Quest changes face of motor industry

is assembling 120 units every month and has potential of doing 35 units of different models in a day.
Mutare plant operations manager Mr Tom Sarimana said the plant employs 150 people and there is potential for further employment, depending on demand.
Quest is currently assembling two Chinese models — the Cherry Tiggo (a small SUV) and JMC (a commercial vehicle).
He said they would soon start assembling the Cherry QQ, targeting the lower end of the market, at an estimated cost of US$11 000, payable in terms.
“Our aim is to roll out a selection of models over the next three years from the small passenger car to the minibus and heavy trucks,” said Mr Sarimana.
Quest has so far sunk in an estimated US$4 million towards the revival of the assembly plant and importation of vehicle kits from China.
At its peak in the late 1980s Quest assembled 9 000 units a year.
During a tour of the plant recently, Mr Sarimana told Herald Business that some of the materials used, such as paint, were being sourced from local industries.
“We are buying paint from local industries, in the long term we should be buying the bulk of our materials from local industries as a way of supporting downstream industries,” he said.
Quest will introduce local content of up to 30/40 percent into the brands they are building such as batteries, tyres, glass, upholstery, paints, solvents and sealants.
Mr Sarimana said negotiations were ongoing with potential suppliers to assemble additional models at their Mutare plant.
Increasing investment in vehicle assembling in Zimbabwe is, however, facing stiff competition from cheap Japanese imports and this threatens the survival of the local motor industry. The market is now flooded with Japanese imports because the local assembling sector failed to meet local demand during the hyper-inflationary period.
The country has got three car assembling companies — Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries, Quest Motor Corporation and W. Dahmer. Willowvale has the capacity to produce up to 800 units a month.
Last year only 6 000 new units were sold compared with 20 000 bought by individuals and business three years ago during the Zimbabwe dollar era.
During the hyperinflationary environment, WMMI was operating at below capacity and the other two had to suspend operations.
A recent visit by Herald Business to the Quest Mutare plant showed that the local industry has the potential to meet local demand, but pricing remains a major bone of contention
Locally assembled cars are more expensive than imported vehicles due to the high cost of money in the country. Players in the industry have maintained that Government should come up with measures to protect local industry from cheap imports, mainly from Japan.