The plant has a potential to employ 1 500 workers in a one-eight hour shift producing 35 vehicles per day and over 700 per month. However, the firm is facing serious supporting market challenges due to cheap car imports, inconsistent government policy, and scepticism of individuals towards Chinese-made products.
These challenges have affected operations at the plant.
Quest Motors operations manager, Tom Sarimana, said, “Our biggest challenge is support, in terms of vehicle sales both in the private sector, parastatals and government departments, as well as individuals.
“Most people are sceptical of Chinese made products but these vehicles were carefully selected to suit our Zimbabwean market with cognisance of our past reputation in the car assembling industry.”
50 years experience
Quest Motors used to assemble top-of the range car models such as Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Hyundai, Nissan, and Volvo trucks and buses.
It also boasts of skilled human capital with close to 50 years experience.
“At the moment we are on short working time and employing just over 100 people and operating way below five per cent capacity. We appeal to various stakeholders to support us in order to keep the plant running and create employment,” said Sarimana. The human resources manager, David Dumba, said, “We are also facing challenges in the form of governing policy. The policy is set today but never followed. Some policies are followed dogmatically because they are SADC or COMESA instituted policies but are of no benefit to us.” “In order for us to export vehicles it must have a 40 per cent local content but we cannot achieve it because the downstream industries that used to support us are either closed or operating below capacity and forced to buy outside the country.”
Sarimana indicated that they have since lobbied the government, City Council, District Councils, colleges, government departments in a Buy Zimbabwe campaign.
Quest Motors together with other car assembling plants, Willowale and AVM Africa, have a capacity to employ 20 000 workers and meet the national market demand.
Post published in: Business