ZIMOCO is selling an average of 50 vehicles per month despite battling against the depressed market in the local automotive industry, chief executive officer Bob Crossley has said.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Speaking in Harare last week, Crossley said factors affecting the market including unavailability of finance and liquidity and high interest rates were posing a threat to the motor industry.
“We do the best we can in a depressed market, the availability of finance is always a battle, high interest rates and liquidity is obviously a problem in selling new cars. I think companies which are struggling with their turnover in their finances maybe they think twice about replacing their fleet,” Crossley said.
“The business is there but it is difficult, there is a lot of competition we have to be better than everybody else.”
The local car industry has seen a gradual decline of 20% in sales for newer vehicles due to the thinning of the spending power.
In addition, government introduced higher duties on vehicles at the end of last year which made different companies respond by increasing prices to remain competitive.
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As a licensed dealer, companies such as Zimoco are the only ones allowed to sell specific car brands and as such potential clients can only get the vehicles from that company.
Crossley said Jeep was currently the leading volume seller while Mercedes remains a constant among chief executives as a preferred car over the rest.
“I think we are taxed heavily on new cars. Those people who import vehicles officially and properly through the correct channels through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) are taxed heavily. I do not think we should be seeing higher taxes on new cars because I think that they are high already,” Crossley said.
He said as a way to combat the decline in the industry, Zimoco was creating good rapport with people through advertising, awareness and service backup.
He said as a company that they were also practicing austerity measures to remain competitive and stay afloat. “Austerity measures are in, we have got to basically try and reduce our costs, have got to do as many sales as we can and keep our workshops running,” Crossley said.
Zimoco is licenced to sell different international car brands that include Mercedes Benz, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and cars from Fiat.
